Falling by T.J. Newman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I can see why this book has been optioned for film and how the action-packed scenes could lend itself to Hollywood. And there’s so much good about it! A high-concept idea where a pilot has to choose between his family and the lives of those on his plane. The FBI is involved. The author is a flight attendant so the setting on a plane feels authentic. There are lots of dramatic scenes with fighting, chemical weapons that the passengers must deactivate.
But there is a lot of stereotypical stuff here (Middle Eastern terrorists), the baseball patriots (you’ll know what I mean if you’ve read this), a flight attendant called Big Daddy (?!), a flight attendant that happened to have an FBI agent nephew (convenient!), so while enjoyable as an action thriller, it did feel a little contrived at times. At the end of the day it almost could’ve been any plane hijacking book. There aren’t a lot of things that can happen in these books/movies that hasn’t already been done.
However, the action scenes were amazing and the characters likeable. If you’re looking for an adrenaline-fueled knuckle biter, this could be the book for you!
