3.5* “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.

Bill Hoffman is flying a red-eye from LA to New York, against his wife Carrie’s wishes, as it means he’ll miss his son’s baseball game. Unbeknownst to Bill, his flight has been picked by terrorists who want to make a statement and kidnap his wife and children, telling him they’ll be killed if he doesn’t crash the plane. His chief steward, a longterm colleague and friend called Jo, is let into the secret and she, in turn, tells her FBI-agent nephew Theo and now it’s a race against time, to save the family and the passengers. A real high-concept treat, this has a perfectly simple set-up and delivers it at a rate of knots. Bill, Carrie and the flight crew are well fleshed out, Theo and his FBI comrades less so while some of the politicising of the terrorists feels heavy handed. Key passengers, who help out, are told in quick brushstrokes and that kind of fits with the thread - as soon as the story threatens to take a breath, Newman cuts to a new scene (which does, in turn, mean we get some odd POV shifts later in the book). The story itself is solid as are the details - befitting Newman’s background as flight crew - but some of the writing does seem a bit clumsy and the FBI agent manages to get away with an awful lot of mayhem than you’d expect. Overall, I liked it - as a fast paced, high concept thriller it does its job admirably - but it did feel like a bit more depth was needed in parts. Well worth a read though.

I know that this book is a bit like marmite, so I was a little hesitant going in. Falling follows a pilot whose wife and children have been kidnapped. He is given the option to either crash the plane and kill everyone on board, or his family will die. I must admit, I have never read a book or watched a film involving a plane hijacking before. It is very possible that this has altered how I viewed this book. For me, this book was something new and exciting, but I know it won’t be like that for some. I found myself continuing to turn the pages, desperate to know what would happen even though I already guessed it. I liked the philosophical question of whether you would save the people you love or a larger number of strangers. I enjoyed seeing that fleshed out in this book. I’ve always found pilots and cabin crew fascinating so I loved taking a peek into their world through this novel. Unfortunately, I didn’t connect with many of the characters. I felt a connection to Jo, I am so a fan of a brave female who takes control and does their best to help others. I was also a fan of Big Daddy, he tickled me! But I just found I didn’t quite get the depth I wanted from any of the characters. I also found the kidnapper/ransom guys difficult to wrap my head around. I struggled to support the FBI as they fumbled around making reckless decisions that put MORE innocent people in danger. I think this would have been a 5 star read for me if I could have connected more to the characters! I did still find myself feeling a little emotional towards the end of the book though, which is so rare in a thriller like this! Overall, I personally enjoyed this and I’m looking forward to more from this author. Although I know it is not for everyone! I want to thank Netgalley, Simon and Schuster UK and TJ Newman for allowing me to read the first chapter of this novel.

When commercial airline pilot Bill Hoffman's family are kidnapped, he's given the choice of crashing the plane he's flying to save his family OR landing the plane safely at the cost of his family's lives. But what the kidnapper hasn't counted on is Bill's resilience and resourcefulness. As time runs out, the cabin crew hatch a plan but is it too little too late? Can Bill and his crew find a way to save the passengers AND his family? Falling is an exhilarating, high-octane, American thriller. The action begins right at the start and doesn't let up. It keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout. I couldn't help having a giggle that the pilot and co-pilot are called Bill and Ben. As any British person of 'a certain age' knows, Bill and Ben are The Flowerpot Men lol (Google it if you don't know what I mean!). Anyway, moving swiftly on, I really enjoyed the book. Isn't it everyone's worst nightmare being caught up in a terror plot mid-flight? It was so intense and gripping I almost had heart palpitations. It's definitely a book to seek out if you love action and thrills.

I hate to be a dissenting voice but I also prefer to be honest. I did not like this book. Far from being a page turner I struggled through it. The plot is simply too ridiculous.  It's pure Hollywood which is what the author is going for and often that is not a bad thing in a thriller book. But here it smacks too much of American great/foreigners bad for me. It's so simplistic in its characterisation. Full of gungho American heroes and evil foreigners. The authors attempts to pull at the heartstrings falls short and the ending at the sports stadium is a little embarrassing. And the ending has another issue as well. The big reveal of the villain on the plane. The identity bad guy on the plane renders the whole plot with the captain of the aircraft (and therefore the whole plot of the book) redundant! I mean that literally. The person revealed could simply have done the job without any need of the captain or of the captain's family being kidnapped.    So... this book was not for me. I didn't like it all and I won't be reading anymore from T. J. Newman. But... as ever feel free to make up your own mind.