Falling

"All I want is to see what a good man— a good American man— does when he's in a no-win situation. What does a man like you do when he has to choose. A plane full of strangers? Or your family? See, Bill, it really is about the choice. You. Choosing who will survive. That is what I want."

Falling is the first novel by American author, T J Newman. Contact from his wife, soon after the take-off of Coastal Airways Flight 416, destination JFK airport, New York, brings a shock to veteran pilot Bill Hoffman. Carrie is shown bound, gagged and trussed up in a suicide vest, holding his ten-month-old daughter, Elise. His ten-year-old son Scott is also bound and gagged.

The man holding them captive in their own kitchen gives Bill a choice: crash the plane (destination to be specified), or watch his family murdered over WhatsApp. There is no other demand: this is it. But from the outset, Bill is adamant he will do neither. "I get why you're doing this but it doesn't justify what you're doing!"

There's just a five-hour flight time, and it goes without saying there's to be no telling, not to the crew, cops, or FAA. Crashing the plane will be a nasty business, involving gassing the passengers and killing the First Officer. Bill is grateful for a reliable flight crew, but how can he possibly save the one hundred and forty-nine souls on board, and his family?

It's a real pleasure to watch this edge-of-the-seat drama unfold: plenty of lateral thinking and resourcefulness from characters meeting unanticipated challenges, heroic acts and plenty of action both in the air and on the ground, including a baseball game and a trail of destruction left in the wake of an FBI agent following a hunch. There's a twist or two, and right when it looks like Bill might pull it off, the threat that the military might shoot them down.

Most thrillers require a degree of suspension of disbelief, but Newman, no doubt through her intimate knowledge of the subject, makes her story so easily believable, readers may hesitate before boarding another plane. About the only thing that seems really far-fetched is the unfailing internet/cell phone cover all the way across America. Newman's debut novel grabs you on page one and doesn't let go. Unputdownable!

This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and the publisher.