A deadly virus stows away aboard the cruise ship Zaandam on its trip around South America in this gripping chronicle of the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. Journalists Smith and Franklin (A Wild Idea) recount how nearly 200 passengers and crew members fell sick as the Zaandam remained at sea for 21 days in March 2020. Though Holland America executives were monitoring Covid-19 before the Zaandam set sail on March 8, they believed the 781-foot-long ship was "immune to such threats," and took almost no precautions. There were no temperature checks upon boarding, no policies regarding masks and social distancing, no test kits, and only two doctors and four nurses to care for the crew and the largely retired and elderly passengers. As the ship's medical center filled with patients struggling to breathe, the crew--following corporate mandates--continued to promote group activities, causing more people to fall ill. Refused entry by port after port as the world awoke to the dangers of Covid-19, the Zaandam's passengers and crew members hunkered down in their cabins and were horrified to learn that several of their shipmates died. Extensive firsthand testimony and the authors' brisk, matter-of-fact style enrich this propulsive account of how a holiday cruise turned into a nightmare. Readers will be riveted and appalled. (June)

Fear, uncertainty, and denial coalesced at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and caused unnecessary suffering throughout the world, but the situation on cruise ships at sea when the virus exploded in early 2020 was especially acute. Journalists Smith and Franklin report with vivid detail in this humanizing account of the voyage of anguish and isolation on Holland America's virus-assaulted Zaandam, revealing the experiences of both crew and passengers. Cruise ships are meant to be floating oases of comfort, luxury, and entertainment, but they are also ideal environments for spreading germs. The authors track the extraordinary efforts of the Zaandam's crew members to combat COVID-19, protecting and caring for elderly passengers and each other. In stark contrast, nations denied the ship a safe port to evacuate the sick, while the Trump administration remained indifferent. Though there's much to explore pertaining to the pandemic and the cruise ship industry, Smith and Franklin chose to focus on the resourcefulness and altruism of the crew. The result is a well-written, fast-paced, real-life thriller highlighting people caught in a nightmare situation and their triumph over adversity.

It is the early days of 2020 and people are closely watching an ominous virus. But cruise ships are still in operation. The Zaandam, a Holland America cruise dedicated for older people, takes on its globe-spanning passengers in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for a trip around the South American continent. What starts out as a normal cruise quickly becomes a nightmare as COVID hits both passengers and crew. As ports close to the ship, lockdowns begin, and passengers start dying, an international diplomatic scramble ensures to try and help the stranded ship and the people on board before things get worse. Smith and Franklin follow the story from all angles, the passengers, the crew, the officers, and those on land, including families and diplomats, to create a poignant and timely narrative. The writing makes readers feel as if they are there, weathering the ups and downs and unbelievable turns of fate of those on board. It is a riveting true story that will keep people turning pages until the end. VERDICT A harrowing thriller that brings the wide-ranging impacts of the COVID pandemic into the microcosmic enclosed world of a cruise ship.--Laura Hiatt

The story of a stranded cruise ship at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. In this gripping work of narrative nonfiction, journalists Smith and Franklin share the stories of the passengers and crew of Holland America's Zaandam. In early March 2020, the ship was set to depart Buenos Aires on a monthlong journey around the tip of South America before ending at a dry dock in Port Everglades, Florida. As the authors note, the majority of the more than 1,200 passengers were seniors from around the world--three-quarters over 65, and many were in their 80s. The ship also contained approximately 600 crew members from various nations who typically worked in close quarters seven days per week for more than 12 hours per day. Unknown to most passengers, "forty-eight minutes before the Zaandam's departure, the U.S. State Department posted a warning about COVID-19 that was as unprecedented as it was unambiguous: 'American citizens, especially those with underlying conditions, should not travel by cruise ship.' " Though news about the virus had been circulating, Holland America had refused refunds. Additionally, according to passengers, safety protocols were lax during boarding, despite assurances to the contrary, and social events continued largely as normal. At the first stops on their ports-of-call list, however, the passengers could sense the tension. Locals had become afraid of the virus arriving in their areas by cruise ship and wanted them out. When similar concerns spread around the world, ports began to close, and the ship faced dwindling supplies and an overwhelmed medical staff, which consisted of only two doctors and four nurses. The authors skillfully capture the fear and claustrophobia that set in as increasing numbers of passengers and crew members began to fall victim to the then-mysterious illness, requiring quarantine, as well as the struggles they faced during their journey back home and beyond. A riveting real-life drama that may reawaken your Covid-19 fears. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.