The Blue: A Novel

A spellbinding novel of the vastness of the ocean, a sailing expedition of a seven member crew on a 50 ft. yacht "The Blue" authored by Lucy Clarke.On an extended holiday from England, Lana and her lifelong best friend Kitty were enjoying the tropics and beauty in the Philippines. Lana, upset with her father, was facing profound disappointment. Kitty's acting career never reached the success she had hoped for. Both women were looking for adventure as they attempted to avoid their troubles. Intrigued and impressed when they became acquainted with the crew of The Blue and visited the yacht, Lana and Kitty eagerly accepted the offer to join the fun loving crew. The voyage beginning in the Philippines would end in New Zealand, and take as long as 8 months, depending on the weather and daily covered nautical miles.The wise experienced Skipper of The Blue, Aaron was a thoughtful and reserved man. Although all decisions were voted on by the crew, Aaron expected to maintain a reasonable order, his authority was followed without question. Relationships among crew members were forbidden to avoid strife and confusion. Lana and Denny attempted to honor all the rules and hid the desire and chemistry between them. When Lana and Denny went snorkeling before setting sail, someone was following and watching them. This was unnerving, Denny did not want to reveal his attraction of Lana to Aaron, as Lana wondered who was following them and why, she discussed the strange situation with Kitty.It was necessary to sail before March 15th, Lana attempted to understand why so much seemingly important information wasn't shared openly among the crew. After the expedition began, the yacht was constantly monitored, crewmembers participating in a 24 hour rotating watch. After a week at sea, the crew had been drinking (spiked drinks) late into the night. The crew discovered a missing member the next day, no one knew what happened to him or why.While it was true the missing man was on the yacht under shady circumstances he didn't deserve to go overboard (March 15th). Was this a possible suicide? The man was obviously troubled. Aaron had a prior volatile disagreement with him, there was some blood on the deck, yet no one witnessed what happened.. or, if they did, weren't saying. The grueling spotlight search through the water was unsuccessful, as Lana discovered clues in the missing man's notebooks. Lana also began to feel fear when Aaron suggested the yacht would be impounded for an unknown amount of time if the situation was investigated, their expedition would end. The crew was in shock and distraught over the tragedy, yet the majority voted not to report the incident to port authorities.The story is narrated by Lana alternating between "then" and "now" as she recalled both past and current events that occurred before and after The Blue reportedly sank. Each crewmember understandably had their own private life stories, and some were more reluctant to share details then others. The Blue allowed crew members to escape the more unpleasant and mundane realities of life on land, in Lana's case she sought temporary escape from paternal betrayal. The sailing adventure connected these seven individuals in unforgettable intrigue, mystery that explored how fast and instant are changes from the human condition combined with the natural elements that forever impact a person's life.Lucy Clarke is an acclaimed international novelist, previous novels include A Single Breath (2014), and The Sea Sisters (2013). Clarke lives in the UK. Many thanks to Simon & Schuster for this value priced e-novel for the purpose of review.

Very,very good. Throughly enjoyed.Definitely will recommend to my friends. I will keep an eye out for more from this author.

WOW---WHAT A GREAT BOOK! I have literally become tired of mystery books that have a serial killer chasing his prey through the woods, the amnesiac waking up in her hospital bed after a car accident and wondering who is trying to kill her, the police chief's son, daughter, niece or nephew being kidnapped, the newspaper editor receiving letters from a madman who is intent on blowing up the city in two hours time and taunting him and the police to find him before he performs the dastardly deed--well, you get the picture. Most of the above-mentioned scenarios have been repeated endlessly in mysteries. But THE BLUE is quite different. Lana, Kitty, Shell, Denny, Heinrich, Aaron and Joseph have come from different backgrounds to sail on a yacht owned by Aaron, namely christened THE BLUE. At the offset, everything is perfect;, the boat, the weather, the friendliness between the 7 adventurers. But as time goes on, differences crop up, arguing breaks out and eventually a death occurs. Ms. Clarke divides her storyline into Then and Now segments. In other books, this might be annoying but it works well here. I am not a lover of the open seas, but I could envision myself sailing on the beautiful yacht under bright blue and sunny skies in the water off the Philippines. But then the ugliness sets in, pitting friend against friend, and when the death of one of the crew occurs everything they have shared starts to unravel. Ms. Clarke moves the story along at lightning speed, with just enough mystery to whet your appetite. Who has died on the yacht and why? What will the consequences be? Will their lives ever be the same again? An excellent read which I enjoyed from beginning to end.

I'm really not into ocean stories but it sounded as if it would not be too "nautical". The alternating flashback chapters were not as annoying as some books I have read. However, the action was slow and was not as fast-paced as I usually prefer. I usually don't finish a book I don't love but since this was a short book I decided to plow through to the end! I was somewhat disappointed although the ending was pretty good!

I won't recap the story here. If you want an interesting, mystery set around beaches, a boat and islands then this may be the book for you. I read this on my vacation in the outer banks NC. I felt it was a good vaction read for the following reasons.1. It was interesting enough but I could stop reading mid paragraph and then pick it up again without missing a beat. I find this perfect for the beach where you are constantly interrupted.2. The descriptions surrounding islands, the water, beaches and places were detailed but not so detailed that they became annoying.3. The relationships felt real. New ones come and go and old ones change over time.4. The ending had a tiny twist I didn't see coming.I found this book in some magazine that was recommending it as a good beach read. And I have to agree ( ;

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the character development. There was intrigue, mystery, surprise. I just finished so may add more to my review after I've processed it more. Leaves you thinking and kept me reading. Was anxious to go to bed early to read. That's a good book for me. I've really enjoyed all her books.

When my sister and I recommend books to each other, the way we know that the other sister considers the book, story, movie etc. one of the best ever is that we say, "You find yourself thinking about the story again and again, long after the book is finished. And you find yourself missing, or even grieving for, characters..." wholly created from the mind of this amazing writer. This is that book. I just finished buying all of the other novels by Lucy Clarke that I could find. I consider it money well spent.

This is an engaging story and now its a TV series! Congratulations to Lucy Clarke.

Book in great shape and I'm enjoying it. Thank you

Keeps you guessing loved itLots of twists and turns and a different take on life than anything I have read before

Meh, so-so.