When Dr. Peter Palma takes a job as a physician on board the Paradise, a cruise ship headed from Copenhagen to New York, it’s as much to escape his past as it is a job. Struggling with personal and professional problems, Peter hopes his work on the Paradise will be routine. But things immediately go awry: his boss is dismissive of his skills, the nurses don’t seem particularly friendly, and—worst of all—his sister Nali has somehow contrived to join him on the cruise as an inescapable reminder of their brother, whose overdose still haunts Peter.

Soon, though, Peter has bigger problems. Passengers and crew members begin behaving in strange ways, acting out aggressively after brief, flu-like illnesses. As social order begins to break down, Peter’s medical training leads him to believe that a virus of some sort is causing people to lose inhibitions and turn violent. Those suspicions are confirmed when a crew member warns him that someone is monitoring communications and unleashing the virus on purpose—with the expectation that the Paradise will deliver chaos to New York City and the world beyond when it docks.

Then, just as he begins to comprehend what he’s up against, Peter notices the symptoms in himself. Now it’s only a matter of time before he loses all control.

Written by Kevin Hwang, THE REGRESSION STRAIN benefits from several smart choices. Hwang’s setting has echoes of Die Hard, as Peter and everyone else are trapped on a floating city that’s running out of medical supplies. Peter himself is a great protagonist—smart enough to figure out what’s happening, but flawed enough to make the outcome uncertain. And the idea behind the virus that turns the Paradise into a floating hell is just plausible enough to be frightening.

Peter becoming infected complicates the tension a bit, as his snapping back and forth between a frothing, hallucinating patient and a rational, intelligent doctor undermines the threat posed by the virus. If Peter can control himself enough to stay on top of what’s happening, after all, the virus’s effect seems less dramatic. Also, the revelation of who’s behind the chaos lacks impact. Overall, however, this is a sharp, fast-paced thriller that will make you think twice about taking a cruise in the future.

A solid thriller buoyed by a claustrophobic setting and a chillingly plausible premise, Kevin Hwang’s THE REGRESSION STRAIN is anchored by a likable protagonist in reluctant-hero mode.

~ Jeff Somers for IndieReader