The Flight Attendant is one of those books that will stick with you for a bit. The main character is flawed and believable, and as she continued to make questionable choices, I became found myself becoming more sympathetic toward her. Some of the plot is a bit hard to believe, full of more than a few coincidences, but it all came together well by the end.
If you're already a fan of author Chris Bohjalian, you'll definitely want to read this one.

This was one of those books that started off with a bang, then dwindled down to a flicker, then went out with a bang. Cass is a flight attendant who is a hot mess. She sleeps around with all sorts of men and blacks out often due to her alcoholism. I kept trying to put myself in her shoes but really had a hard time because c’mon, how stupid could you be to get wasted in another country and then completely pass out with a stranger…the emphasis on this being in another country. And that country being Dubai. Now, I’m not a world traveler or anything but I really don’t think you want to get thrown into a prison in Dubai. That just seems really scary. But I digress, I am not Cass. Waking up next to a dead body with his throat sliced open was the first big wakeup call Cass has in this book. I found most of the book to be about the FBI investigation instead of clues being uncovered little by little. This is why I felt the book slowed down in the middle. All the important information is stated in the beginning because we are right there with Cass when she leaves her lipstick and buys the scarf and gets rid of her purse. The mystery lady, Miranda, is given up to the reader right away which I think could have been kept secret a bit longer for the sake of suspense. The ending was quite good since I didn’t guess what was going to happen at all. It was all wrapped up as quickly as it started. I personally would have liked to see some of the middle story taken out so that the book could have kept the faster pace.

Thank you to Netgalley, Chris Bohjalian, and Doubleday Books for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A walk of shame was all that she planned for - but waking up the morning after with a dead body next to her was unexpectedly horrible and life changing.

An attractive flight attendant. A handsome, rich hedge fund manager. Flirting at 30,000 feet followed by a boozy date night and a one-night stand.

The morning after, Cassie Bowden wakes up in a hotel bed with a monster hangover, blood in her hair, and a very dead Alex Sokolov with his throat slashed. What the hell happened?! Cassie struggles to remember the events of the night, but can’t. She recalls a romantic dinner, lots of booze, a female visitor named Miranda– and then nothing.

This is not the first time Cassie has blacked out after a night of binge drinking and cannot remember events from the previous night. Did she kill her one-night stand after she blacked out? She’s not sure.

This story is told in alternating perspectives of Cassie and Elena (AKA Miranda), and the events that unravel after that fateful night.

This story is interesting and suspenseful, and I wanted to devour it in one setting.

I liked so many things about this book:
1. The unreliable but likeable flight attendant, Cassie. Cassie has many flaws, but she is human and relatable. She acts out of self-preservation but she is conflicted by her actions. She is tormented by the baggage of growing up with an alcoholic father, her own bad drinking behavior, and feels guilty when she makes bad decisions. She has a lot of self loathing. But you sympathize with her trials and tribulations and can’t help but feel sorry for her. You want her to overcome her challenges and be a better person.
2. Elena was also likeable. She is a calculated killer with an ethical perspective. She doesn’t believe in harming innocent people. Her backstory made me identify with her. She has a unique outlook and is a strong and smart character.
3. The author’s research into US and international law, which was obviously extensive and reflected within many details of the book.
4. The glamourous settings. The reader is taken on a fascinating journey that spans Dubai, New York City, Russia, Rome, Paris. It’s an international thriller with beautiful, vivid descriptions of the cities, landmarks and culture.
5. The inside peek into the world of flight attendants, who literally live out of their suitcases for most of their careers.
6. The FBI reports sprinkled throughout the book which share a different perspective and add substance to the plot.
7. The ending had many surprise twists and I enjoyed it. The ending also gives closure to many open storylines and it was a satisfying conclusion.

The last Chris Bohjalian book that I read was The Guest Room which I didn’t really like. This book has so much more substance, more developed characters, more research and facts and I loved it so much more than The Guest Room. It’s almost like this book was written by a completely different author.

The book has a fabulous plot, and is fast paced in the beginning and end with a steady pace throughout. It’s a fast read and I enjoyed it.

Thank you, NetGalley, Chris Bohjalian, and Doubleday Books for the opportunity to preview this book.

First of all, thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm apparently in the minority considering that this book has such good reviews so far. Maybe it's because I don't already have a fondness for the author; this is the first of his novels I've picked up. I really did not enjoy it. I found the protagonist, Cassie, to be unrelatable. She continually makes ridiculously bad choices which is understandable with an addiction but she seems like she just doesn't care. It's hard to empathize with that. Also, sorry, but we GET that Cassie likes alcohol a little too much. Does it really need to be repeated in EVERY single paragraph?

The Flight Attendant is marketed and described as a suspenseful thriller but it was neither suspenseful or thrilling. Instead, I found it rather boring and predictable. Nothing drew me in. If it wasn't for the fact that I needed to review it as an ARC, I wouldn't have bothered to finish the last few chapters as it was clear how it would end. The characters were shallow and one dimensional. I had high hopes in the first few chapters but it quickly went downhill for me and it was just a chore to finish reading it.

5 star read! Love this author and Cassandra was a great character to follow!! Amazing book.

This book was REALLY good! I have never read a book by this author and now I am glad that I did. Cassie, the main character, was not the brightest bulb. She drank too much, partied too much, slept around the globe (literally) and was incredibly impulsive. She was actually really great main character because I never expected her to do a lot of the things she did. Elena, the Russian spy, was the opposite, cold, calculating and did everything with an extreme amount of planning and thought. The book took many turns that I did not expect, and that to me, is a sign of a GREAT thriller. Honestly I was completely surprised at the ending. I had NO clue what was going to happen and although a little confusing, a really good ending as well. Definitely recommend this book!

Cassandra "Cassie" Bowden is a flight attendant and alcoholic. She binge drinks and is no stranger to black outs and one night stands. On a flight into Dubai she flirts with a man in the first class cabin and ends up spending the night with him. When she wakes up the next morning, she needs to remember where she is and hopes to slip quietly out of bed when she discovers the blood. A lot of blood, and quickly determines that the man she spent the night with is dead. Has she killed him? She doesn't think so. She has done some crazy things when drunk but never anything violent. If she didn't kill him. then who did? Could it be the woman they shared drinks with the previous night?

Freaking out, she cleans up the room and heads back to her Hotel to meet up with the flight crew. Hoping to cover her tracks, she lies to her friend on the crew. She lies to the FBI, she lies to her union but tells her attorney the truth - that she is a heavy drinker who does not know how or why the man died in bed next to her.

This book started out really strong for me. The premise is great : a woman wakes up next to dead man who has clearly been murdered. Why did the killer not kill the flight attendant as well? Initially the story really grabbed me and although it did keep my attention. There is also the part of the story where we learn about the killer, why she did not kill the flight attendant initially and her hunt for her after the fact. Somewhere along the path of this story it lost some of its UMP for me. It became a little flat. Cassie is not the most likable character and I found I really did not care what happened to her. Her attorney at one point even makes a comment about Cassie not having a rock bottom. The writing is good and this book started strong but lost me along the way.

I received a copy of this book from Doubleday Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A gripping dramatic thriller, The Flight Attendant explores how well one knows one's self, the tight grip of substance abuse, and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Cassie Bowden relies on drinking for facing nearly every facet of her life, and one night blackout drinking leads to something much darker. As she finds herself embroiled in an international murder mystery, Cassie must work out for herself whether she did this, and come to terms with the destruction her drinking leaves in its wake.

Genre: General Fiction
Tone: Sad and depressing at times

This was a sobering story about a woman who's childhood shaped her into a binge-drinking and self-destructing addict. For the most of this book, Cassie was in denial about how dependent she was on alcohol and shied away from the idea that she'd become just like her alcoholic father. While she was an avid animal lover (volunteered regularly at the animal shelter) and still managed to function enough at work to maintain a good employment status, Cassie was a sloppy individual in her personal life. Watching her story unfold was painfully slow at times and cringe-worthy as she made mountains of poor decisions day after day.

Likes?

Being stuck in Cassie's head was mostly torturous but her lawyer, Ani, was intriguing, as was that other (view spoiler) POV featured. I liked the FBI summarized statement reports included, though I have no clue at all if those reports mirrored authentic ones, but it gave some life and credibility to the story.

◎ Overall, this was an exhausting but interesting read.

◎ Most giggle-worthy lines in Cassie's thoughts?

The proof was in the proof.

Chris Bohjalian claims that he seldoms writes about anything he knows. That’s startling, because I’ve read several of his books and believe he knows just about everything. Research is the answer (my favorite trait for authors that I admire). In “The Flight Attendant” he demonstrates just how industrious and skillful he is as he unravels the life of someone engaged in a most intriguing occupation and, in turn, disengaged with life in general.

Intriguing it might be, but ideal it’s not. Long hours, erratic schedules, dealing with unhappy people, boring stretches of inactivity, poor pay, and the dreadful possibility of a fatal ending all dull the excitement of visiting faraway and exotic places. In “The Flight Attendant,” Bohjalian tells of one attendant’s battle with alcoholism, a constant need for male companionship, and a predilection for lying that takes her on a gruesome journey that seems to never end.

Cassie Bowden awakes in a bed in Dubai with a man whose throat has been cut and who has bled out all over her naked body. She remembers him as a passenger in her first-class cabin on a flight from the United States, their hookup at the hotel, and meeting another woman in his suite as heavy drinking commences. She also seems to remember having left the hotel, but then nothing. This is not an unusual night for her, except for the death, as Cassie is addicted to drink and drunken sex that seems to go along with her job as flight attendant.

Her other depravity, the lying and deceit she usually displays, gets her more deeply involved with the crime until she eventually blurts out her actual recollections and confusion to her family, friends, attorney, and the authorities resulting in a whole host of bad people trying to do her in. It’s an intriguing study of alcoholic fog and murder in a distant country.

Bohjalian, as usual, is masterful in his development of the story and cleverly weaves together characterizations and situations that keep the reader enthralled. This book is highly recommended for a look at an interesting profession and the possible side effects of an unbridled life of addiction and carnal behavior. The withdrawal into a coverup of lies also proves to be a life lesson not to be forgotten.

This novel is a complex international thriller. Suspenseful and intelligent!

"I awoke beside a dead man. I may have gotten away with murder." It is not the first time Cassie has blacked out after a night of untamed drinking. Cassie wakes up in a dense fog. This place is not her hotel. She is in someone's room in another hotel. And she is in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Brace for Impact.

Cassie, a flight attendant, has just discovered that her Russian hedge fund date from row 2C is lying in a pool of his blood. She remembers another person in the room hours prior, Miranda. They all drank together. But now Cassie is not sure what happened. What did she do in her nebulous state? She tries to cover all her footsteps and fingerprints leaving no trace behind. But there is Miranda. But also Meghan, another attendant, who remembers Cassie's flirtation with Alex during the flight.

The Flight Attendant has a suspenseful and intricate plot. Told in alternating points of view, Cassie, and Elena (Miranda) both tell their sides after the scene which makes the narrative intriguing. Cassie's uncanny ability to lie coupled with her paranoia makes us suspect that she may be an unreliable storyteller. I love Cassie's thought process after Dubai, the pondering of each detail with the precision of a mastermind. After all, she can only rely on herself to determine what happened and what is to follow. Elena is a well-respected paid assassin and can cover the truth with a twenty-two. Her father taught her everything he knew from his former KGB days. Each of these characters carries a multi dimensional personality with a unique backstory and family members with quirks and personal behaviors. The author did not skimp out on the details which made the characters believable and relatable. Oddly enough, you sympathize with conflicting characters, which is an engaging twist. As the story unfolds, we learn more about who Alex Sokolov is and why he is dead. What is Miranda's involvement. And why the FBI is questioning Cassie.
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The author did his research on several levels. With an international murder setting, the legal details of foreign and domestic law and protocols of the FBI are precise. The setting of Dubai boasts with Arabian pride, with grand hotels and the souk markets with omnipotent smells of spice. The author also had specific details of the role of an airline attendant, flight routes, the in-between arrangement, flight bidding and also of the preferred color of lipstick, red. The intricacies of the plot and narrative felt remarkably complete and created authenticity.

My only complaint about the novel is that the character building and the reminiscence created a time lag between the action of the plot. But it may be a reflection of my need for fast-moving plots.

The story moves at a metronomic pace creating a hunger in the reader. And then there is intermittent turbulence to make you gasp and the undeniable debacle at the conclusion that will leave you reaching for oxygen. The Flight Attendant is a great story that engaged the reader on many levels. I highly recommend The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian.

Thank you, NetGalley, Chris Bohjalain, and Doubleday Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read the Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian.
A flight attendant, Cassie, who loves to party, drink, and pick up men finds herself in a bed, in a strange hotel in Dubai, with a dead man. He's not only dead, but his throat is cut and Cassie has no recollection of what happened.
She becomes a suspect and the FBI wants to talk to her but Cassie evades them by lying to them. But others are watching Cassie too. The murdered man may have ties to the Russian mob or maybe the FBI - and there are people in high places who now want Cassie dead too. For what she knows or what they think she knows - she will have to run for her life because they are coming.
Great suspenseful novel. Recommend.

Cassie Bowden is a flight attendant who makes the worst choices, pretty much all the time. She clearly has an alcohol problem, and this affects most of her life, including her job. After one fling, and a blackout, she wakes up in a Dubai hotel room next to a dead body. Even she doesn't know what happened. She continues to make poor choices, but she had a spark about her I liked. I thought the plot was a departure from the author's norm, but I enjoyed the international flair. There was a thriller feel, which kept me guessing until the end. I loved Bohjalian's last book (The Sleepwalker,) but I think I might give this one the slightest edge. I'm almost sad I finished it. Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for this e-Arc in exchange for my honest review. I was waiting on pins and needles for it, and it did not disappoint.

Cassie is a flight attendant. Cassie is also a drunk prone to promiscuity as a result of her upbringing. She meets a man on a flight to Dubai, spends a drunken night with him, but wakes up in the morning to find her lover dead. What happens next is just one of many many awful decisions on Cassie's part: she leaves the hotel, and inadvertently becomes the target of a killer. This was a well written, fun read about a woman facing the consequences of her very very bad choices. Some of the things Cassie does were so dumb that I wanted to reach into my Kindle and slap her, however, the author manages to portray her in a sympathetic manner regardless of all the dumb things she does. Only real problem with this for me was the ending. Not likely.

Bohjalian does it again with another heart pounding, surprise ending!!! The book was a little too long but worth it at the end.

3.5-4 Stars...This book has me a bit puzzled. I am going to have to choose my words wisely so that I do not spoil anything for you. The book starts out following Cassie a train wreck of a person, who happens to be a flight attendant. She gets herself tangled up in a HUGE situation. The entire book is her trying to make sense of what she has gotten involved in. I was right there with her through the whole book. I wanted her to listen to me shouting at her to stay in that hotel room. I wanted her to listen to me when I said, please don't have that drink. She did not listen.

Chris sure knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat with a great story and this one, while puzzling, does not disappoint. If you're a fan of his, than this is the book for you. If you haven't discovered any of his books, yet, than I encourage you to pick this one up (or any of his others)!

My thanks to netgalley and Doubleday Books for this advanced readers copy.

Cassandra wakes in bed in Dubai and finds her latest one night stand dead. She panics and flees leaving her a suspect in his murder. I totally enjoyed this latest book from Bohjailan. As usual he doesn't disappoint.
A sexy flight attendant, a murder and some espionage with a surprise at the end. Winning for sure.

I loved this book ....at least I loved it until the last few pages. Still not so sure about the ending, a little confusing and just not totally believable, but what the heck it's fiction! I'll still give it 5 stars and nominate it for LibraryReads, since I think Chris Bohjalian has written another winner and I love his books.
I think the character of Cassie was so well written. Despite my love hate relationship with her(hate because of the dumb things she did), I could actually FEEL her need for a drink, I could almost understand the crazy things she did. This was one of the reasons why I couldn't put the book down: it was the character of Cassie and how she thought and what she did and why she did what she did. She was so well developed, that I almost didn't care about the rest of the book, I only wanted to know what happened to her!
I would highly recommend this to all who like a good story!
Thanks to Random House Doubleday and Netgalley for the advance digital copy!

"A smart girl is both sword and smile."

Cassandra (Cassie) Bowden is, I hope, not the typical flight attendant. She's obviously an alcoholic and suffers the blackouts and embarassments to prove it. She loves flying to far-off destinations and always finds a way to party hard and often ends up hung over and suffering from drinker's regret the next day. But this time it's really a bad "morning after" when she awakens in a hotel bed (not her own) next to a dead man -- the man she'd dined and slept with the night before. What follows takes the reader from Dubai to New York to Rome in a tale of deception and espionage with the press and an assassin on her heels. What happened in the luxurious suite, room 511, of the Royal Phoenician? Who was Alexander Sokolov? It's a wild ride with Cassie, an accomplished liar, and the other characters who can't be entrusted with the truth -- because Cassie really can't remember whether or not she killed him.

Told in alternating points of view and moving from one locale to another, this is absorbing and suspenseful. As the revelations are dangled, the complex tale unravels. I'm not sure how realistic the scenarios described are, but suspend disbelief and enjoy the trip. Cassie is definitely a mess, and I can't say that I actually liked her much, her decisions are definitely not those most would make, but her dilemma makes for great storytelling if you use your imagination. I enjoyed it!

I was so excited to be approved for this title (thank you NetGalley and Doubleday Books), so I began it immediately after downloading and read straight through to the end. I believe I've read almost every single one of Chris Bohjalian's previous books and reviewed most of them -- he's always full of surprises and touches on a wide variety of topics with some very unique themes at times. It's evident that the author does his research on the subject matter and that makes the narrative a bit more plausible even if it seems farfetched. There's quite a bit to digest within these pages.

The one detractor is something I've noticed recently -- authors inserting their own political bias and personal opinions into the narrative and represented as observations or thoughts of other characters in the novel. I don't like that. But maybe it's just me being super sensitive in the current atmosphere. Oh by the way, GO ROYALS! Regardless, I did like this well enough and know Bohjalian fans will want to add this to the TBR. Enjoy!