You just boarded a flight to New York.
There are one hundred and forty-three other passengers onboard.
What you don’t know is that thirty minutes before the flight your pilot’s family was kidnapped.
For his family to live, everyone on your plane must die.
The only way the family will survive is if the pilot follows his orders and crashes the plane.
Enjoy the flight.
T. J. Newman, a former bookseller turned flight attendant, worked for Virgin America and Alaska Airlines from 2011 to 2021. She wrote much of Falling on cross-country red-eye flights while her passengers were asleep. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Falling is her first novel.
My Review:
Quick… pass me the oxygen tank I think I may have been holding my breath for too long. Falling is literally a white-knuckle ride of a book and if you are afraid of flying, you may want to take a valium before starting this book and if you don’t have a fear of flying, you will after this book!
Falling is an action-packed, fast paced thriller which literally takes the reader on a turbulent journey. Experienced commercial pilot Captain Bill Hoffman has just disappointed his young family and left his wife mid-argument when he agrees to pick up an extra flight at the last minute. Once on board his airline and safely in the cockpit, he tries to call his wife before take-off to sort things out, but unusually for her, she doesn’t answer. Several minutes later he gets an email from his wife with a photograph attached showing her and their 10 year old son with bags over their heads and suicide vests around their waists. He is then contacted by an unknown man who is giving him a simple choice – CRASH THE PLANE or SAVE YOUR FAMILY.
How’s that for an opening chapter? What comes next is thrilling and page-turning and terrifying in equal measures. The story is told by three major characters; Bill the Captain – a courageous, honourable, family man who is determined to save his family and all the passengers; Jo the head air stewardess, a long time friend of Bill’s with a nephew in the FBI and Theo, FBI Agent (and Jo’s nephew) who is contacted by his aunt mid hi-jack and will do ANYTHING to save the passengers and stop the terrorists.
The author’s indepth knowledge of the airlines, procedures and day-to-day responsibilities are evident throughout which makes the book more authentic, far more scary and seriously I still have palpitations thinking about this book.
So as Adrian McKinty said “Buckle Up” when you start this book as it’s a hell of a bumpy but exhilarating ride and I personally won’t be going on a plane any time soon.
