Setting: Philippines
Time Period: 1981

A cruise to the Philippines sounds like the perfect vacation, right? However, it turned into a nightmare for the characters in “Stranded.” The emergency signal sounded, passengers were loaded into lifeboats and then the unthinkable happened… The lifeboats exploded. You would assume there would be no survivors, but there are, and they were the most unusual group you could put together for a story of survival in the Philippine islands!

“Stranded” could fit into many genres of Christian Fiction. In some ways, it was very much an adventurous / survivalist type story. On the other hand, there was quite the mystery behind the sinking cruise ship and towards the end, an element of suspense. It had romance, grief, sacrifice and friendship that only comes when a group of people live together on a deserted island for months and months. Since I don’t read a lot of books like “Stranded,” I liked how the story went and even felt that it had an authentic, original story line. Of course, I know the general idea of being lost somewhere and needing rescued isn’t new in any way, I just really thought the events specific to this novel were unique and plotted well.

The story moved very fast at the beginning, so the whole book was set on the island and focused on the four’s ability to survive in an environment totally different from what they knew back home. The only hero in the book, Jake, was in the Marine Corps, and was basically responsible for the whole group’s survival. The other three survivors were two women and a little girl, which added quite the dynamic to the story. All four characters were very different from each other and I liked how memorable they all were!

Conclusion: At this point, I’m halfway through my “Around The World In 80 Books” reading challenge. To be specific, this book is #45 for me. So I’ve read quite a few books in different countries and genres. It can be easy to feel overwhelmed and burnt out after absorbing that many different cultures and settings one after another. “Stranded” was a really good fit for me at this point, because it didn’t really fit in one genre. It was different and kept me guessing. (I mean, after a while, I was beginning to wonder if they were ever getting off that island!) Bottom line? Good book!