Book Review: Forever Doomed

Title: Forever Doomed

Author: MaryAnn Kempher

Genre: Mystery

Age Group: Adult

Rating: 4 stars

Purchase: Amazon

Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

It’s not wise to wander the cruise ship Forever alone at night. You might not live to see daylight.

Detective Jack Harney agrees to do an old Army buddy a favor. Curt Noble had some personal business to attend to, he didn’t say what. What he did say was he needed someone to temporarily take over his duties as head of security on the struggling cruise ship Forever. Jack hesitates, but he owes Curt his life so agrees. He’s told the worst mischief he can expect to encounter will be the occasional shoplifter, or drunk. Instead, one week into the cruise, a beautiful red head and a member of the crew are ruthlessly murdered. Are the two murders connected? It’s up to Jack to find out. He must find the killer before the ship returns to Tampa’s port, or worse, before another dead body is found. This won’t be easy. The ship is old, it’s security systems outdated, and clues are few, or so it seems at first

It’s not just a sense of obligation that motivates Jack to agree to Curt’s request; Jack moved thousands of miles, started over, and still can’t get Amy O’Brian out of his heart or mind. When she shows up on the ship, as part of a large wedding party, Jack must fight to stay focused. To make matters worse, Amy isn’t his only distraction; a sexy and mysterious woman has made it her mission to seduce Jack.

As the body count rises, and time slips away, Jack has to ask himself, “Did someone commit the perfect crime?”

Even though I didn’t read the first book, I could follow the story of Forever Doomed just fine. The book starts by introducing us to Jack Harney, who takes over his best friend Curt’s responsibilities as head of security while the latter takes care of some personal business. Unfortunately for Jack, things are about to get very messy. Another security guard, Matt, and a beautiful woman named Pam, are both found murdered. Jack has to find out who the killer is before the ship returns to Port, or before the killer makes another victim. On top of that, Amy turns up on board as part of a large wedding party. Amy, the girl Jack can’t forget, no matter how much he wants to. With love and the perils of the heart blocking his logic, Jack must act quickly to find the killer.

Because it all happens on a ship, and there’s no way to get off the ship until it reaches shore, the book kind of reads like a locked-room mystery. The killer is on board of the ship and can strike again at any moment. This instantly makes the book a whole lot more suspenseful.

I figured out the murderer rather quickly though, but that didn’t ruin my fun. The author has a fluent writing style. The characters had a surprising amount of depth, and the plot was solid. Give this one a shot if you enjoy mysteries.