Day Four
A Novel
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4.0 • 8 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Step aboard "the cruise ship from hell" (Stephen King) in this "satirical scream of a novel" (New York Times Book Review).
Hundreds of pleasure-seekers stream aboard The Beautiful Dreamer cruise ship for five days of cut-price fun in the Caribbean sun. On the fourth day, disaster strikes: smoke roils out of the engine room, and the ship is stranded in the Gulf of Mexico. Soon supplies run low, a virus plagues the ship, and there are whispered rumors that the cabins on the lower decks are haunted by shadowy figures. Irritation escalates to panic, the crew loses control, factions form, and violent chaos erupts among the survivors.
When, at last, the ship is spotted drifting off the coast of Key West, the world's press reports it empty. But the gloomy headlines may be covering up an even more disturbing reality. Day Four is a heart-racing tale from "a ferociously imaginative storyteller" (Lauren Beukes).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Disaster strikes a pleasure boat, The Beautiful Dreamer, on the fourth day of a Caribbean cruise in Lotz's tedious thriller, her second novel for adults (after 2014's The Three). A young woman is murdered in her cabin, The Beautiful Dreamer comes to a standstill, its satellite positioning and radio systems go down, and normally reliable rescue boats fail to appear. Trapped with little to amuse them, the passengers increasingly become enthralled with Celine del Ray, a celebrity medium on board. The situation steadily deteriorates: food becomes scarce, ghosts and demons start appearing, and a virulent sickness spreads among the crew and passengers. Some interesting side stories delve into the personal lives of those aboard, but these are overwhelmed by graphic and repetitive descriptions of the virus, the ship's unsterile conditions, the ghostly apparitions, and vomit, as well as by too many undeveloped characters. The murder mystery's precipitous and unconvincing resolution will disappoint those readers who persevere to the end.
