Book Review: Vengeance by Donna Dawson

When FBI agent James Benedict books a two-week holiday on a cruise ship to Hawaii, he doesn’t expect to be working through much of it. But one after another, passengers who are perfectly healthy die painful and grotesque deaths, and he quickly finds himself in the thick of a mystery. Are these deaths caused by a virus that will inevitably infect the whole ship, or a poison targeting a select few? If the latter, is a passenger or crew member the murderer? In Vengeance Donna Dawson weaves a cat-and-mouse tale of death and investigation on the high seas.

Back in San Diego, Benedict’s girlfriend, Dr. Julie Holding, fellow member of the FBI and a psychologist, has her own challenges. How will she get traumatized abuse victim, six-year-old Cassandra, to talk again, let alone trust a man? Her nightly conversations with James are sweet therapy for both of them, until the deadly plot begins to engulf him too. Will she be next?

The plot smells sinister right from its chilling Nunavut “Prelude.” The cruise ship setting of most of the story, with its atmosphere of vacationing passengers immersed in relaxation and amenities, is a perfect foil for the gruesome death that stalks the ship. The plot plays out like a movie as we segue from one action scene to another, following James, then the killer, looking in on James’s boss Steve in San Diego’s FBI headquarters, even flashing occasionally to the dark mastermind in his bunker on shore.

Though the sleuthing makes steady progress, it continues to lag one step behind the criminals till the end, when even our seasoned investigator is shocked by who the perpetrator turns out to be. The romantic sub-plot adds a human touch and gives us a break from the tense on-board scenes.

Article Author: Violet Nesdoly

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