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WORK TITLE: Distress Signals
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1982
WEBSITE: https://catherineryanhoward.com/
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
https://catherineryanhoward.com/about-catherine/ * https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/catherine-ryan-howard-on-the-secret-of-getting-published-it-s-all-about-the-book-1.2642256
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: no2012055584
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/no2012055584
HEADING: Howard, Catherine Ryan
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010 __ |a no2012055584
035 __ |a (OCoLC)oca09176523
040 __ |a OC |b eng |c OC
100 1_ |a Howard, Catherine Ryan
670 __ |a Backpacked, c2011: |b t.p. (Catherine Ryan Howard) p. 277 (writer and blogger who currently lives in Cork, Ireland; also the author of Mousetrapped, Self-intedinted, and Results not typical: a novel)
NOTE: DISTRESS SIGNALS FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2016.–DP
PERSONAL
Born 1982, in Cork, Ireland.
EDUCATION:Trinity College Dublin.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Worked as an administrator for a travel company in the Netherlands, a campsite courier in France, and a front desk agent in a Walt Disney World hotel in Orlando, FL.
AWARDS:Best Mystery, Independent Press Award (USA), 2017, for Distress Signals.
WRITINGS
Also author of the self-published works, including Backpacked: A Reluctant Trip across Central America, 2011; Mousetrapped: A Year and a Bit in Orlando, Florida, 2010; and Self-Printed: The Sane Person’s Guide to Self-Publishing: How to Use Digital Self-Publishing, Social Media and Common Sense to Start Earning a Living … or Shouting “Down with the Big Six!,” 2011.
Distress Signals has been optioned for television by Jet Stone Media.
SIDELIGHTS
Catherine Ryan Howard started her writing career with self-published, nonfiction books in the form of two memoirs and a “how to” focusing on self-publishing. Her own experiences with self-publishing led Howard to speak on the topic at various venues, including at the Faber Academy and the Irish Writers’ Centre. Throughout these pursuits, Howard continued to pursue her goal of writing crime fiction and getting it published through traditional means.
In an article Howard wrote that appeared in the Irish Times Online, Howard noted that she had “an epiphany” in 2012, explaining: “I’d spent years of my life obsessing over how other authors had got published and then a few more trying to write the kind of book I thought would get me there: light-hearted, funny (?), women’s commercial fiction. But my favourite thing in the world was to lose several hours to a twisty killer thriller. So why was I even entertaining the idea of writing anything else?”
Distress Signals tells the story of Adam Dunne, who sets out to find his girlfriend after she fails to return from a business trip in Barcelona, Spain. The idea for the novel came from a newspaper clipping Howard’s mother gave her about a British Disney employee disappearing from a Disney cruise ship called Wonder. Howard, who used to work for Disney in Florida, was intrigued and learned in the article that an organization exists called the International Cruise Victims organization. “I’d never been on a cruise, but I had what I think are typical ideas about them: sunshine, tropical beaches, cocktails, buffets, relaxation and, well, paradise generally,” Howard noted in an interview with Angelo Marcos for Marcos’ website, adding: “What was happening on these ships that they were ‘victims’ and why were there so many of them that this group clearly needed to exist? I started researching the topic online and was shocked at what I found.”
In Distress Signals, shortly after he learns that his girlfriend, Sarah, has gone missing, Adam receives her passport and a brief note supposedly from Sarah saying she is sorry. Eventually, Adam finds out that Sarah booked her return on a cruise ship called the Celebrate. He contacts the cruise line, but the company knows nothing about Sarah’s disappearance. Eventually, the Irish police tell Adam that Sarah was somehow connected to a Celebrate crew member named Ethan Eckhart. Adam subsequently learns of another disappearance from the same cruise ship a year earlier. He seeks out Peter Brazier, whose wife, Estelle, disappeared. It turns out that Peter also received a package and a note following his wife’s disappearance, just like Adam.
Meanwhile, the police appear to have reached a dead end. “Because of maritime law—explained briefly in Distress Signals—finding Sarah could be an almost impossible task,” noted Aisling Murphy in a review for Pure M Online, adding: “Distress Signals gives the reader insight into … the frustration that’s involved when the Gardai [police] admit there’s not much they can do if a person doesn’t want to be found.”
Adam and Peter eventually decide to book passage on the Celebrate and investigate on their own. Adam learns that there is a predator who has found the Celebrate a good place to hunt. Distress Signals also includes two subplots, one revolving around a ship staff member who is hiding something. The other is about a man named Romaine whose story is told in flashbacks to his childhood. Romaine is estranged from his family and life in general, leading to psychotic tendencies. “Howard’s description of Romaine extracts feelings of sympathy, anger & disgust from the reader all at the same time,” wrote a Swirl and Thread website contributor. A reviewer for the website It’s Book Talk remarked: “How these threads tie together had me questioning and second guessing myself so much my head was spinning.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Internet Bookwatch, April, 2017, review of Distress Signals.
Publishers Weekly, December 12, 2016, review of Distress Signals, p. 127.
ONLINE
Angelo Marcos, https://angelomarcos.wordpress.com/ (October 23, 2017), Angelo Marcos, “Creative Minds Interview—Catherine Ryan Howard.”
Catherine Ryan Howard Website, https://catherineryanhoward.com (October 23, 2017).
Cornflakegirl’s Musings, http://cornflakegirlsmusings.com/ (June 15, 2016), review of Distress Signals.
Irish Times Online, https://www.irishtimes.com/ (October 2, 2017), Catherine Ryan Howard, “Catherine Ryan Howard on the Secret of Getting Published: It’s All about the Book.”
It’s Book Talk, https://itsbooktalk.com/ (February 5, 2017), review of Distress Signals.
Pure M Online, https://www.puremzine.com (July 1, 2016), Aisling Murphy, review of Distress Signals
Swirl and Thread, http://www.swirlandthread.com/ (October 23, 2017, review of Distress Signals.*
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CATHERINE RYAN HOWARD
SHE TURNS COFFEE INTO BOOKS SO SHE CAN AFFORD TO BUY MORE COFFEE. AND MORE BOOKS.
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ABOUT CATHERINE
Catherine Ryan Howard by City Headshots Dublin
Credit: City Headshots Dublin
Catherine was born in Cork, Ireland, in 1982.
Her debut thriller, Distress Signals, is out now in the UK and Ireland (Corvus/Atlantic) and the USA (Blackstone). An Irish Times and USA Today bestseller, it has been shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey/New Blood Dagger 2017 and the Books Are My Bag IBA Crime Novel of the Year 2016. It also won Best Mystery at the Independent Press Awards (USA) 2017. Pre-publication, Distress Signals was optioned for television by Jet Stone Media. Find out more about the book here.
Catherine’s second thriller, The Liar’s Girl, will be released in the UK/Ireland and the USA in March 2018.
Catherine started her writing career self-publishing non-fiction – two light-hearted travel memoirs, followed by the obligatory ‘how to’. She became known for dispensing particularly pragmatic self-publishing advice, speaking on the subject for the likes of Faber Academy, the Irish Writers’ Centre, Guardian Masterclasses and others. But her goal was always to write crime fiction and to get published.
Before all that, Catherine worked as an administrator for a travel company in the Netherlands, a campsite courier in France (very briefly) and a front desk agent in a Walt Disney World hotel in Orlando, Florida. For her entire adolescence she was obsessed with the idea of becoming a BSL4 virologist and she still wants to be a NASA astronaut when she grows up. She is currently studying for a BA in English Literature at Trinity College Dublin.
For more, find Catherine on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook or sign up to her mailing list. You can also read a Q&A with her here.
(Author headshot credit Steve Langan at CityHeadshots.ie)
THE LIAR’S GIRL
USA PUBLICATION DAY
February 27th, 2018
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Everything © Catherine Ryan Howard 2009-2017.
THE LIAR’S GIRL
UK/IRELAND PUBLICATION DAY
March 1st, 2018
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Catherine Ryan Howard on the secret of getting published: it’s all about the book
I spent years trying to write the kind of book I thought would get me published but my favourite thing was a twisty killer thriller. So why did I even think of writing anything else?
Tue, May 10, 2016, 13:04 Updated: Tue, May 10, 2016, 15:30
Catherine Ryan Howard
Catherine Ryan Howard: I sat down and started writing the book that would become Distress Signals – and almost heard an audible click. This is what I was supposed to be doing, what I should’ve been doing all along: writing the book that I wanted to read but couldn’t find on the shelf
Catherine Ryan Howard: I sat down and started writing the book that would become Distress Signals – and almost heard an audible click. This is what I was supposed to be doing, what I should’ve been doing all along: writing the book that I wanted to read but couldn’t find on the shelf
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Before I became an author myself, I was shamelessly obsessed with them. I clipped newspaper interviews and recorded their appearances on TV. Attended workshops, seminars and literary festivals, sidling up to the panellists afterwards under the guise of getting my book signed. Made forensic examinations of the advice they shared in magazine articles and blog posts. Googled the names of the agents and editors they thanked in their acknowledgements. Systematically worked my way through the reference section of Waterstone’s on Patrick Street, Cork, reading every How To Write a Book, Get Published and Make Millions – This Weekend! style title they had in stock. I once even took a day trip from Amsterdam to Paris just to giggle like a tween at a Justin Bieber concert in front of Harlan Coben and see what a publishing superstar smelled – I mean, um, looked – like in the flesh.
All in pursuit of the answer to this question: how did you get published? I needed to know because I was desperate to get published myself. Was there a special pen I should be using? An optimum type of paper? Maybe a particularly inspiring brand of coffee grounds? I heard Maeve Binchy got up at 5am every morning to write but then I also heard that Cecilia Ahern stayed up until then to do it, so I didn’t know what to believe. Where was I going wrong? Just tell me which bloody pen, okay?
Occasionally I even managed to do some writing too. My first attempt was a terrible YA novel about studying for the Leaving Cert that I wrote instead of studying for my own. Then I got into Formula 1 and developed a crush on 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve, energy I channelled into a F1-themed thriller I called Chequered Flag. I carried it around for months on a floppy disc but lost interest after only three chapters. After a 10-day trip to New York six months after 9/11, I became convinced that was ample research into what it must’ve been like to be in the city on that tragic day, and got to scribbling about a NYPD detective struggling to make sense of it all. I’d like to apologise now, publicly, to the agent I subjected the first 5,000 words of that drivel to. My bad.
When I finally got around to finishing something, it was, quite unexpectedly, non-fiction. In 2006 I moved to Orlando, Florida to take up a job in Walt Disney World and see what kind of How To Write Books books they sold Stateside. Turns out moving 4,000 miles across the Atlantic without doing any research and even less preparation doesn’t make for a smooth transition. Within weeks, my e-mail updates to friends back home were getting thousands of words long and as much as mildly entertaining. Conveniently all the proper jobs were gone by the time I returned to Ireland in 2008, so I decided to move into my parents’ box-room and write a book about my time in Orlando instead.
No one wanted to publish that one either, but one agent I’d sent it to said she’d like to see me write fiction. You and me both, love. I’d read somewhere that Alex Barclay had written her first novel in holiday homes around Ireland, so quitting the office job I’d finally managed to get and spending all my savings on six weeks in a seaside cottage in winter seemed like the only sensible thing to do. The novel this produced – a chick-lit meets corporate satire tale I described as The Devil Wears Prada meets Weightwatchers – went nowhere, and I decided to self-publish Mousetrapped, my book about Disney World, while I figured out my next move. Meanwhile relatives made polite enquiries about when I was going to get a real job and my parents wondered if their thirty-something eldest daughter would ever manage to make a permanent move out of the house.
Then, in the summer of 2012, an epiphany. I’d spent years of my life obsessing over how other authors had got published and then a few more trying to write the kind of book I thought would get me there: light-hearted, funny (?), women’s commercial fiction. But my favourite thing in the world was to lose several hours to a twisty killer thriller. So why was I even entertaining the idea of writing anything else?
An article about cruise ship disappearances had been percolating at the back of my brain for about a year. Now, concrete ideas began to emerge from the fog. The novel would open in Cork. A woman would mysteriously disappear from a cruise ship in the Mediterranean. I’d get a mention of Jurassic Park in there somewhere.
I sat down and started writing the book that would become Distress Signals – and almost heard an audible click. This is what I was supposed to be doing, what I should’ve been doing all along: writing the book that I wanted to read but couldn’t find on the shelf.
And only that. At least, at first. My obsessive author-stalking, my PhD in exactly how to format a manuscript that didn’t exist yet, my elevator pitch polished to a high shine… In the end, none of it mattered. None of it got me published. It all came down to the book.
So if, now that I’m – gulp – a published author myself, anyone asks me about a special pen or type of computer or brand of coffee, I’ll tell them not to focus on silly things like that. I’ll tell them just get their arse on the chair and words on the page, and worry about everything else later. I’ll tell them that, at the end of the day, it’s all about the book.
(But also it’s a clicky Pentel Energel in blue, an iMac with a big screen and Lidl’s Nespresso-compatible ‘Lungo’ capsules. As far as I know, anyway.)
Distress Signals is published by Corvus, £12.99, and is reviewed in The Irish Times this Saturday by Declan Hughes, who calls it “a highly confident and accomplished debut novel, impeccably sustained, with not a false note”
At this year's West Cork Literary Festival, Catherine Ryan Howard will talk on the Business of Self Publishing at the Maritime Hotel at 2.30 on July 20th and she will also read from Distress Signals in Bantry Library at 11.15am on July 21st. The West Cork Literary Festival takes place in and around Bantry from July 17th to July 23rd www.westcorkliteraryfestival.ie
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CATHERINE RYAN HOWARD
Catherine Ryan Howard is an Irish-born novelist whose first book – Distress Signals – has recently been published by Corvus.
She has worked as a campsite courier in France, a front desk agent in Walt Disney World, and most recently was a social media marketer for a major publisher.
I caught up with Catherine to find out about her creative process.
Thanks for agreeing to the interview Catherine. So firstly, congratulations on Distress Signals! Where did you get the idea for the story?
My mother has this habit of giving you things to read – newspaper clippings, links to articles, etc. – that she thinks you might be interested in. The problem is, a lot of time you’re not!
But back at the end of 2011 she saved me a copy of the Guardian’s Weekend magazine which had the story of a Disney employee from the UK who’d disappeared from one of the Disney cruise ships, the Wonder. I used to work in Walt Disney World in Orlando so that’s why she thought I’d want to read it.
The article was interesting, but not because of Disney. Half-way through, it mentioned something called the International Cruise Victims organisation. I’d never been on a cruise, but I had what I think are typical ideas about them: sunshine, tropical beaches, cocktails, buffets, relaxation and, well, paradise generally. What was happening on these ships that they were “victims” and why were there so many of them that this group clearly needed to exist? I started researching the topic online and was shocked at what I found.
I started thinking, A cruise ship is the perfect place to get away with a murder. That was the initial seed of the idea for Distress Signals.
I love how that single clipping sparked an entire story.
So I’ve spoken to a lot of people in different areas of creativity and everyone seems to have a different process. What does your creative process look like?
I’m a terrible procrastinator, so I like to do as much delaying – ah, I mean preparation as possible.
Usually when I get a seed of an idea, I let it percolate for a while. I might fill a notebook or the Notes app on my phone with random thoughts or ideas – usually, I can’t remember what half of them are about when I come back to read them months later! Then I get out my Post-Its and my Sharpies and a huge sheet of paper (I find the back of Christmas wrapping paper rolls very handy for this as it’s blank and can be as long as you need it to be) and start plotting, not every little thing but the major milestones along the way.
Only then do I sit down and start to write a first draft, which I mark out in four acts (Act I, first half of Act II, second half of Act II, Act III) and usually, at the end of each one, I go back and do a little more plot-work, because all the best ideas come as you’re writing and things constantly change.
Yes, I definitely agree with that!
You’ve worked in a number of different countries and industries (my favourite being Walt Disney World, I have to say!), and I know you’ve written non-fiction memoirs about some of it. Have these experiences influenced your fiction-writing too? If so, in what way?
Definitely!
I love the advice ‘write what you know’ but I take it to mean ‘use as much as you can from your personal experiences in your book’ not ‘doctors should write medical thrillers’.
For the last six months of my stint in Disney World, I was a housekeeping inspector in a 2,000+ room resort hotel. It’s not a coincidence that Corinne, one of the characters in Distress Signals, is a cabin attendant – because even though I didn’t work on a cruise ship, the principles of running a housekeeping department are the same.
Backpacking in Central America for a couple of months really drove home for me how dependent we are now on mobile phones, and how lost we feel when someone we want to contact doesn’t have theirs or doesn’t have it switched on. (And that was back in 2008 – it’s even worse now!) Sarah not answering her mobile phone is the first alarm bell for Adam, her boyfriend and my narrator, in the book.
Finally, I spent a lot of time in Nice, France and in Villefranche, the little village nearby where cruise ships tend to tender (see what I did there…?) so of course, when it has a port day, that’s where my fictional ship, the Celebrate, stops too.
That’s really interesting – especially regarding how lost we all are without our mobile phones.
So what is the next project you’ll be working on?
I’m currently finishing the first draft of my second thriller, which will be published by Corvus too, only this time next year. It’s another standalone, but this time it takes place on dry land – here in Dublin, to be exact.
Sounds good. What advice would you give to any aspiring authors?
To not worry too much about advice. I spent so much time reading blogs and listening to authors and going to events and workshops and seminars and reading books and all that – but at the end of the day, it was only the book I wrote that mattered. It was ALL that mattered, and I could’ve got it written a lot sooner if I didn’t waste so much time dwelling on manuscript formatting or how exactly to write your synopsis.
All that stuff is great and useful – but only turn your head towards it once the book is finished and polished and ready to go. It’s all about the book, so work on that.
And lastly, I know you’ve always wanted to be an astronaut – any plans on becoming a space tourist?
The dream!
Actual space is just not very likely in my lifetime, I know, but I have a goal that I think is doable (although very expensive): to go high enough to see the curvature of the earth.
Maybe by the time Virgin Galactic get around to operational flights, I’ll have saved up – because I think we’re talking a very, very long time away yet…
Well good luck with that – and of course with the new book – and thanks again for answering my questions, Catherine. It’s been really interesting.
10/2/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1506966686239 1/1
Print Marked Items
Distress Signals
Publishers Weekly.
263.51 (Dec. 12, 2016): p127.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Distress Signals
Catherine Ryan Howard. Blackstone, $24.99
(368p) ISBN 978-1-5047-5752-2
In Howard's solid first novel, Sarah O'Connell leaves Cork, Ireland, aboard the cruise ship Celebrate for a
business meeting in Barcelona. When Sarah fails to return from her Mediterranean trip, boyfriend Adam
Dunne, an aspiring screenwriter, begins to worry. No one, including her parents, is able to contact her. The
ship's owner offers Adam little help. Then Adam receives a package with Sarah's passport and a note saying
only "I'm sorry--S." The Irish police manage to connect Sarah with a Celebrate crew member, Ethan
Eckhart. Adam later makes contact with Peter Brazier, whose wife disappeared from the same ship a year
earlier and who got a package exactly like Adam's. Adam and Peter book passage on the Celebrate to seek
Ethan and demand answers. Two additional story lines--that of a troubled French boy and of a ship
housekeeper-eventually connect with Adam's in surprising ways, as life and death aboard a cruise ship prove
very mysterious indeed. Agent: Jane Gregory, Gregory & Company (U.K.). (Feb.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Distress Signals." Publishers Weekly, 12 Dec. 2016, p. 127. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA475225057&it=r&asid=0460165c25893d7f39844ebc48d7bd0b.
Accessed 2 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A475225057
Distress Signals
Internet Bookwatch. (Apr. 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Listen
Full Text:
Distress Signals
Catherine Ryan Howard
Blackstone Publishing
31 Mistletoe Road, Ashland, OR 97520
www.BlackstoneAudio.com
9781504757522, $24.99, HC, 368pp, www.amazon.com
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. All the more impressive when considering that "Distress Signals" is author Catherine Ryan Howard's debut as a novelist, this exceptionally well crafted and compelling read is very highly recommended for both personal reading lists and community library General Fiction collections. It should be noted that "Distress Signals" is also available in a Kindle format ($9.99).
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Distress Signals." Internet Bookwatch, Apr. 2017. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA493274913&it=r&asid=e86dff1d08d03315b32b91881516e39a. Accessed 23 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A493274913
Distress Signals
Internet Bookwatch. (Apr. 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Listen
Full Text:
Distress Signals
Catherine Ryan Howard
Blackstone Publishing
31 Mistletoe Road, Ashland, OR 97520
www.BlackstoneAudio.com
9781504757522, $24.99, HC, 368pp, www.amazon.com
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. All the more impressive when considering that "Distress Signals" is author Catherine Ryan Howard's debut as a novelist, this exceptionally well crafted and compelling read is very highly recommended for both personal reading lists and community library General Fiction collections. It should be noted that "Distress Signals" is also available in a Kindle format ($9.99).
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Distress Signals." Internet Bookwatch, Apr. 2017. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA493274913&it=r&asid=e86dff1d08d03315b32b91881516e39a. Accessed 23 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A493274913
Distress Signals
Internet Bookwatch. (Apr. 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Listen
Full Text:
Distress Signals
Catherine Ryan Howard
Blackstone Publishing
31 Mistletoe Road, Ashland, OR 97520
www.BlackstoneAudio.com
9781504757522, $24.99, HC, 368pp, www.amazon.com
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. All the more impressive when considering that "Distress Signals" is author Catherine Ryan Howard's debut as a novelist, this exceptionally well crafted and compelling read is very highly recommended for both personal reading lists and community library General Fiction collections. It should be noted that "Distress Signals" is also available in a Kindle format ($9.99).
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Distress Signals." Internet Bookwatch, Apr. 2017. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA493274913&it=r&asid=e86dff1d08d03315b32b91881516e39a. Accessed 23 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A493274913
Distress Signals
Internet Bookwatch. (Apr. 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Listen
Full Text:
Distress Signals
Catherine Ryan Howard
Blackstone Publishing
31 Mistletoe Road, Ashland, OR 97520
www.BlackstoneAudio.com
9781504757522, $24.99, HC, 368pp, www.amazon.com
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. All the more impressive when considering that "Distress Signals" is author Catherine Ryan Howard's debut as a novelist, this exceptionally well crafted and compelling read is very highly recommended for both personal reading lists and community library General Fiction collections. It should be noted that "Distress Signals" is also available in a Kindle format ($9.99).
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Distress Signals." Internet Bookwatch, Apr. 2017. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA493274913&it=r&asid=e86dff1d08d03315b32b91881516e39a. Accessed 23 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A493274913
Distress Signals
Internet Bookwatch. (Apr. 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Listen
Full Text:
Distress Signals
Catherine Ryan Howard
Blackstone Publishing
31 Mistletoe Road, Ashland, OR 97520
www.BlackstoneAudio.com
9781504757522, $24.99, HC, 368pp, www.amazon.com
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. All the more impressive when considering that "Distress Signals" is author Catherine Ryan Howard's debut as a novelist, this exceptionally well crafted and compelling read is very highly recommended for both personal reading lists and community library General Fiction collections. It should be noted that "Distress Signals" is also available in a Kindle format ($9.99).
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Distress Signals." Internet Bookwatch, Apr. 2017. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA493274913&it=r&asid=e86dff1d08d03315b32b91881516e39a. Accessed 23 Oct. 2017.
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#bookreview ~ Distress Signals by Catherine Ryan Howard @cathryanhoward
You are here:HomeBook Review
DID SHE LEAVE OR WAS SHE TAKEN?
Distress Signals is the debut novel from Catherine Ryan Howard.
It was published earlier this month by Corvus Books.
This book I actually purchased myself to review as it was a much hyped book based in my hometown of Cork and therefore one I HAD to read!!
‘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...’
Spoiler Alert: If you like to travel on cruise ships, this may not be the book for you!!!!!!!!
Distress Signals by Catherine Ryan Howard is probably one of the most hyped books of recent times.. As you can imagine I was very eager to read it and I was so glad I did.
It’s rare that there is a psychological thriller set in Cork and admittedly, on reading the first couple of chapters I found it a bit strange. I was visualizing all the locations Catherine refers to in the city and found myself querying her descriptions in my mind.
Did the Garda HQ really look like that?
What pub was being described?
Where exactly on the South Mall were the offices where Sarah worked?
Was it the Coffee Station by UCC where Adam & his friend meet up?
And yes, all are as depicted. The accuracy of all these locations made me want to read more. Made me want to go the pub where Adam was drinking, to locate the apartment near the city centre where Adam & Sarah lived, to literally nearly do a walking tour of the Cork sites mentioned in the book.
But this book is not just about a sightseeing tour of Cork, it is so much more.
Distress Signals is a thriller set primarily on a cruise ship the Celebrate. Adam is a writer who has been waiting for years for his big break. Finally Hollywood comes calling. Sarah, Adam’s girlfriend of 10 years, has been a long time supporter of Adam, both emotionally and financially, but things are about to change.
Sarah tells Adam she’s off to Barcelona on a business trip. He has no reason not to believe her, so he remains behind in Cork, working on his rewrite of a screenplay. It is only after a call from her parents querying her whereabouts, when Adam realises all is not right.
Through various means Adam discovers that Sarah is not in Barcelona but was last seen on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean. Adam begins to discover that there is more to this story. He unearths frightening statistics about ‘missing’ passengers and he discovers that the maritime law is very difficult to navigate through.
‘There’s no evidence of a murder, but a person is missing. And what’s a a missing person minus a body? Not a murder. Oh,no. Never a murder. It’s a disappearance.’
There is also a story running in parallel about a boy called Romaine and his estranged relationship with life and his family. We are introduced to a completely different character with real psychotic tendencies. Catherine Ryan Howard’s description of Romaine extracts feelings of sympathy, anger & disgust from the reader all at the same time.
‘The darkness must be getting stronger. This time, it had only to propel as far as the house. He’d done the rest himself. Even when he was trying to be good, bad things still seemed to happen.’
We are introduced to Romaine as a young boy in France and we discover through the course of the book the story surrounding his introduction into the world and the path he takes.
Romaine’s story becomes somewhat intertwined with Adam’s story and it is not until the end of the book that we are given the full explanation and the truth.
Adam sets off on a voyage of discovery in more ways than one. He meets different people along the way, some willing to help and others not so.
He realises that Sarah and himself may, for the first time, be in serious trouble with where their future lies….if they have a future?
Adam has to step out of his comfort zone and face up to some cruel but real truths about himself and their relationship. But is it too late?
Distress Signals is a book you are just going to have to pick up and find out for yourself what happens. You will be transported from Cork to various locations in Europe and you will be taken on a cruise on the Celebrate.
It is a great debut novel from Catherine Ryan Howard and I don’t doubt for a second the beginning of a very glittery, literary career. I’m now joining the queue of thousands who are already fans of this new writer of psychological thrillers…Catherine Ryan Howard.
Purchase Link : Distress Signals
Meet the Author:
Catherine Ryan Howard was born in Cork, Ireland, in 1982.
Prior to writing full-time, Catherine worked as a campsite courier in France and a front desk agent in Walt Disney World, Florida, and most recently was a social media marketer for a major publisher.
She is currently studying for a BA in English at Trinity College Dublin.
Distress Signals is her debut novel.
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Distress Signals by Catherine Ryan Howard | Book Review
Distress Signals by Catherine Ryan Howard. Advance Reader Copy (ARC) from the publisher included. You can read my full disclosure policy here.
Distress Signals by Catherine Ryan Howard
Things are finally looking up for Adam Dunne. There has been some interest in his script and he can’t wait to celebrate with Sarah, his girlfriend, when she returns from a business trip to Barcelona. But Sarah doesn’t return and Adam’s life begins to fall apart.
A few days later, Sarah’s passport arrives in the post with a note that reads “I’m sorry – S”. An already worried Adam becomes even more concerned for Sarah’s safety. The police, however, conclude that Sarah chose to leave and they won’t investigate any further.
Adam realises that it’s up to him to find Sarah and he’s prepared to do whatever it takes.
The good
Catherine Ryan Howard is a master storyteller. She beautifully crafts a narrative full of tales of relationships gone wrong, missed opportunities, secrets and intrigue.
As events unfold, the depth of Howard’s skill is showcased beautifully. On numerous occasions I thought I’d figured out what happened to Sarah only to be proven wrong. Yet, nothing about Distress Signals seems forced or unnecessary.
Conclusion
Distress Signals is well paced and full of tension; what makes it stand out is the significant role the cruise ship plays. What happens when a crime happens on a cruise ship? Which country has jurisdiction and how many resources do they actually dedicate to crimes committed miles from land? These are the issues that Adam finds himself up against. These are questions that add an extra layer of intrigue to Catherine Ryan Howard’s confident debut. Distress Signals is a must read for fans of crime fiction.
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REVIEW:DISTRESS SIGNALS BY CATHERINE RYAN HOWARD
POSTED ON FEBRUARY 5, 2017
by Renee (Itsbooktalk)
30509033
Published Feb 2 by Blackstone Publishing
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 answers, Adam must confront some difficult truths about his relationship with Sarah. He must do things of which he never thought himself capable.
******
Distress Signals is a debut novel that packs a wallop of a punch! What starts off as a seemingly perfect, easy going relationship between Sarah and Adam turns into something else entirely. For ten years, Sarah has stuck by Adam while he pursued his dreams of becoming a writer. Finally, he seems to have struck gold, selling his screenplay to Hollywood. Things are looking up for him financially and he just might be ready to pop the question to Sarah…see things are going well, right?
When Sarah takes a business trip to Barcelona, Adam doesn’t think too much of the fact that he has only received a quick text from her right after she landed. Then silence. After a couple days of not being able to get ahold of her, Adam starts to feel that niggling worry that something’s most definitely off. When her parents get involved, things go from bad to worse, especially after Sarah doesn’t return on her scheduled return day. The note Adam soon receives in the mail from Sarah is pretty cryptic and he sets off on a one man mission to find out what happened to the love of his life. Did she leave him of her own free will or did something much more sinister happen to her? How big is the rabbit hole Adam is venturing down as he sets off to get these questions answered and how much did he really know Sarah? For that matter, how much do we really know Adam?
Those questions and many more kept swirling around in my head as we follow Adam as he painstakingly recreates Sarah’s movements after she went to Barcelona. And actually, he’s a pretty good detective because little by little he narrows down Sarah’s destination after Barcelona to a cruise ship called the Celebrate. Questions arise…what was she doing on a cruise ship? Was she alone and if not who was she with? What happened after she boarded the ship is where things get very interesting and all I’m going to say about the plot! While most of the story is told from Adam’s perspective, there are a couple subplots that prove to spin an even bigger web for the story. One is Corinne’s, a cruise ship staff member who seems very on edge and to be hiding something most of the time. Another is Romain’s, a man who seems just not quite right and who’s story is told in flashbacks to his childhood. How these threads tie together had me questioning and second guessing myself so much my head was spinning. They also had me staying up SO late one night, quickly turning the pages in an effort to figure out how it all tied together and what happened to Sarah.
The way the author let this complex plot unfold…layer by layer…was perfectly executed. In addition, the details she incorporated surrounding cruise ships and maritime laws was fascinating to say the least. I found this story to be page turning and twisty with characters that may not be who we thought they were, a setting that invites suspense and mystery and an ending that proved my detective skills are subpar at best! This is one debut novel I highly recommend, but get ready to stay up late because you won’t want to put this down.
4.5/5 Stars
Many thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for my copy of this book. I’m happy to provide an honest review.
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Posted in crime fiction, Mystery, psychological thrillerTagged #bookblog, #bookreview, #CatherineRyanHoward, #crime, #cruiseship, #Distresssignals, #fiction, #suspense, Thriller
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31 THOUGHTS ON “REVIEW:DISTRESS SIGNALS BY CATHERINE RYAN HOWARD”
nickimags
February 5, 201712:24 pm
Reply
Great review I loved this too! 🙂
Liked by 1 person
Renee
February 5, 20171:23 pm
Reply
Thank you! It was really good:)
Like
fictionbookdude
February 5, 201712:28 pm
Reply
Adding it to my TBR. Great review!
Liked by 1 person
Renee
February 5, 20171:23 pm
Reply
Thanks so much! Hope you like it when you read it
Liked by 1 person
Lara
February 5, 201712:37 pm
Reply
Your review is really great, but please could you include spoiler warnings up top, for ti has revealed some details in the book ad it seems like a very awesome book to read, I couldn’t help but read your review, very captivating but a bit revealing ❤
Liked by 1 person
Renee
February 5, 20171:22 pm
Reply
Thank you! I didn’t include spoiler warnings because in my review I only highlighted what was already in the blurb above from Goodreads but I can see where the blurb might be somewhat revealing. Thanks for stopping by and commenting
Liked by 1 person
Lara
February 5, 20171:24 pm
right! I don’t read blurbs and all that lol, just feels like i’m getting more than half of the stories and most blurbs are very misleading.
Liked by 1 person
Renee
February 5, 20171:31 pm
You’re right about blurbs, I feel like that to and often edit the blurbs when I use it for a review. This one was tricky to decide how much of the blurb to use. I appreciate your feedback, it’s gotten me thinking about using blurbs verses not in some cases:)
Liked by 1 person
Lara
February 5, 20171:32 pm
Glad to be of help 🙂
Liked by 1 person
Keeper of Pages
February 5, 20171:14 pm
Reply
Great review, I loved this one too. I had no idea about maritime law either before reading this one
Liked by 1 person
Renee
February 5, 20171:25 pm
Reply
Thanks Janel! Not only was the book really good, I learned something new:)
Liked by 1 person
Keeper of Pages
February 5, 20171:27 pm
I’d call that a win-win! I’m looking forward to her next book.
Liked by 1 person
knovelcafe
February 5, 20172:52 pm
Reply
Great review! I commented on Amy’s post yesterday that I’m going on a cruise in September. This sounds so good, but I think I’m going to have to wait until after I return to read it!! 😳
Liked by 1 person
Renee
February 5, 20173:23 pm
Reply
HaHa! That might be best…or you just might be looking over your shoulder the whole time:)
Liked by 1 person
Donna
February 5, 20176:30 pm
Reply
When this book came out, there was so much hype about it that I stayed away but you make me want to reevaluate my decision now and jump on the bandwagon!
Liked by 1 person
Renee
February 5, 20177:48 pm
Reply
I honestly wasn’t sure that I would like it, pretty much any book that’s been compared to Gone Girl I’ve been disappointed in but this one was awesome! I hope you enjoy it if you give it a try
Like
ChicNerdReads
February 5, 20178:13 pm
Reply
Great review! I have not seen this book around at all and it sounds great! I need to read more of this genre! Lol
Liked by 1 person
Renee
February 6, 20173:53 am
Reply
Thank you Gretchen! It can be a hit or miss genre for me sometimes. If you’re going to read one though this is a fun read, it really did keep me up late into the night:)
Liked by 1 person
ChicNerdReads
February 6, 201712:49 pm
Thank you!
Liked by 1 person
Annie
February 5, 20178:29 pm
Reply
Another thing I liked about this is that my city made an appearance 😛
Excellent review, I’m so glad you loved this, I think this is one of those I haven’t seen any negative reviews. As we discussed, that ending was on point!
Liked by 1 person
Renee
February 6, 20173:50 am
Reply
Thanks Annie! I thought of you when Sarah headed to Barcelona:) It was a super fun read for sure
Liked by 1 person
Inge | The Belgian Reviewer
February 5, 20179:47 pm
Reply
I’ve seen this but never felt the attraction really, until now. Excellent review that makes me want to read this one now too 🙂
Liked by 1 person
Renee
February 6, 20173:48 am
Reply
Thanks so much Inge! It’s really a fun read I hope you give it a try
Liked by 1 person
Megan @ bookslayerReads
February 6, 20172:52 am
Reply
Oh, yeah! This sounds awesome! Great review… do you know if this is still available for request on NetGalley? If so, I’ll have to request it because I need to read this asap. 🙂
Like
Diana
February 6, 20176:13 am
Reply
Excellent review. I got this book this year but yet to read it because of a few pending ARCs. It does sound like a great read though so I hope to get to it soon. I love the idea of the cruise ship, I wonder if it will be like Woman in Cabin 10. Looking forward to it though.
Liked by 1 person
Renee
February 6, 201712:45 pm
Reply
It’s a good one Diana, I think you’ll like it.
Like
Ti
February 7, 20175:17 pm
Reply
I haven’t seen this one around but it sounds wonderful.
Liked by 1 person
Renee
February 7, 20179:34 pm
Reply
I was really surprised by how much I liked it!
Like
lvgaudet
March 24, 201711:31 am
Reply
Reblogged this on Cheeky Book Blogger.
Liked by 1 person
Renee (Itsbooktalk)
March 24, 20171:11 pm
Reply
Thanks for the reblog of my review!
Liked by 1 person
lvgaudet
April 9, 201710:48 am
You’re welcome
Liked by 1 person
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Distress Signals by Catherine Ryan Howard – Book Review
By Aisling Murphy - Jul 1, 2016
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Distress Signals is Catherine Ryan Howard’s latest thriller. With a protagonist willing to risk almost everything for answers, a host of untrustworthy characters, and chilling foreshadowing, it’s an enjoyable, suspenseful novel.
Adam Dunne is finally achieving his dream of being a successful movie script writer. After delivering a speech at the university he dropped out of and feeling financially secure enough to really treat his girlfriend Sarah for the first time in years, he couldn’t be happier. However, Sarah’s continued lack of contact while she’s abroad on a business trip begins to worry him, and as it becomes clear that she’s actually disappeared from a cruise ship his life becomes a living nightmare.
Adam is a very likeable character – he has his flaws, but his love for Sarah and determination to find out what really happened makes the reader want him to succeed more than anything else. It also makes it all the more heartbreaking as Adam realises that Sarah may not be coming back to him. Because of maritime law – explained briefly in Distress Signals – finding Sarah could be an almost impossible task, but Adam is determined to find out what happened her.
Distress Signals gives the reader insight into the procedures surrounding filing a missing person complaint, and the frustration that’s involved when the Gardai admit there’s not much they can do if a person doesn’t want to be found. It also shows the drawbacks of them, as it becomes clear that missing people can be harmed whether they disappeared voluntarily or not.
Adam and Sarah’s family and friends have plenty of theories about what really could have happened Sarah, and the more clues that appear the more confusing it becomes. The suspense worked well for most of the novel, but towards the end it became a little overwhelming. Corinne’s and Romain’s stories, set in the past before the events surrounding Sarah’s disappearance, also added suspense to Distress Signals. However, the way their stories ended and the predictable ending to the novel made it quite anti-climactic.
Full of suspense and with a quick-moving plot, Distress Signals by Catherine Ryan Howard was an enjoyable thriller that was very hard to put down.
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Aisling Murphy
A reader, writer and tea drinker. Some of my favourite things include books, superhero movies, dogs, and music. Currently studying New Media and English at UL.
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