Published August 2023
The Halcyon Crisis
Negotiation only works from the outside of the locked room.
Pirates attack a cruiseliner on a trans-oceanic route; a retired hostage negotiator picked the worst time for a vacation.
Drew Harrison Available now
Reader notes
Readers love The Halcyon Crisis
“A captivating and original high-seas thriller, The Halcyon Crisis by Drew Harrison takes readers into the fascinating bowels and drama of a cruise ship as it navigates the dangers of a brazen pirate takeover. What the tech-savvy terrorists don’t expect is a skilled hostage negotiator among the ragtag cast of rebellious and entertainingly entitled travelers. Impressively capturing the energy and personalities of cruise directors, vice admirals, travel bloggers and villains alike, Harrison patiently unfurls this ransom-driven plot with masterful suspense, peppered with tongue-in-cheek narration and countless moments of clever dialogue. A conspiratorial heist like few others, this creative and compelling read is an ideal piece of escapism.”
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Extended synopsis
Former FBI crisis negotiator Johnathan Harper was trying to enjoy his retirement… a cruise vacation was supposed to be the ideal getaway, a chance to finally make some new friends.
But the perfect vacation proved the perfect target. When a gang of sophisticated, highly trained pirates takes over a cruise ship, passengers and crew must enter a desperate fight for survival on the high seas. John finds himself involuntarily thrust back into his old line of work, grappling with the ghosts of his greatest personal failing… and as John knows all too well, negotiation only works from the outside of the locked room.
When the pirates eject all Halcyon crew on the ship’s lifeboats, they accidentally left one behind: Willa Thompson. Now, she’ll have to leverage her knowledge of the ship’s secrets to successfully infiltrate the pirate forces… a saboteur among the enemy, locked in a deadly game of cat and mouse.
And while the pirates negotiate with the Navy for their pay day, not everyone on the ship merely sits idly by… travel blogger Nina Collins finds herself suddenly at the center of a small group of tourists planning a guest resistance. But when the enemy is masked, and when imposters move among the tourists, who can Nina truly trust?
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