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N. V. Baker
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The Boy in the Suitcase (The Concealing Sea Book 1) Kindle Edition

by N. V. Baker (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 83 ratings
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A lonely woman in transit. A bullied boy with a secret. Can friendship save their lives?


On the cusp of 40, Lena, a long-time Goth, takes a Baltic Sea cruise hoping to meet someone who likes her for who she is. An 11-year-old boy considering suicide wasn’t who she had in mind.

Their friendship grows after Lena talks Carter from the ledge, and the boy shares his deepest secret. But one evening, in her unsuccessful pursuit of an attractive fellow passenger, Lena almost forgets her young friend. Until he turns up missing.

Ship security labels it a suicide and the grieving parents agree. Lena isn’t convinced. But if the boy didn’t jump, where is he? With mounting dread, she realizes it is up to her alone to solve the mystery and save the child. Time is running out and self-doubt creeping in. Lena must discover the truth before the ship reaches its final destination….

If you like suspense, complex characters, and tales of friendship, you'll love N.V. Baker's literary thriller set on the Baltic Sea, The Boy in the Suitcase .

By the author of the thriller/love story vanished. A Novel.
Previous page
  1. Book 1 of 1
    The Concealing Sea
  2. Print length
    166 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    December 1, 2017
  6. File size
    947 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

N. V. Baker's novel of suspense, The Boy in the Suitcase, is a hauntingand beautifully written tale of the friendship between a Goth woman and ... ayoung boy, all taking place on a most intriguing cruise along the Gulf ofFinland. Add to it, the strange and creepy woman Carter believes is stalkinghim ... and Marcus, the good-looking man Lena finds intriguing, and you've gotthe recipe for a novel that kept me happily engaged and reading until Ireluctantly turned over the last page. Most highly recommended.
- Readers' Favorite
#
A fast-paced crime thriller with a ticking clock .... Rifewith tough themes; kidnapping and sex trafficking follow on close heels [the]hardships faced by children like Carter and the perils of suicidal ideation.... Iloved that Lena was so tenacious... And Carter! Oh, I loved how 'old soul' thiseleven-year-old seemed.... Highly recommended.
- Manhattan Book Review

From the Author

A cruise ship provides an evocative venue for exploring classic themes of love, deception, fear and heroism. Some megaships boast populations as large as a small town, with many of the same amenities: restaurants, hairstylists, clinics, shops, business services and sanitation. Unlike a small town, though, the people on board are almost total strangers, and leaving town is not an easy option. That realization - which came to me on just such a ship on the Baltic Sea - sparked this story.  

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B076NYN4GP
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ (December 1, 2017)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 1, 2017
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 947 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 166 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 83 ratings

About the author

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N. V. Baker

N. V. Baker

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N. V. Baker enjoys stories with complex characters and intriguing locales, starting with her debut novel, vanished. - part mystery, thriller and love story. That work was inspired in part by a year-long overland journey from Bangkok to West Berlin in 1978, particularly her travels through Afghanistan and Iran when political unrest and revolution simmered.

Her second novel, The Boy in the Suitcase, explores themes of friendship, gender identity and human trafficking over a three-day period on a cruise ship on the Baltic Sea. It is the first in The Concealing Sea suspense series featuring Lena Albright.

Her third novel is slated for release in late 2018.

Baker, a former political science professor and journalist, has also published three books of non-fiction, two in the field of presidential/legal studies. She lives in the high desert in New Mexico.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
83 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Fats Yamaguchi
5.0 out of 5 stars A Marvelous Mystery Tour!
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2017
Verified Purchase
N.V. Baker did it again. The Boy in the Suitcase is short, but powerful. Baker adapts the classic mystery "locked room" problem to a modern luxury cruise ship on the Baltic Seas. Did the troubled young boy jump ship? Is he hiding? Or is something even more sinister in the works? How can one outcast traveler solve the mystery, when even the professionals believe the case is settled?

Baker delivers everything I look for in a good mystery: strong characters, unexpected twists, a fresh premise, and a plot that kept me riveted from start to finish. I highly recommend "Boy in the Suitcase." Even more, though, I recommend adding "N. V. Baker" to your list of followed authors. If she can produce this kind of ride with only her second novel, I can't wait to see what follows.
4 people found this helpful
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Bookaddict
4.0 out of 5 stars Friendship on a cruise
Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2018
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A girl of eleven turning twelve was determined to be a boy. She hated being Jennifer and had remamed herself Carter. His parents did not accept this. The cruise was to celebrate her twelth birthday. She complained bitterly to Lena Albright that a woman called Aurora Boreolis was stalking her. Lena accepted that Carter was born a boy. By doing so, she won the gratitude and affection of Carter. This unlikely pair, with Lena dressed in black, a goth, causing other people to avoid her company and Carter, formed a strong friendship. When Carter disappeared both her parents and the ship's staff quickly jump to the conclusion that she was troubled and had committed suicide. Lena knew it was not true. She devoted herself to searching for her. An attraction to a Policeman on the cruise was a sub-plot. He did not accept her trying to convince him that Aurora was behind the kidnap for the sex trade.
While I enjoyed the story, it seems some authors are becoming quite desperate to find a fresh, original story line, but resorting to a transgender 11 year old, Lena asking the Policeman to sleep with her when she was drunk; Aurora
disguising herself as a portly middle-aged
woman; the date-rape drug being given to
Carter to subdue him in a suitcase under the bed; dimensia for the Policeman's dad all seemed a litte contrived. Carter's parents' rudeness seemed vitreolic too. Was this story intended to align readers' sympathy with several deviant forms of behaviour? Suddenly loving parents were totally out of line for expecting their daughter to be a female. Some skewed ideas, pretending to be modern and cool. No. I do not agree.
3 people found this helpful
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Harmeningo
5.0 out of 5 stars Kudos to NV Baker for creating powerful positive images celebrating divine, diverse young adults
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2019
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Lena is simply spendid, living her own version of an authentic life, loud and proud; she’s a heroine who steps up when a marginalized young child needs a champion. It is vitally important new young adult literature portrays positive role models for those children and young adults who feel differently inside, drummed out by the ‘should be’s’ of mainstream social order. Portraying such genuinely authentic protagonists can often lead readers down sometime uneasy, uncomfortable paths; however, it is by walking those paths that encourage tolerance and acceptance for all. I look forward to Baker’s next book in this series, and applaud her creation of diverse, positive role models which have the power to transform young lives.
One person found this helpful
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Santa Fe Cat
5.0 out of 5 stars Believable, interesting misfit characters I cared about immediately
Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2018
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A compelling read. I read the Kindle version while I was traveling and ended up staying up late, unable to put it down. I loved the characters of Lena and Carter, both misfits who unconditionally accept each other for who they really are, without the masks that society projects on them. Lena's matter-of-fact acceptance of Carter as a trans boy has a sweetness to it that compounds the reader's panic when Carter goes missing. There were lots of surprising plot twists that kept me guessing to the end. N.V. Baker creates a wonderful sense of place, and uses vivid description and pithy dialogue to the best advantage. I cared about the believable characters from the beginning.
4 people found this helpful
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aa
5.0 out of 5 stars A tale of frienship, mystery and adventure
Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2018
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A fast-paced, haunting tale of two outsiders--a troubled, misunderstood 11-year old and a lonely Goth woman on a search of her own. Set on a seemingly idyllic Baltic Sea cruise, the plot unfolds masterfully in unexpected directions. Characters are complex and well-developed. Details of life at sea and land excursions in the Baltics add additional richness to the story. A great read that combines the best of mystery and travel writing. This book is the first of N. K. Baker’s The Concealing Sea, a series with great promise for exploring new areas of the world and the multiplicity of characters, struggles and crimes that can arise on a mega cruise-liner carrying thousands of strangers.
3 people found this helpful
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Beth Cz
4.0 out of 5 stars I wish I had this book to read on my ...
Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2018
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I wish I had this book to read on my last cruise! The story is a page-turning mystery set on a cruise ship. The characters are well crafted and interesting. I can see myself lounging near the cruise ship pool enjoying “The Boy in the Suitcase”.
2 people found this helpful
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Billie Hughes
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful page turner with subtle references to the challenges of being different
Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2018
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This fast moving novel captures the the pain of being "different" in a culture that worships conformity. The fast moving plot explores the relationship between an adolescent and a young, practicing goth woman. The friendship that develops gently explores how it feels to be different from family and "friends". THE BOY IN THE SUITCASE is the first book I read in a day, unable to wait to follow the suspense swirling around so many challenges and true friendship.
4 people found this helpful
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Annie Athens
1.0 out of 5 stars Boring
Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2018
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Another book with so many 4 and 5 star reviews which as an avid reader I found boring. It was obvious what would happen, it was obvious who was involved in the kidnapping. To my mind this was simply an author with her own views regarding the choice of children to have sex changes. Personally I don't agree with this at all, not even using medication in their teens. We hear of so many that have had changes and later in life regret it. To my mind this should be left for them to decide when in their 20's, at least over 21 as we all know that until then our true characters haven't formed. After that they are adults and can decide for themselves. However, even i I didn't consider this part of the book, it made no difference to my rating, half way through I simply turned to the last couple of chapters and nothing new.
3 people found this helpful
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