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In March 1998, the Bradley family—Ron, Iva, and their children, Amy and Brad—boarded the Rhapsody of the Seas for a week-long Caribbean cruise. The trip was a chance to celebrate Ron’s success at work and Amy’s college graduation.
In the early hours of March 24, Amy Bradley—a pretty, athletic 23-year-old—returned to the family’s stateroom with Brad after dancing at the ship’s nightclub. Amy grabbed a blanket and went out to sleep on the balcony. A few hours later, her father awoke to find her gone. What happened to her remains a mystery.
Did Amy fall or jump into the water? Did she leave the boat voluntarily when it docked at Curaçao that morning? Was she smuggled off against her will and trafficked in one of the island’s brothels? In a baffling case filled with false leads, rumors, and conflicting witness reports, the only certainty is that, nearly three decades later, the Bradleys are still looking for Amy.
Now, acclaimed investigative journalist James Renner provides the first definitive account of Amy’s disappearance, enriched with his own personal narrative that explores themes of identity, loss, and the deeply human need to find meaning in tragedy.
With empathy and a keen eye, Renner interviews witnesses who speak on record for the first time, offering fascinating new theories, and explores a little-known side of Amy’s life that may explain everything about her fate.
- Print length320 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherCitadel
- Publication dateJuly 28, 2026
- Dimensions6.3 x 1.12 x 9.3 inches
- ISBN-100806543353
- ISBN-13978-0806543352
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“Bold. Powerful. Renner hits hard again!” —Nic Edwards, True Crime Garage podcast on A Cruise to Nowhere
“A deep investigative dive into a mystery [with] compelling characters and perplexing questions. A page-turning yarn . . . I was completely captivated.” —Howard Blum, New York Times bestselling author of When the Night Comes Falling on A Cruise to Nowhere
“This is easily the most thorough telling of Amy’s disappearance and most likely, the definitive one.” —Lance Reenstierna, host of the Crawlspace true crime podcast on A Cruise to Nowhere
“Beautifully written . . . captures a vivacious, much-loved woman [and] her family’s struggle to reconcile their deeply held beliefs about her sexual orientation.” —Michael LaSala, PhD, author of Coming Out, Coming Home: Helping Families Adjust to a Gay or Lesbian Child on A Cruise to Nowhere
“Compelling, deeply personal, captivating . . . Renner takes a grim yet cathartic and at times humorous journey through memory and trauma in this riveting true-crime memoir.” —Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW for Scout Camp
“[Renner] is just plain fun to read.” —The New York Times Book Review on True Crime Addict
“Renner's storytelling ability is brilliant.”—Aphrodite Jones, New York Times bestselling author of Cruel Sacrifice on Little, Crazy Children
“James Renner owns this cold case. He's chased its solution down every twisty path, revealing errors, shattering rumors, and testing theories about the murder of Lisa Pruett and the circle of kids who seem to know things no one's saying. Absorbing and illuminating.” —Katherine Ramsland, author of Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer on Little, Crazy Children
“Profoundly honest, at once an intimate coming-of-age portrait and a disturbing cautionary tale, a soul-searching narrative of an idyllic summer that turned deadly.” —Jake Anderson, author of Gone at Midnight on Scout Camp
“Inescapable, requisite reading.” —Brad Ricca, author of the Edgar nominee Mrs. Sherlock Holmes on Scout Camp
“A story that transcends true crime. . . enormously personal and extremely important.” —Lance Reensteirna, host of Crawlspace podcast on Scout Camp
“A searing, timely account of abuse and its corrosive powers. Part-mystery and part-memoir, this a brave and necessary look at how predation can become part of the culture of the most esteemed institutions.” —Áine Cain and Kevin Greenlee, hosts of The Murder Sheet podcast on Scout Camp
“Little, Crazy Children is a multilayered and twisty tale of murder in the wealthy Cleveland suburbs, and Renner explores it with forthright grace—a sharp-eyed, thoughtful companion on a journey through a disturbing and compelling unsolved mystery." —Dan Chaon, author of Sleepwalk
“A compelling page-turner with astounding revelations. James Renner skillfully uncovers dark secrets of both the living and the dead.” —Leslie Rule author of A Tangled Web on Little, Crazy Children
“An engrossing, chilling read.” —Mikita Brottman, author of Couple Found Slain on Little, Crazy Children
“You have not read a book like this before and, I’d wager, you’ll not engage with its like again. . . Renner is a tantalizing and almost gleeful tour guide to and through the impulses of the armchair detective.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune on True Crime Addict
“As the title suggests, [True Crime Addict] is an addictive read.” —Bustle
“The mystery of Murray’s whereabouts is baffling. . . [Renner’s] chipping away at the facts of a ten-year-old case makes the reader hope that, in the end, the answers will be uncovered. An entrancing, brilliant next step for fans of the podcast Serial, Netflix’s Making a Murderer, and other true crime cases.” —Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW for True Crime Addict
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Citadel
- Publication date : July 28, 2026
- Language : English
- Print length : 320 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0806543353
- ISBN-13 : 978-0806543352
- Item Weight : 1.1 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.3 x 1.12 x 9.3 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #23,973 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #55 in True Crime (Books)
- #801 in Sociology (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

James Renner is a journalist and former reporter for Cleveland Scene. His true crime stories have been published in the Best American Crime Reporting and Best Creative Nonfiction anthologies. More recently, he has contributed to online sites such as Cracked, Boing Boing, and BookRiot.
He is the author of two novels, The Man from Primrose Lane and The Great Forgetting, as well as the new nonfiction thriller, True Crime Addict.
http://jamesrenner.com
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- 4 out of 5 stars
true crime with a unique narrative
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2026A thoughtful and informative look into Amy Bradley with a unique narrative.
If you haven’t read a true crime book by James Renner before, go into this knowing the book doesn’t solely focus on the Amy Lynn Bradley. The subtitle is subtle but telling, the book is just as much about James’ search into Amy’s case, as it is about Amy’s case itself.
I liked the way the story felt informative and balanced (at least more so than the story we’ve historically heard from her family). I also appreciated all the data and statistics on things to help contextualize Amy’s experience a bit more (e.g., about being queer in the 90s, about human trafficking, some of the darker parts about cruises, etc).
I also liked that the story doesn’t have a clear ending. I feel like a lot of true crime stories have a … not happily ever after but at least an ending of some sort. So while I want an ending (not just for my own nosiness but mostly for the sake of her family, friends, and loved ones), it is also interesting to sit here thinking about all the open questions and loose ends.
While I understand that James’s made the intentional choice to include his own experience in the book, I’m not sure it fully worked for me. In some ways, it felt like a commentary on ‘what is the truth’ and how even as himself, what should be an impartial journalist, struggled to stand behind the evidence when he received critique from Amy’s family (e.g., being bi vs gay). However, a lot of the time if just felt like there wasn’t enough of a story to fill a book on Amy Bradley’s case (which I don’t actually agree with) so was being supplemented by James’ own story (e.g., why did it matter what case he was going to start with, why did we need all the details about his broken leg, what was the point of all his ‘conversations’ with Sky, etc)
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Excellent True Crime !!!
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2026Cruise to Nowhere: My Search for Amy Lynn Bradley by James Renner is an excellent True Crime story that was very eye opening.
The story is about the disappearance of Amy Bradley on a cruise ship.
I watched the Netflix documentary, and this is really a nice companion.
I really enjoyed finding out some details that weren't in the documentary.
Some people were painted differently than in the documentary.
The author did a great job laying out the case and all the details.
True Crime lovers will really enjoy this book.
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