The Killing Ship

September 19, 2016
The eight members of a scientific expedition run into trouble on Livingston Island off Antarctica in this engrossing thriller from Beaufort (The Murder House). When marine biologist Andrew Berrister and five other researchers return to their campsite on barren Hannah Point, they can’t find the remaining team members, field hand Malcolm “Freddy” Fredericks and botanist Dan Wells. That Freddy left his lucky hat behind doesn’t bode well. The subsequent discovery of human tracks, a pool of blood, and a cigarette butt on the nearby beach suggests the presence of another scientific team to Berrister. John Graham, the group’s second field hand, worries that criminals have landed on the island. Berrister tries to reassure Graham: “There’ll be a rational and innocent explanation for all these things, you’ll see.” Of course, he’s wrong. Beaufort (the joint pen name of Susanna Gregory and Beau Riffenburgh) carefully crafts the personality of each team member, while the action-packed plot builds to a shocking crescendo.

A group of scientists about to leave Antarctica is overtaken by horrifying events.Dr. Andrew Berrister is the cautious leader of a small research group that includes scientists Mortimer and Dan Wells; Sarah Henshaw and her graduate student Lisa White; Ajay Joshi, another graduate student; field hand John Graham; and Freddy, the cook. Their serenity is disturbed by sounds that could be gunshots or cracking ice followed by the signs of a boat having landed and the removal of all their stores from their camp on Livingston Island. The trashing of their radio and their generators leaves them in a precarious position. Offshore lurks Lena, a large fishing boat with a decidedly mixed crew. Capt. Garik is often drunk, and some of the crew of simple fishermen are willing to illegally hunt whales for big money. The man paying the bills is the sinister Imad Hasim, whose hidden agenda also requires the crew to drop a large number of unidentified barrels overboard. The scientists off searching for the missing Freddy and Dan watch in horror when a boat party from the ship comes ashore, burns the camp, and shoots up the tents before coming after them, apparently unwilling to leave anyone alive who could report their misdeeds. The scientists struggle to survive in the harsh conditions, and Berrister must fight his own fears and overwhelming odds to save his friends and stay alive in Antarctica's unforgiving conditions, made worse by the path of death and destruction Hasim has left behind. Beaufort leaves both 12th-century and modern England (The Murder House, 2014, etc.) far behind in a breathtaking tale of intrigue and fortitude reminiscent of the vintage adventure tales of Alistair MacLean. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 1, 2016
In this taut, pulse-pounding action thriller, a group of scientists are conducting research on the inhospitable Livingston Island in Antarctica when their station is attacked by a mysterious group of armed men. While some of the scientists flee in panic, others disappear or are captured and killed. At first, it seems that the marauders are illegal whalers, set on butchering whales for their meat, oil, and blubberand the riches these can bring when sold on the black market. As the surviving scientists try to escape the killers by fleeing across the barren terrain, some fall to their deaths down bottomless crevasses, while others freeze or starve. The few who get away are nearly defenseless against the terrible cold, so it's almost a relief when they are captured and brought aboard the illegal whalers' ship. But they discover a terrible truth on the shipa truth that leads to a daring and desperate plan to escape so they can prevent what could be a horrifying global disaster. Beaufort offers up a dark, dangerous, cleverly plotted adventure thriller that is as terrifying and nightmare-inducing as it is gripping and mesmerizing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)