Cabin Fever – Book Review
★★★★★
“The Summer’s Biggest THRILLER”
Given what we now know about the surreal nightmare to punctuate 2020, connecting us with characters’ situations right off the bat sets the scene for a morbidly enthralling journey. It’s easy to remember where we were and what we were doing during the life-altering months of 2020. Cabin Fever reveals the simultaneous plight of cruise ship passengers and crew experiencing hellish and uncertain conditions aboard suddenly stranded liners around the world.
The two authors are masters at calling the reader’s complete attention as the Zaandam embarks. A map of the route of the Zaandam around the tip of South America is an inviting reference point for the reader to track the story & location as it unfolds. Boasting incredible investigative journalism combined with captivating depth of writing, one quite literally cannot put this book down.
The nature of cruise ships, crowded conditions and close quarters contribute to rapid spread of disease. Cabin Fever tracks characters aboard these doomed vessels and we learn heartbreaking stories of employees fatally dedicated to their jobs. There are unimaginably cruel conditions as the story twists and turns. Creeping dread seeps into this book from every angle. The story teaches the complexities of corporate responsibility, diplomatic relations and the inner workings of the global Cruise Ship Industry. There are many inspiring glimmers of humanity amid the chaos.The unthinkable unfolds as Holland America cruise ship MS Zaandam is stranded off the coast of Chile after being denied entry to ports 14 March, 2020. This vividly raw and interesting book is a must read this Summer.
Pre Order CABIN FEVER
Publish date – June 21 by @doubledaybooks
#CabinFever to publish July 14 in the U.K.
by @Octopus_Books’ Publishing
Jonathan Franklin is a journalist and TV commentator located in South America for the past 24 years. Franklins most recent book A Wild Idea (HarperOne, 2021) chronicles the rollicking life of The North Face founder Doug Tompkins, who moved to a shack in Patagonia, gave away his riches and became one of the world’s greats land conservation activists.
Michael Smith is a Miami-based investigative reporter at Bloomberg Businessweek. He’s written about financial crimes corruption, narcotics and human trafficking, and environmental and labor abuses in supply chains. Recently he reported extensively on COVID outbreaks on cruise ships. Smith’s national awards include the prestigious George Polk, Maria Moors Cabot , Robert F Kennedy and Gerald Loeb awards. Cabin Fever is his first book.
Cabin Fever cover design by Maria Carella is superb. It’s dark and foreboding in a way that perfectly encapsulates this story. The cloudy sky hovers quite literally as one would imagine the virus would; a death cloud hovering around the ship.
