The best nonfiction, in my mind, reads like a novel. It's filled with compelling characters and takes you to a place you'd never otherwise experience. It tells a story that grabs you by the throat and won't let you stop reading. Cabin Fever falls into that category, with frightening similarities to other narrative nonfiction I couldn't put down ... While the people at the core of the story talk about their terror and coping strategies during the worst of their confinement in small cabins (some without windows), I would have liked more reflection from them on how they survived the claustrophobic experience ... But the book does what it sets out to do as a true-life page-turner. Smith, who covered the Zaandam's journey for Bloomberg Businessweek, and South American journalist Franklin have done a masterful job of detailed reporting on what happened, what went wrong and how it all ended.
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 ... A harrowing thriller that brings the wide-ranging impacts of the COVID pandemic into the microcosmic enclosed world of a cruise ship.
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 ... 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.
Smith and Franklin eschew the Bob Woodward approach, writing in the omniscient third-person, not trying to recreate dialogue. Each dispatch is dated and time-stamped as we read about the characters’ journey from 'everything’s going to be all right out here in our adult playground on the ocean' to knocks on doors as trays of food are dropped outside cabins by crew members wearing hazmat suits. The result reads like the longest newspaper story ever written mixed with the requisite dramatic flourishes required to keep readers turning pages ... The Zaandam’s journey, of course, was well covered by the media. It was one of more than 100 cruise ships at sea when COVID broke out. Thanks to social media and wi-fi, passengers shared their misery in real time. But putting it all together in a format like this gives it the proper context. It’s easy in hindsight to think it wasn’t that bad. At least six Zaandam passengers ultimately died, but the death toll in the U.S. alone has now exceeded one million people. Smith and Franklin’s riveting recount of the cruise take readers back to a time I’m sure many of them would like to forget — when fear trumped everything and nobody knew what the future looked like. It’s an impressive example of narrative journalism. Perhaps too soon for some, but a worthy addition to the historical record.
... gripping ... 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.
... gripping ... 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.
