Collision

A raft with eleven Algerian refugees, running low on fuel. A cruise ship, with a small town’s worth of international passengers and crew members. An Irish freighter. A Spanish sea rescue craft. One single point of convergence in a vast wash of blue water.

Miami-based The Spirit of Europe – the third largest cruise liner in the world – plows through the Mediterranean every summer, offering its passengers a temporary escape from their everyday lives. But even the bloated tackiness of the ship’s much-hyped belly flop competition is not immune to the chaos of the European migration crisis. When a disabled raft nears The Spirit of Europe, the ship’s captain is forced to do something the company would like to avoid: cut the engines.

Collision is a maritime thriller by one of Germany’s most celebrated crime writers, building suspense through the POVs of a diverse array of characters. Central to all of it is Nikhil “Nike” Mehta, the cruise ship’s ambitious head of security who, like an illusionist, makes the ship’s relentless problems disappear. As Collision races toward its surprising conclusion, Nike’s particular solution for the Algerian refugees at sea might just be his greatest slight of hand yet.

Merle Kröger is an internationally acclaimed filmmaker and novelist. In 2016, she will be releasing a documentary film in Germany based on the events that served as the inspiration for Collision, a bestseller in Germany with a ranking of #28 on the Spiegel list.

Rachel Hildebrandt has published both fiction and nonfiction works in translation, including Grace: A Biography by Thilo Wydra and Staying Human by Katharina Stegelmann (both from Skyhorse).