AN IRISH TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER ONE OF AMAZON UK'S 'RISING STAR' BEST DEBUTS OF 2016 WINNER: BEST MYSTERY, INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARDS 2017 USA SHORTLISTED FOR BOOKS ARE MY BAG IBA CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2016 SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA JOHN CREASEY NEW BLOOD DAGGER 2017 SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2016 BORD GAIS ENERGY IRISH BOOK AWARDS (CRIME) Did she leave, or was she taken? The day Adam Dunne's girlfriend, Sarah, fails to return from a Barcelona business trip, his perfect life begins to fall apart. Days later, the arrival of her passport and a note that reads 'I'm sorry - S' sets off real alarm bells. He vows to do whatever it takes to find her. Adam is puzzled when he connects Sarah to a cruise ship called the Celebrate - and to a woman, Estelle, who disappeared from the same ship in eerily similar circumstances almost exactly a year before. To get the answers, Adam must confront some difficult truths about his relationship with Sarah. He must do things of which he never thought himself capable. And he must try to outwit a predator who seems to have found the perfect hunting ground... Distress Signals is a highly confident and accomplished debut novel, impeccably sustained, with not a false note. The exploration of the often murky backstage workings of the luxury liner world is fascinating, and there is a psychologically acute portrait of a killer that is genuinely moving. We will hear a great deal more of this author. - Irish Times
"Distress Signals is a highly confident and accomplished debut novel, impeccably sustained, with not a false note. The exploration of the often murky backstage workings of the luxury liner world is fascinating, and there is a psychologically acute portrait of a killer that is genuinely moving. We will hear a great deal more of this author."
Irish Times
"A debut novel with a cracking plot and satisfyingly eerie writing throughout."
Woman's Way magazine
"This is Catherine Ryan Howard's debut thriller, and what a tense, tight, original page turner she's delivered...Writing a thriller which doesn't leave readers with a sense of deja vu isn't easy these days, but Catherine Ryan Howard has managed it triumphantly. Definitely a new, exciting and original author to watch."
