On Board

A once proud detective, Martin has been devastated by his failure to save a Floridian single-parent family from a serial killer. Guilt overwhelms him and he disappears in skid row. The captain of a cruise ship, saved from death-row by Martin, goes to search for him, with the aid of the ship’s priest, who has a touch of the other-worldliness. They find Martin in a dark lane: a derelict. The captain takes him on board and makes him head of security in the hope of giving him dignity, a seeding – in a normally futile attempt – to wean him off his alcoholism. The captain organises for Martin’s family – wife Francine and daughter Petra – to be on board in the hope of reuniting the family after nearly a year’s estrangement. When a girl is raped-and-killed on board, Martin comes alive to the task of finding the murderer, whom he believes has all the signs of a serial killer in the making. There are many suspects. There is too the fear of a second killing. Meanwhile, a group of teenagers seeks romance and adventure. The priest tries to tell truths about certain passengers by giving them riddles to work out that may lead to self-discovery. A teenage karate expert is determined to challenge a young boxer on his way to America to fight for the world middleweight title, unaware of the boxer's violent history. In a Poirot-like dénouement, Martin gathers the suspects and explains his efforts in finding the killer before naming him. There is the promise of a sequel. In the last scene, Petra proclaims to her father they should go to Florida and resume the search for the serial killer responsible for wiping out three single-parent families. On Board caters to many demographic groups and serves several genres. It has the promise of being a huge commercial success should it be made into a film.