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On Board

A "ship of fools" indeed: madcap teenagers, a lush head of security, a priest who loves riddles, a captain off death-row, a martial artist challenging a boxer — and a serial killer. Come on board for the cruise of a lifetime.

Synopsis

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.

Script Excerpt

Written by:

Con Kringas

Contact Author

Format:

Screenplay

Genres:

Thriller Family Romance

Budget:

Modest

Posted:

04/14/2019

Updated:

01/05/2026

Author Bio:

(Last updated: 6 January 2026).

LATEST NEWS

What a way to welcome the new year, 2026, with a new screenplay first completed 3 January 2026. It is called Charlie Chan Island Mystery.

The lead character, Charlie Chan, is a throwback to the Honolulu detective made famous mainly in films of the 1930s and early 1940s. He is the product of novelist Earl Derr Biggers (1884-1933).

Over the next 12 years I intend to follow up by writing to the following titles:

Charlie Chan Cruise Mystery;

Charlie Chan Mansion Mystery;

Charlie Chan Train Mystery;

Charlie Chan Carnival Mystery;

Charlie Chan Caribbean Mystery;

Charlie Chan Honolulu Mystery.

These will be interspersed with other titles. For example, having a few days ago (3 January 2026) finished Charlie Chan Island Mystery, my next project is to complete Howlingween 6: Wrong Turn, which I began months ago, and restarted writing a few weeks ago in tandem with Charlie Chan Island Mystery.

I have this belief that 2026 and beyond are going to be exciting years for outsider screenwriters.

MY STORY AS A SCREENWRITER

I became a hobbyist screenwriter in 2007 when I purchased version 7 of Final Draft. I’ve since completed 14 screenplays and one pilot for TV or for a streaming service.

I have completed 15 scripts (14 screenplays and one pilot for a series).

My 15 scripts (in alphabetical order) are:

Charlie Chan Island Mystery ("Welcome back, Charlie Chan") FIRST COMPLETED 3 JANUARY 2026;

Counterchance (“Sometimes bad things happen”) REVISED 31 DECEMBER 2024;

Glorious Revolution (“Unintended consequences writ-large”) REVISED 10 JANUARY 2025;

Howlingween (“A road trip to hell”) REVISED 24 DECEMBER 2024;

Howlingween 2: Clarry the Clown (“Island paradise of horror”) REVISED 25 DECEMBER 2024;

Howlingween 3: Red River County (“Unforgiving beggar”) REVISED 27 DECEMBER 2024;

Howlingween 4: Beastly Mist (“sprays won’t work on these insects”) REWRITTEN 28 DECEMBER 2024;

Howlingween 5: Trip Along (“A child’s dream is another’s real-life nightmare”) MILDLY REVISED 6 JANUARY 2026;

Kuga’s Way (pilot) (“An intelligent canine searches for its mentor”) REVISED 13 JANUARY 2025;

Not Over Yet (“Sometimes the past does catch up to you”) FIRST COMPLETED 23 JANUARY 2025 REVISED TWICE 14 FEBRUARY 2025;

On Board (“A traditional who-done-it mystery”) THOROUGHLY REVISED 7 JANUARY 2025;

Once Young (“Love-struck teenagers”) REVISED 9 JANUARY 2025;

Splendid Isolation ("Life and death in remote Alaska”) REVISED 2 JANUARY 2025;

Twelve Less (“Teenagers in existential trouble”) REVISED 30 DECEMBER 2024;

We Were Young Once (“Weren’t we all?”) REVISED 4 JANUARY 2025.

Thank you for taking the time to read my brief biography as a screenwriter.

(PS I've revised the first few pages of Howlingween 5: Trip Along and was surprised to find three or four errors. I've corrected them and today, 6 January 2026, I'm uploading the revised PDF file. These mistakes are off-putting to would-be readers and what makes them worse is they occur in the first few pages before readers have time to gain confidence in the storytelling. What makes it even worse is that Howlingween 5: Trip Along has been the most revised of all my screenplays: from first page to last page, I've revised it more than a dozen times and to find these mistakes still existing has been embarrassing to me. I have done what I can to fix it and have uploaded the slightly revised screenplay to ISA -- what more can I do? I have decided to fully revise Howlingween 5: Trip Along before I continue writing Howlingween 6: Wrong Turn. For those who've attempted to read Howlingween 5: Trip Along, please accept my apologies for those several off-putting errors in the first five pages).

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