Thriller set on an airplane flying from LOS ANGELES to JFK

31st May 2021

Falling by T J Newman, thriller set on an airplane flying from Los Angeles to JFK.

“Hurry up and wait” (the unofficial motto of aviation).

Anyone who is nervous about flying, now is the time to look away and choose something else to read.

We have not been able to board a plane for such a long time that the idea of reading a thriller set in a plane, written by a woman who has worked as cabin crew for many years, seemed really quite appealing. It has been loudly trumpeted that the ‘former flight attendant lands 7-figure deal for 2 novels‘. I was intrigued to read a book that could command such a high advance.

It’s time to buckle up! Bill Hoffman is a very experienced pilot who is doing an unexpected shift and flying CA416 from the West to the East Coast of America. Just as he leaves home for the airport, a technician called Sam has come to repair the internet at his home, which Bill shares with his wife Carrie and their two young children. Sam is not all he seems to be!

Bill is sharing the cockpit with Ben and for English readers of a certain age this conjures up two characters from a children’s TV series (Bill and Ben, The Flower Pot Men) so it might have been prudent to change the names for the UK market. It also seems strange that three male leads in this novel have simple 3 letter names and in the cabin there is Jo running operations who runs into a passenger called Josip. Given the range of names available, it seems a tad bizarre to be so limited with the choice of names. A name is so much more than a few letters, it can start to add character and depth to a person, and, to be honest, well fleshed out people are not the novel’s strong point.

Back at home, Bill’s family is taken hostage and Bill, up in the cockpit, now understands that he has to save his family by crashing the plane, whilst attacking the passengers by releasing a gas canister; or, he can choose to save the plane whereupon his family will be killed. What a choice!

Back in the cabin, Bill knows he can rely on senior flight attendant Jo because she is a capable woman and they have flown many miles together over many years. She takes the initiative by alerting her FBI nephew about the breaking situation and once one of the passengers shares an instagram post from the cabin, which of course alerts the whole world, things start to get critical. Bill was not supposed to share any details of the unfolding events, with anyone. But what do you do in such circumstances? What a terrible conundrum!

There is a lot of tension and from the start the author blasts the reader with action. Jack Reacher eat your heart out. This is a proper action packed thriller, fast paced and relentless. Did it work for me? The scenario is jolly scary yet everyone seemed to keep their cool and their wits about them – just where was the palpable fear that everyone would have been experiencing, the panic, the passenger hysteria, the need to contain people’s anxieties, the very real horror? There really isn’t any psychological depth to the characters, it is action, action all the way.

The book is so clearly written with the big screen in mind – I think Keanu Reeves would easily find his calling (think “Speed”). I think I lost the will to be carried along when Jo, just about to leap into action, finds time to consider her position and she decides to  “..make a mental bow to the generations of goddesses, warriors, and survivors who coursed through her DNA, recognising now that she indeed belonged among them…”  Eh? That would definitely not be where my mind would go in such extreme circumstances – would yours?

If you like a story that races along and offers some great insights into aviation procedures, then this reasonably short and punchy read will fit the bill.

Tina for the TripFiction Team

IF YOU WANT MORE ACTION PACKED STORIES SET AROUND AVIATION, THEN CHECK OUT OUR POST “FIVE GREAT THRILLERS SET ABOARD AIRPLANES”

Catch the author on Twitter

Join team TripFiction on Social Media:

Twitter (@TripFiction), Facebook (@TripFiction.Literarywanderlust), YouTube (TripFiction #Literarywanderlust), Instagram (@TripFiction) and Pinterest (@TripFiction)

Subscribe to future blog posts