My Two Cents: SAVAGE VOYAGE by Cassandra O'Sullivan Sachar

As a horror movie fan, I love to see some of the franchises I loved in years past being rediscovered by today's audiences, and enjoying a Renaissance of sorts in terms of popularity. With the upcoming streaming series "Crystal Lake" tackling a new perspective on the over-trodden "Friday the 13th" story, and recent new entries into the "Scream," "Evil Dead," and "Resident Evil" film series, it's not only fun to see fresh life breathed into old favorites, but to catch up with fondly remembered, familiar characters who've been brought back into the fold. Granted, those are often just cameo appearances, and true, it can be a bit of a culture shock to see that characters we remember only too well as fresh-faced girls have morphed into middle-aged women teetering on the brink of menopause, but hell, life catches up to all of us eventually, even if slasher killers like Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers never did.

This exact nostalgia, along with the harsher realities of life beyond the big screen, are at the heart of "Savage Voyage," author Cassandra O'Sullivan Sachar's upcoming new release. In "Savage Voyage," Hilary Hansen is a former scream queen, whose role as Jenna O'Malley. the plucky final girl in a series of late 1990s "Savage" slasher flicks granted her a fleeting glimpse of Hollywood stardom. These days, however, the bright lights are behind Hilary, and she works as a housekeeper, scrubbing toilets and polishing grout in posh homes she can't afford to even dream about owning. She's had a downturn in luck since her "Savage" starlet days, and faces mounting medical bills after her daughter is severely injured in a car crash. Thus, when a mysterious and wealthy benefactor, "Mr. Calhoun," sends an envoy to offer Hilary the chance to be his V.I.P. guest on a tropical cruise themed entirely around the "Savage" movies, she can hardly resist.

She's tempted to, however. Her days as Jenna O'Malley have left emotional scars on her psyche for a number of reasons revealed through the course of the story. Revisiting that time in her life will only reopen old wounds, she knows, yet the money is too good to pass up, especially since it will go toward benefitting her daughter. Reluctantly, she accepts, agreeing to attend cocktail parties, meet-and-greets, autograph sessions, and roundtable discussions with fans of the film series, as well as past costars, aboard the luxury cruise ship the "Savage Voyage."

Seeing old friends from the films isn't as horrible as Hilary first feared, and just when she begins to think maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all, embracing her past and all the tried-and-true fans who remain faithfully adoring. Then she walks into her ship cabin and finds a dead body in her bed--a man who's been murdered in a shockingly gruesome manner eerily reminiscent of a kill scene from one of the "Savage" movies. More deaths quickly follow, and it becomes evident that someone on board the ship is more than just a passing fan of the films--they mean to reenact the carnage in real life. Hilary finds herself reluctantly taking up the banner of final girl again, and this time, it's not just for the camera.

This was a wickedly fun read. O'Sullivan Sachar knows how to pivot from lighthearted to dark and twisted in the flip of a page. Hilary is a hero who's easy to cheer on, and a far more developed and nuanced character than any hapless coed in a B-grade movie. She's smart, strong, capable, and fierce, and the most fun comes from watching as she slowly realizes all of that for herself. This ain't your grandmother's final girl. This is a final woman, through and through, and a badass one at that.

"Savage Voyage" releases November 15. You can preorder here.