The story of this book’s publication is almost as much fun as the book. A young woman named T.J. Newman spent years working as a flight attendant for major airlines. During and outside of her long flights, she made good use of her time thinking and writing about a terrifying story set around an airline pilot, his family, and a couple of people who would best be labeled “terrorists.” Once she had finished her writing and turned it into a novel, she tried FORTY different times to get interest from an agent or publisher. Finally, a smart agent liked it and now it is a BFD thriller and publishing phenomenon, it should make an EXCELLENT movie, and she will make lots of well-earned $$$.

The situation is that 140+ passengers are on a flight from LA to New York. Their pilot had gotten a call shortly before the flight was due to take off about an urgent pilot staffing situation, so he volunteered to step in and take the flight. Just as he was leaving the house, a “Cable repairman” showed up and as the pilot left, the “repairman” took the family hostage. The pilot is contacted and told that he has a choice: the plane or his family. For the family to survive, he has to crash the plane, killing everyone on board. 

The premise is fairly straightforward, and part of me expected that it would be resolved neatly. It’s called “JAWS at 35,000 feet,” so I was prepared for tension and suspense. But what sets this one apart is the author’s depth of knowledge about airline procedures and flight operations (including the primary role of flight attendants being the safety of the passengers). She also does a great job developing characters that the reader both knows and cares about. The “bad guys” have an interesting and thought-provoking backstory and although there were a couple of things about the ending that I might quibble with, overall it was a fun read and well done. With thanks to Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster and NetGalley, who provided a copy in exchange for this honest review, T.J. Newman’s Falling gets four solid stars.