I nearly started reading Falling on a flight from Chicago to Portland, before coming to my senses and starting a different book. Good call on my part. Falling is terrifying enough to read with both feet securely on solid ground. Reading it while on an airplane would be an unnerving, paranoia-inducing, blood pressure raising experience. So I can’t stress this enough. Do. Not. Read. This. Book. While. Flying.
The premise of Falling is as simple as it is scary. Terrorists are holding the pilot’s family hostage and present a binary choice. Crash the plane and the family will live. Land the plane and the family will die. A more frightening proposition than being in a Turkish prison. Which option will the pilot choose?
The brilliance of Falling, beyond the high stakes plot and breakneck speed pacing, is causing readers to feel the terror from multiple perspectives while simultaneously exploring the choices available to each constituency. The pilot, the pilot’s family, the flight attendants, the passengers, law enforcement, the president, the terrorists and more – every set of characters, ordinary people thrust into an extraordinary situation, is inserted into a nightmare and forced to make difficult, life altering and seemingly fatal decisions. It’s a horror show at 35,000 feet. Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.
After reading this book, it’ll be hard to get on another flight without being just a little bit frightened about what’s happening in the cockpit and what the flight attendants are talking about when huddled together. Thanks a lot TJ Newman!
Surely Falling will be among the best debut thrillers of 2021. Yes it will, and don’t call me Shirley.
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