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The author's narrative begins with a rather somber tone, zeroing in on the main character, Ron Pritchard, holding an urn. After working tirelessly for two and a half decades, Ron and his wife, Susan, were ready to celebrate their twenty-fifth anniversary in grand fashion with a trip to Tahiti. It was their time to enjoy life. Unfortunately, life and cancer had a drastically different plan, stealing Susan within a month of her diagnosis. Set against this backdrop, Pritchard packs Susan's mortal remains and decides to continue with the trip.
From the get-go, the emotional turmoil created by Plautz is gut-wrenching, particularly because of how it resonates universally with families who spend decades of their lives toiling away in hopes that their time to "enjoy life" will come. However, the emptiness of the opening quickly gives way to chaos after Pritchard misses his flight to Bora Bora and resorts to a small charter aboard "Cooper's Charters," run by Teddy Cooper, an opportunist looking to score a huge drug deal with the sinister Snake Caputo. A perfect storm of events brings together singer Taylor Smith, her team, and Pritchard as they strive for survival.
Numerous themes are embedded within the narrative. Viewing Smith as a gigantic cash grab, Teddy demonstrates what can happen when one is consumed by greed. At the same time, Teddy's fate directly trickles down to the remaining players, chiefly Pritchard, Smith, and Smith's entourage, which includes her mother, best friend, agent, and bodyguard. In survival mode, the characters are forced to detach from their former lives and simply focus on a whatever-it-takes mode. From a development perspective, Plautz does a commendable job of bringing out dormant aspects of character personalities by putting them in high-leverage situations. A bag of drugs worth over 100K, Pritchard's promise to spread his wife's ashes on the beach in Tahiti, and Smith's photoshoot all create highly-incentivized, pressure-packed scenarios where every decision is magnified.
In a race against time, Pritchard and company find themselves in an unusual predicament. They want to be found, but if Snake Caputo and his goons find them before the USS Preble, the outcome will be nothing short of calamitous. With all the nonstop action, Plautz uses effective pacing to ensure that audiences are able to stay engaged with each individual's character arc while simultaneously painting a comprehensive picture of the environment the group is placed in. As the plot continues to unravel, a strong sentiment is conveyed: though one moment can make one's life feel like it has become frozen in time and tragedy, by simply moving forward, the unexpected awaits. In the spirit of survival stories, Pritchard plays his role to a tee, pushing beyond the tragedy he has endured in order to keep the entire group around him composed. Audiences will undoubtedly find him endearing and easy to connect with. Ultimately, Plautz's narrative is a highly entertaining experience that takes an element of traditional dystopian fiction—specifically, a life-threatening event—and explores it from its own unique angle.