With a really striking cover and almost four pages of praise from other authors and periodicals, this debut novel Falling by T J Newman cries out to be read.
On this occasion, the hype is not overplayed.
From the traumatic beginning, it grabs the interest and never lets go. Airline pilot Bill Hoffman has taken on an extra shift, to fly Coastal Airways Airbus A320, Flight 416, from Los Angeles to New York – much to the disappointment of his wife Carrie and son Scott. He was going to miss his son’s big Little League game.
Bill’s co-pilot is Ben Miro, and his aircrew is Big Daddy, Jo and newbie Kellie.
Shortly after take-off, Bill gets a message on his laptop. The private message and an image – of his wife, son and baby daughter held captive in their home. There’s a suicide vest strapped to Carrie’s chest…
The captor is succinct. Bill has a choice: he must choose to crash the plane to save his family.
Bill tells the kidnapper: ‘I’m not going to crash this plane and you’re not going to kill my family.’
A battle of wills begins.
On the ground, the FBI gets involved – I won’t say how, but it’s necessary to heighten the tension.
And there’s plenty of tension.
The characters are well drawn and sympathetic, the background details seem highly authentic – Newman was a flight attendant with Virgin America for ten years.
Recommended.
Newman tried 41 literary agents before finding one to enthuse over her book. After a bidding war with 14 major studios, Universal Pictures won the film rights to the book. They may need to change the film title, though, since there’s a 2020 film called Falling with Viggo Mortensen starring.