Do Not Become Alarmed

Liv and Nora, cousins from Los Angeles, take their families on a dream cruise for the Christmas holidays. Liv, a successful movie producer, her engineer husband Benjamin, their outspoken 11 year old daughter Penny and son Sebastian are over the top excited. Nora and handsome movie star Raymond (yes, Liv introduced them) bring their introverted son Marcus and 6 year old daughter Junie. The plan is that the parents will get a much needed break from work and household duties and the kids will have entertainment galore. The ship is everything they hoped and they easily fall into a daily routine that suits all their needs. Feeling like its time to finally get off at one of the stops in Central America - Liv organizes an exciting zip line adventure. Little did she know their lives would never be the same again. After an unfortunate succession of bad decisions with unknown consequences the families are separated. The children have disappeared. The families camp out at a hotel while they work with professionals to follow the few clues they have and get their children back safely. The once loving cousins are at each others throats, the wives resent the husbands for having gone to the golf course that day and it is very hard to decipher (in Spanish) who they should trust. WOW! This adrenaline rollercoaster of emotion by Maile Meloy is UNPUTDOWNABLE. Fast paced and filled with suspense and flashes of reality, my heart was racing as I turned each page. It is to a certain extent a mystery but it is also about marriage, parenthood and survival of the fittest in every culture. Highly recommend this #SummerRead. It will keep you on the edge of your beach chair!! Don’t fall in and ruin your kindle!