Chardownes2
A novel by Char Downes
The ocean holds memories.
And it never forgets.
Captain Gina Hernandez has charted hundreds of voyages, but nothing prepares her for the week-long cruise of the SS Trident, a luxury cruise ship sailing through paradise... and straight into legend. With stops in Barbados, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Mexico, Cuba, Bahamas and a daring course through the Bermuda Triangle, the trip promises beauty and prestige.
Captain Gina and friends venture off the ship, to learn about historic landmarks at each different port. When she begins to spot patterns, riddles and messages encoded into architecture and a unknown object found drifting in the middle of the ocean. These references belong to two of the sea's most haunted vessels... The deeper she digs, the more that Trident feels like a mausoleum dressed in luxury. Something old is waking. And it's using the ship to speak.
Told from Gina's unraveling perspective, Cold Water is a taut psychological thriller layered with hidden puzzles, eerie maritime history, and personal easter eggs left by the author-some obvious, many buried deep. As each chapter reveals another secret, crew realise this voyage was never about the destination. It's about surviving the unforeseen forces upon them.
For fans of Blindspot, The Terror, and House of Leaves, Cold Water is a dark voyage through mind, myth, and maritime mystery. The answers are there, if you're willing to drown to find them.