The Cabin Below

A Psychological Suspense Thriller

By: N. L. Hinkens

Narrated by: Robin Rowan

What happens on the water, stays on the water.

Or so they thought. Allison and her handsome, charismatic husband, Doug, are on a Caribbean cruise to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary. But the steady stream of idyllic photos and happy hashtags they post online is hiding a dangerous rift in their relationship. Allison has long suspected that Doug is having an affair. Despite his impassioned denials and smooth-talking alibis, she’s unconvinced of his innocence and determined to dig for the truth, no matter the cost.

And she’s not the only one delving into their secrets. The couple they’ve befriended on the cruise has been watching them. And they’ve come to a disturbing conclusion of their own. When Allison disappears the night before the ship docks back in Florida, they bring their terrifying suspicions to the police.

But the truth about Allison’s whereabouts proves even more shocking than anyone imagined.

Will you enjoy The Cabin Below? If you read any of my favorite psychological and domestic suspense thriller authors including K.L. Slater, Shalini Boland, Adam Croft, Kathryn Croft, Lisa Gardner, Louise Jensen, or Rachel Caine, the answer is a resounding yes!

©2020 Norma L. Hinkens (P)2020 Norma L. Hinkens

Well thought out plans always work out. Right?

You might think after reading or listening to twelve books by the same author you would be able to predict where the story is going, and which character is going to be the one who commits the heinous act. That is exactly what I thought about The Cabin Below, the thirteenth book I’ve listened to by Norma Hinkens.

Right from the start I “knew” where this story was going and how the culprit was and how they were going to do the deed. I held firm with this as the story continually confirmed my predictive success. I was feeling oh so smug knowing that I finally saw through the story, all the way up until I learned I was wrong. At which point all I could do was say “well-played Norm, Well-played.”

With each new book from this author, I seemingly think it is my favorite, but in the case of The Cabin Below it has to be the best of the best simply because it took me on such an interesting/entertaining ride that proved my hypothesis wrong. I’m sure whatever the next story Norma HInkens has in store for her readers will be just as entertaining, but for now I’ll have to be content realizing once again she has more than entertained me for several hours, she has challenged my detective skills and once again they have been found wanting. One last thought, but certainly not least, Robin Rowan did an excellent job narrating the story and bringing it and each character to life through voices, excellent pacing, and intonation.

Narration ruined the book

The actual story isn’t bad but… The narration on the audible version of this book is…. Awful. I mean I rarely write negative things because I’m such a hardcore millennial and hate the idea of the actual person somehow reading my comment and feeling bad about themselves so if the woman who narrated this book is reading this… I’m sorry… I’m sure you’re a lovely person but for the love of god, please stop with the over the top voices for each character!! It was truly off putting. If I didn’t waste a credit on this book (I.e. if it were part of audible plus) I would have stopped listening after 1-2 chapters.

Pretty good

It was a little frustrating to see what was happening so blatantly, but overall the story was entertaining enough. I really liked Sophia's character, she seemed like someone you'd want to be friends with in real life. I liked the detective too. Most of the characters didn't seem as stupid as you see in many of the other books in this genre, so that was refreshing.

Really not that good

After reading the reviews I was expecting a great book. I was sorely disappointed! The plot itself is a decent idea. However I found the authors writing to be poor. There is a lot of boring dialogue and cliche language. The characters development is shallow and boring. The voices of the female characters were distinct but a couple of them were rather irritating to listen to. This was one of those books I should have exchanged!

Great Book!

Loved the story and the narrator! I couldn't put it down. I recommend it for sure!

An enjoyable, unique 4 1/2 star read

The Cabin Below: A psychological suspense thriller (Villainous Vacations Collection - Standalone Thrillers), my eleventh amazing (266-page/7-hour 13-minute) read from author N.L. Hinkens. I enjoyed the outstanding suspense story-line with its intricately woven twists and turns, all of Hinken's works have more knots than Alexander the Greats Gordian Knot, although a bit slower to develop than her earlier works I'd read (it was beause of the detailed development in her work), I still had to read to the end to know how it was going to turn out! Norma (N.L.) Hinkens is on my radar of great authors! I was given an Audible copy of this book and am voluntarily reading & reviewing it. Narrator Robin Rowan's narration adds to the book's enjoyment. Never Tell Them is next on my TBR list. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).

Narrator chosen was a horrible choice

I’m unsure why someone not only picked, but approved Robin Rowan to narrate this book is beyond me. To start, she’s got to be late 60s to mid 70s and narrated the voice of two women in their 30s?? Why! It completely ruined the book! I had such a hard time relating to the characters who sounded like they needed to be making a trip so the senior home, not a Caribbean cruise. There are so many amazing female narrators… Julia Whelan, Dara Rosenberg, and Erin Bennet to name a few. Robin Rowan’s whinny, senior citizen voice just absolutely ruined the entire experience. If you want to relate to the characters this book is not for you. The story was great and a narrator can absolutely make or break a book. This narrator broke this book unfortunately.

Another Great Read

Lots of twist - kept me captivated throughout. I truly enjoyed reading her book. This is the 2nd book I’ve read and I’ve become a fan.

Revenge………..a dish best served cold

I loved this book. I can’t tell you how gleeful I was the last half hour of the story or so. Some thought this wasn’t good but I have to disagree. It kept me entertained and I was able to listen to it all in one go.

Good twists

I chose to listen to this book after receiving a free audio copy from the author. All opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.

I didn’t care for these relationships. Doug and Allison have a troubled marriage and although they are supposed to be on the cruise to celebrate their anniversary and to move on, it doesn’t seem that either of them truly believes that the cruise will help. Their new friends are also celebrating their anniversary. They profess to have a good marriage but all he does is drink. And then there was the head of security and his girlfriend…there’s not one good relationship!

It took me a little while to get into this book, but I’m glad I stuck with it. The second half was suspenseful with some twists.

The narrator did a good job with timing and pace. I was able to differentiate between men and women but not the specific person, but it worked out fine.

This is the second book I’ve read by this author, and I look forward to reading more.