The Audiobook:
Falling by TJ Newman
Published July 6th, 2021 by Simon & Schuster
Date read: July 10, 2021
The Characters:
Captain Bill Hoffman
His wife Carrie (that’s my name!)
Flight attendants Jo, Michael, and Kelly
Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon
The Plot (from Goodreads):
You just boarded a flight to New York.
There are one hundred and forty-three other passengers onboard.
What you don’t know is that thirty minutes before the flight your pilot’s family was kidnapped.
For his family to live, everyone on your plane must die.
The only way the family will survive is if the pilot follows his orders and crashes the plane.
Enjoy the flight.
Spoilers:
Bill’s co-pilot Ben was one of the bad guys. He drew a gun on Bill, but Bill was able to distract him long enough to stab him in the neck.
Carrie told Sam she needed to go to the bathroom and kneed him in the crotch. The FBI showed up, and when Sam realized there was no way out, he shot himself.
Bill landed the plane safely.
The Review:
I’ve read a few books lately that have completely taken me by surprise by how good they were, and Falling is another one in that category! I didn’t really know anything about it going into it, but I enjoy plane crash stories (is that a weird thing to say?) and was intrigued by the synopsis.
This incredible debut ended up being so much more than a thriller. There is nonstop action from start to finish, but there’s also a lot of depth to the characters and relationships. I loved how everyone came together in an emergency to help each other, even though their chances seemed hopeless. This book definitely brought out my emotions, and I found myself crying on my couch at the end.
TJ Newman previously worked as a flight attendant, so she had some interesting insight as to how Jo would really think. Hopefully she’s never been in a situation like this, but it certainly made certain scenes more realistic.
I loved the part about the “souls”, and how Captain Hoffman really seemed to care about his passengers and doing his job well.
I had no idea how the story would play out, and I read it in one sitting since I was so eager to get to the end. Here’s hoping that Falling gets made into a movie–I think it would make an incredible one.
1 Comment