Collision
A Novel
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 rescue vessel. 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 headquarters in Miami wants to avoid: cut the engines.
Collision is a maritime thriller by one of Germany's most celebrated crime writers, building suspense through the eyes of a diverse array of memorable characters, among them Karim Yacine, the Algerian captain of the raft disable; Lalita Masarangi, member of the massive cruise ship's security team; and Sybille Malinowski, an elderly passenger on holiday with her sister, which, as the drama at sea continues to unfold, seems to be turning increasingly sinister.
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 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).
Alexandra Roesch is a bilingual translator based in Frankfurt am Main. She grew up in England, studied Business and Modern Languages in London and initially worked in the Banking Industry before moving to Germany in 1997. She recently completed a M.A. in Translation at the University of Bristol, including extensive studies of Alfred Döblin, Günter Grass and Ralf Rothmann. She translates extracts and short stories for major German and Swiss publishers.
