Falling by T. J. Newman

What would you do if you were a pilot and someone told you they’d kidnapped your family and if you don’t crash the plane, they’ll kill them? That’s the terrifying premise in T.J. Newman’s debut novel, Falling. Pilot Bill Hoffman gets just such a call shortly after beginning his cross-country flight. Along with a picture of his wife in children in hoods with bombs strapped to them. Crash the plane or your family dies. Bill’s response is I won’t crash the plane and you won’t kill my family. Now he has five hours to try and make both those statements true.

Falling grabs your attention from the opening line and propels you forward for the next 300 pages. Newman develops her characters with care. The premise is exciting, but the tension arises because you get to know and care about Bill, his family, the flight crew, and the FBI agents. You even gain some understanding of the perpetrators, who are more than monolithic bad guys.

Newman more than delivers the goods when it comes to action as well. Alternating between events on the plane and on the ground keeps you flipping the pages. The safety of Bill’s family and the safety of the plane appear to be mutually exclusive, especially as the ticking clock gets closer to zero.

This book is the closest I’ve come to the experience of seeing Die Hard for the first time. Great action, great characters, and pacing that will have you holding your breath. This summer thriller is going to be in everyone’s hands. Don’t miss out!

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.