THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT BY CHRIS BOHJALIAN BOOK REVIEW
Cassandra is a binge-drinking, fly by the seat of her pants international flight attendant. While on a flight to Dubai, she meets Alexander Sokolov. He’s a fancy hedge fund manager from Virginia & they hit it off. Throughout the flight, they flirt & wind up staying at the same hotel. Naturally, Cassandra gets super wasted & they have a late night hook-up. No matter, she’s flying back to the US tomorrow, so she heads back to her room.



Except she doesn’t. The next morning, she wakes up in Alexander’s room. Quietly, she tries to leave, but her head is throbbing & she can’t make sense of why she is there. Things get really tense when she looks over & sees that Alexander is dead. Surely she didn’t kill him, right?

Cassandra goes into a tailspin. Her history of poor decisions comes flooding back to her & she cannot be certain she didn’t have something to do with his death. Scared, totally freaked out & on edge, she cleans up the room & leaves. She takes perhaps the longest flight of her life back to the US & things just get worse for her. The FBI gets involved, her crew members talk to the police & she can’t stop drinking. She’s just a hot mess.

THE VERDICT
I am Really Into This book. The beginning started off really strong, super suspenseful & much like Cassandra, I was on edge. Throughout the middle, the story slows down a bit to allow the elements to build. Overall, this is an enjoyable read. Chris Bohjalian is a gifted writer that builds suspense & I love that. I’ve got a copy of The Guest Room on my TBR shelf & I’m hoping to get to it soon. Have you read any of Chris Bohjalian’s other books?

If you’re Really Into suspense, check out Kathleen Barber’s Are You Sleeping, it just released in paperback.

Special thanks to Chris Bohjalian, Doubleday Books & NetGalley for providing my copy in exchange for an honest & fair review.

Cassie, a flight attendant, is working on a flight to Dubai when she meets Alex. They flirt on the flight, and spend the night together in Dubai. When Cassie wakes the next morning, Alex is dead. She has no recollection of him being killed. She has two options, call the police or leave.

This story is told from Cassie's point of view, with occasional chapters from the mysterious Elena. Cassie is a self-loathing, black-out drunk. She wasn't really likable, and her decision making was sometimes frustratingly bizarre.

A well-written suspense with a slow build. We know what happened to Alex very early in the book. Like, chapter two. What we don't know is how things will play out with Cassie.

A premise that will draw you in for sure - Cassie, the flight attendant - an unreliable narrator awakes beside a dead body while in Dubai. I was thoroughly entertained. For Chris Bohjalian readers, you'll feel the familiarity of his style and cadence.
There were a few gratuitous moments of commentary in which the author shares his world view unrelated to the story.

Cassie is a flight attendant who is known for her partying and drinking. So after an evening indulging in what she does best, she wakes up next to a man she met the night before, a hedge fund manager who is now dead.  Her blackouts are getting worse, but could she really have anything to do with this?  Surely she would know if she killed someone, right?  And as she leaves the hotel room, she makes a choice to run, and find a way to prove her innocence to the Dubai police and to the American investigators with the FBI.  But even her own flight crew is questioning who she really is.

The story was fast-paced and I loved the descriptions of where she would stay during her fights. I liked the book, as I do enjoy flight travel, and the author does give real life examples of what it's like to be a flight attendant.  Cassie gets to continue working, even during the investigation, so it was interesting to learn the patterns of flying, staying in hotels, finding things to do before flying back to base, all of that.

I also enjoyed the perspective shifts from Cassie to another woman whom Cassie met the night the murder happened.  The main character is believable, yet I will admit a few times that I didn't agree with her decisions, and was beginning to lose hope.  She has a history of alcoholism attributed to her relationship with her father, and it's almost annoying how much she thinks about drinking.  However, the ending did tie things up nicely and has a nice touch.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Doubleday through NetGalley.  I was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions expressed are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 (http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html): “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I received an advanced copy from #netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have to say that I generally love Chris Bohjalian’s books but I was really disappointed by The Sleepwalker. I was excited to read this in hopes it would be better. It was an okay read for me. It did have a couple of really interesting twists that I didn’t see coming. But I felt a lot of the book was disjointed and confusing. I found myself needing to reread several parts. I wanted to smack Cassandra throughout most of the book. And at the end, I felt it wrapped up a little too easily. I’m glad I read it, but it definitely won’t get reread.

Bohjalian's previous book, The Sleepwalker, underwhelmed me but he definitely redeemed himself with The Flight Attendant. I was hooked immediately. The set-up intrigued me and Cassie kept me guessing. She was self-destructive and made bad choices but she owned them too. And most importantly, they fit who she was versus feeling out of character. Sometimes I was like, "what were you thinking?" but that's okay. People do dumb things when they are scared! The fact that the story also involved Russian spies and the FBI probably made me laugh harder than I was supposed to but we have to take joy where we can find it these days. A solid, enjoyable read for mystery/thriller fans!

I found a copy of 'Midwives' by Chris Bohjalian at my local Goodwill and purchased it. I've had the book on my shelves for years and have never picked it up. Then on Netgalley I came across 'The Guest Room' immediately requested it and was excitedly approved. I really enjoyed the book. I told so many people about it. It was an exciting read about Russian trafficked strippers/prostitutes and a bachelor party that ended in ruin. So, when the opportunity arose to read 'The Flight Attendant' I jumped at the chance.

From almost the first page you learn that the main character Cassandra is a walking disaster. She's an unapologetic drunk and she sleeps with men for sport. Unfortunately, she's also a flight attendant who at every turn gets herself in more and more trouble. Consequently, bringing down those she loves with her. What I loved about the book was the information about Russian spies and the trickery of finding out those you thought were one way actually were another.

Two women, one American and the other Russian, are pitted against each other in what seems like an unfair duel. Cassie Bowden has no idea what's in store for her when, as a flight attendant overnighting in Dubai, she accepts dinner invitation from Alex, a Russian-American passenger on her flight, and ends up in his plush hotel room for the night.

Things escalate when she wakes up in his bed in the morning, having blacked out after a night of heavy drinking and sleeping with Alex. Running for her life, Cassie feels she is being watched and followed, even back home in the U.S. The other woman has been ordered by a Russian group to take out the heavy-drinking, seemingly scattered and inept flight attendant, Cassie.

A suspenseful thriller in the very modern settings of present day Dubai, Rome, and NYC.

Doubleday Books and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of The Flight Attendant. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion was freely given.

Cassandra Bowen is used to waking up in strange hotel rooms, as her job as a flight attendant requires stays in cities all around the world. When she awakens without the knowledge of where she is or what is happening, Cassandra assumes she blacked out while drinking. After all, she remembers the man from the plane, as well as bits and pieces of the night. As the fog lifts, Cassie faces a situation of nightmarish proportions. Will a split second decision change her whole life?

As the story unfolds, it becomes apparent that there is more to the book than just a simple mystery. The espionage aspects of the novel, for the most part, feel placed just to make the plot move in a particular direction. It was hard to find a connection with the main character, as her unreliability makes her unsympathetic. Having read previous novels by this author, I found The Flight Attendant to not be up to the usual standards. Although the book was good, the holes in the plot coupled with an unlikable main character are such that I would be hesitant to recommend The Flight Attendant to other readers.

I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

This book was hard for me to get into, I didn't find that there was a lot that really reached out and grabbed me. Elena's character didn't evolve for me as I expected it to and Cassie's character really was just a portrayal of an awful person and it made it hard for me to connect with her. She was extremely self-destructive and flawed, and I had trouble understanding a lot of her decisions throughout the book. I found it especially unfortunate that I struggled with some of the book because the ending ROCKED. I literally gasped, I never saw it coming. There aren't many books I can say that for, if I had been more engaged through the rest of the novel this one would have probably been a home run for me. As it is though I would still really very much recommend it because my struggle was probably just based on my current attention span and even if it wasn't the ending still was worth it!

"Negronis in Rome. Akvavit in Stockholm. Arak in Dubai. Her life was a drinking tour of the world."


What a sexy and intelligent thriller!!! The author has done his homework and it shows!

"God, it was just like so many of the other times she had woken up naked and hungover in bed with a guy, with only the slightest idea how she had gotten there—except this time the guy was dead."

This book starts with a bang. Cassie is an experienced flight attendant, who works on international flights and drinks far, far too much. She has blackouts, has sex with strangers and cannot go more than a few days without a drink. But did she kill the sexy businessman she met on a flight to Dubai?
She does not have a full grasp of the previous night's events and can only recall fleeting moments. She does know one thing for sure: she and her date both drank to excess the night before.

"The notion that he, too, was a boozer—at least for one night—caused her to feel a deep, wistful ache in her heart. Everyone who drank the way she did had a reason, she supposed, and she had never pressed him for his. Did he have one? Now she’d never know. Certainly he had never wondered about her own private pain."

Cassie falls deeper and deeper into deception BUT it soon becomes clear that she did not kill the handsome Alex. But Cassie continues to deceive everyone who cares about her and even herself. She lies about her drinking, her whereabouts the night of the murder and her lies keep spinning out of control.

"She had made her choice—just one more bad choice in a life riddled with them—and there was no turning back."

This is a very detailed and slow-building thriller. I felt completely immersed in the world of the flight attendants and modern-day international travel. The plot takes Cassie all over the world and the cast of characters is fascinating! Although many would find Cassie to be an unsympathetic character, I actually liked her and understood some of her choices (although I did not always agree with them!)

"Of course, that was the one constant in her life: she drank. Alcohol gave her pleasure and it gave her courage and it gave her comfort. It didn’t precisely give her self-esteem (especially not the next morning), but it gave her the faith that whatever she was, was enough."

Prepare to be completely taken by surprise with the ending. I was shocked!! (Not easy to do.) All the praise to Chris Bohjalian!! This book is well-researched, sexy, smart and surprising. I can definitely see this as a movie (paging Rachel McAdams!!) I thoroughly enjoyed this engaging and often witty thriller. Highly recommend.

Chris Bohjalian has been a reliable standby for me in the thriller department for the past few years (The Guest Room, The Sleepwalker), but I think he stumbled with The Flight Attendant. I was initially interested in finding out what happened to Alex and what would happen to Cassie. How would she handle being questioned about Alex’s murder (given she makes terrible decisions most of the time)? Would she be charged with murdering him? But, as Alex’s story is gradually revealed, I became incredibly confused. Why he might have been killed is convoluted, yet it felt like white noise to me. That side of the story isn’t developed well at all…to the point that I didn’t really care. However, Bohjalian did a great job bringing the life of a flight attendant alive, which I enjoyed. Bohjalian has written a book a year for the past few years, which is a lot. I feel like he might’ve churned this one out too quickly…at the expense of quality.

Who has ever gotten stupid drunk, made some bad decisions and occasionally needed to be reminded of exactly what you did the night before. **raises hand** Now, who has gotten blind drunk and then woken up next to the person they slept with the night before and said person has their throat cut open and you question whether you actually could have done this? **puts hand down** What decision do you make at this time? Well, Cassie decides to leave him there, wipe off all the glasses, put the do not disturb sign on the door and proceeds back to her hotel where she has to catch the next leg of her flight on her way home. And that's just the beginning!!

I absolutely loved this read. It read fast for me and I was completely involved in what exactly happened in that hotel room. I can see people not liking Cassie and wanting to throttle her. I absolutely felt that way at times, but that just shows how much of an alcoholic she is and addictions make you do some crazy ass things... even if you're under suspicion for murder. I certainly understand the compulsion to do something that you know you shouldn't be doing... feeding into that desire. Mine's mostly with books and food but you know... **wink**

I've always thought it would be cool to be a flight attendant. The stories of what they endure were hilarious and whether these are actual things that have happened on flights or not, WOW - I can only imagine what they have to go through at times. All of this was highly entertaining.

Now, in a work of fiction, I'm always willing to suspend belief as long as it adheres to the plot line. While I loved this SO MUCH for 90%, the ending just had me scratching my head a bit. The whole situation with Enrico was so unbelievable BUT exciting (and quite frankly, I have a soft spot for Italians so......). I winced a bit at this final scene as it felt a bit rushed and just not quite a fit for where I was thinking the story would go. Then the epilogue... damn, a LOT happened in a year!

Look, this was such a great piece of work. Absolutely well written and I was GLUED to the pages. GLUED. Just that last 10% got a little bit shark jumpy and didn't quite fit in with Cassie's character. I do still highly recommend this read and look forward to what Bohjalian brings next!

This well told tale of a one night stand gone terribly wrong is a page turner that will keep you up all night.. When flight attendant Cassie Bowen wakes up in a Dubai hotel room to find the handsome, charming first class passenger whose dinner invitation had led them both to his luxurious site dead, she is trapped in a nightmare - she's not even certain that she didn't kill him. With terrific pacing, strong character development and great narrative drive, Bohjalion is sure to hit the best seller must again.

The Flight Attendant A Novel by Chris Bohjalian published by Doubleday Books is a good read. I want to thank all parties who made this book possible and many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my arc of this novel.
I like many readers out there feel that the thriller genre is highly saturated but this novel has such unique qualities that it makes it a gem in the genre. Chris Bohjalian does an amazing job painting his female lead in many dimensions. While she comes across like a drunk party girl who enjoys a good time in every part of the world she lands, she is also a devoted aunt a strong female and a sister. For those who do not know much about alcoholism it is a very interesting ride watching Cassie spiral then picking herself up. I felt that the slow pace of the novel actually didn’t bother me. Why you ask well that simple because I think the slow format makes the story more digestible for the reader there for making it a more enjoyable read. I think the only thing I didn’t much care for was the character of Viktor while I get the role he played I just want a fan. Over all I think this deserves a read from anyone who likes a thriller with lots of twists.

Have you ever wondered what your worse nightmare would be like?

It's a pretty safe bet that Cassie has found hers when she wakes up one morning next to a dead man. He was a passenger on a plane where she was a flight attendant. There was an immediate attraction between the two and quite a bit of flirting occurred. They hooked up after landing and LOTS of drinking took place. For Cassie, it was blackout level drinking. And while she was no newbie to this level of drinking and has a few one night stands under her belt, coming to in the morning to discover someone with their throat slit laying next to her is a new one. Unfortunately, Cassie can only remember snippets of the evening. And so begins our journey with Cassie as she tries to piece together what happened not only to save what little dignity she has left, but possibly her job and eventually her life.

When I first saw the title I remember thinking - The Flight Attendant - huh. What kind of story could this possibly turn into?

Well, let me tell you. This was a real page turner. Not in a rock 'em, sock 'em roller coaster type of page turner. But an evenly paced and suspenseful type of page turner. The story slowly unfolds as Cassie starts discovering clues and putting things together. For all her faults, I found Cassie to be a likeable character. I really wanted her to redeem herself. There are numerous interesting players in this tale, along with a few pretty good twists at the end.

This was an exciting read from one of my favorite authors. Bravo!

I received this copy from Doubleday via Netgalley.

I've read two other Chris Bohjalian novels before (The Sandcastle Girls and The Double Bind) and I enjoyed them both immensely. They were witty and well-written and emotional. The Flight Attendant was really disappointing. Bohjalian seems to have succumbed to the pressures of being a successful writer who must produce work every year because this novel does not have any of the flare of the other work I've read by him. The main character, Cassie, is a vapid alcoholic with absolutely no depth. I get it: Bohjalian explores how alcoholism can (and often does) take over one's life but he's created this insipid character who is ONLY defined by her drinking binges and promiscuity. I read 350+ pages from her omniscience and literally can't tell you anything else about her. She wakes up next to a dead man in Dubai after spending the night with him and spends the entire rest of the novel either wondering if she actually killed him or wanting to drink to forget about it. The supporting characters, like the Russian woman who actually killed him, her sister who is routinely disappointed in her, her attorney who is forgettable, and the myriad of other identity-less flight attendants merely serve as ornaments on a dying, light-less Christmas tree of a story. Nothing was fresh or unique about this novel. Nothing moved me. Nothing provoked me. Nothing memorable happened. And the ending is just so trite. Don't waste your time with this one.

The thriller genre has been quite over-saturated lately, and thankfully, "The Flight Attendant" was not what I expected. Although a common stereotype in recent thrillers is a middle-aged alcoholic woman, Chris Bohjalian paints a very different world for his female lead. It is obvious that the ideas and storylines throughout the novel were very well-researched as I dove into a world I knew little about. The story was set at a much slower pace and was an enjoyable deviation from the typical crime thriller. The possibilities of the storyline kept me reading and I was surprised by the ending. I will certainly be checking out other works from this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

4.5 Stars!!
My first flight alone was at age 4. It was 1970 and things were different back then. I flew PanAm from San Jose to Los Angeles (where my dad was waiting for me) and sat in the back with the flight attendants, who were called stewardesses back then. They were nice to me and from that moment on I have been fascinated by this profession, so a novel called The Flight Attendant was right up my alley! It didn't disappoint.
Cassie Bowden is a flight attendant with a serious drinking problem. On a flight to Dubai she meets a passenger who she ends up spending the night with at a luxury hotel in Dubai. She blacks out, as she often does, and wakes up to find the gentleman murdered in the bed beside her. Blood is everywhere and Cassie can only remember bits and pieces of the night before. Did she kill him? If not her, who did and why? I love the premise of this book and the story itself is quite a page turner! Giving more info than I just did, is frankly, giving too much away. Just read it, it's fast.
This was my first Chris Bohjalian novel and I am so excited to read more by this author! I honestly don't know why I've waited so long. Thank you so much to Doubleday, Chris Bohjalian, and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this digital ARC.

Another addictive read from the talented Chris Bohjalian, and again, it's like none of his other books. I would classify this one as an international spy thriller, but that doesn't become obvious until later. At first it rivaled The Girl on the Train for most outlandish female alcoholic, only this time it's the girl on the plane.

Cassie seems to live a charmed jet-setting life as a flight attendant, getting her pick of international flights like Rome, Berlin, or Dubai, with NYC her home base. Actually, though, she is quite a mess, picking up strange fellows at every hotel, and drinking until she either passes out or blacks out (there is a difference). This is what ultimately gets her into trouble while in Dubai, and the trouble follows her home and everywhere else she ventures. Despite the seriousness of her situation, she continues to act like a crazy teenager set loose for the first time in the big city.

Addictive, like I said, and very suspenseful. I read it in two days time. There's a great twist at the end that I never saw coming, and then the Epilogue, for me, seemed somewhat far fetched. But who knows, maybe these things are more common than we know.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher.