4 out of 5 stars. Super fast paced thriller - highly recommend!

Really enjoyed this book (after reading it last summer)! Kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time!

Thank you to T.J. Newman, Avid Reader Press, and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

#NetGalley

I loved this! T. J. Newman has crafted a winner of a novel that kept me on the edge of my seat and reading when I should be doing something else!! The plot is inventive, the surprises keep coming until the end and the characters are nuanced. I will definitely be looking forward to the next book by #tjnewman. I received this advance copy of #falling to read and review from #netgalley and the publisher-all opinions are my own.

CHARLOTTE'S WEB OF BOOKS

(22)FALLING BY T.J. NEWMAN
Saturday, April 2, 2022





Bill Hoffman was supposed to be off that day. He was supposed to be spending time with his family, but the thought of the extra money was too good to pass up. He is flying with Ben Miro, a young pilot he enjoys, and one of his favorite flight attendants, Jo. They aren't in the air very long when Bill gets a call from Carrie, his wife. Only it isn't Carrie. It is a man and in the background; he sees his family with hoods over their heads. His family is being held hostage and will die unless he crashes the airplane with 147 souls on board. Bill is terrified, he does not want to crash the plane, but he could not live with himself if something happens to his family. Bill has about five hours to figure out how to get out of it and land this plane safely.


I decided to hold off reading Falling until we got back from Hawaii and I am really glad that I did. Falling is a fast-paced thriller meant to terrify the most infrequent passenger. Bill Hoffman seemed like a good guy, so I am not sure why he was targeted, but he held up pretty well under the pressure. Jo, the feisty flight attendant, was a strong character that I really liked. If there were a movie, she would steal the show. The book did end up being fairly predictable, but that was not surprising. The end was pretty much what I expected. CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS.



Bottom Line - Falling had the same premise as Hostage by Clare Mackintosh, a book I read last year. However, Falling was the better read for me.



Details:

Falling by T.J. Newman
On Instagram
Pages: 304
Publisher: Avid Reader Press
Publication Date: 7/6/2021
Buy it Here!
Thank you to NetGalley

When terrorists kidnap an experienced pilot's family, he is forced to make an impossible choice-- crash the plane or watch his family die.
Written by an actual flight attendant, she does an excellent job describing a pilot's worst nightmare in this terrifying yet fascinating thriller.
I received an advance reader copy of this book. The views and opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.

I thought this book had a super storyline to it! I really enjoyed this book and found it super easy to pick up and read. The characters could have done with further development to allow attachment but the story was pacy.

Thank you to both Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.


Exciting!!

First off, the title coupled with the picture of a airplane, then the synopsis- crash the plane or I kill your family said to the pilot as he's 38,000 feet in the air with 144 souls on board. It totally pulls you in to the story. All while reading this novel I kept seeing it as a movie in my head. I totally get how it made it onto the best sellers list. Once we get past the synopsis there isn't anything that hasn't been seen before in an airplane novel or movie but that doesn't matter because it's the author's voice and the way she tells the story that make this such a good read. You might say that the main character was the pilot Bill Hoffman but there were so many characters that each played their part, Carrie the wife, son Scott, daughter Elise. A stand out was definitely the head flight attendant Jo Watson. T.J. Newman made you care and see what was happening through the principle character's point of view and made you care about each of them. Even the kidnapper/hijacker was sympathetic in his reasons for doing this awful act though of course you hated how he was making the pilot, his family and the people on the plane suffer. I very much recommend this novel and I look forward to reading more from this author.

If you enjoy unputdownable, addictive, one sit readings which can get you out of your mind, this book is best fit for your needs. Pick up your popcorn and wine ( or any other combination like pretzels, biscotti and can coke just like airline complimentary menus) and sit tight at your seat, fasten your seatbelt and enjoy your crazy flight!

I enjoyed this book. The only issue was it nonstop from beginning to end. Bill Hoffman, a commercial airplane pilot receives a message from a terrorist that he must crash the plane or his family will be killed. He faces all manner of situations in this gripping novel I had a hard time putting it down because I could not predict how this situation was going to be resolved. I recommend this novel, but make sure you have time to read the whole thing at once and preferably, not on a plane.

The main thing I wanted from this book was that unsettling feeling in my stomach that you usually get while reading a thriller book. This book didn't quite make me feel like that, but it was still gripping enough to make me glued to the page. I managed to finish this in basically two sittings.

The premise was scary and my brain immediately started calculating the odds of the plane crashing or Bill's family dying. But we kind of stopped at that, because there aren't many reveals in this book. There is almost nothing to shock you or make your jaw drop. We do get more than just the pilot's perspective, but we also see glimpses of his family and POV from a person working for FBI, along with the people working on the plane, but I believe we could have gotten more attatched to the passangers if we had POV from someone there. It was easy to forget that they are actually there and that their lives were at stake because we didn't know how they felt.

I get the point that the person who orchestrated this was trying to make, but it didn't have enough strenght to make me symphatise with them. It is heartbreaking, but trying to make people understand tragedy by creating more tragedy is not the way.

The forty-one agents who rejected this manuscript shouldn't be blamed for turning it down.
The many implausibles and fortuitous coincidences that strain credibility tend to overshadow the absorbing characters and high emotion of an exciting thriller. Nor was the ending really a surprise.

Commercial airline pilot Bill picks up an extra flight at the last minute and will live to regret it. Early into the flight to New York he is shown a video of his kidnapped family and given an ultimatum... crash the plane and the 140 people on board will die. Don't crash and his family will die. Faced with an impossible choice, Bill is determined to figure a way out. With his crew behind him, they commit to working together to survive the flight and keep his family safe. As the story unfolds, the tension and pace increase making it almost impossible to stop reading. Bill has a choice to make . . . what will it be?

Falling is extremely intense as you can imagine. Some scenes are graphic but delivered in context with the developing story. Characters are well developed and likable - people you might be friends with. I found the story to be tightly plotted and well delivered in a way that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. Through twists and turns, readers see the crew and Bill working together to try and resolve an impossible situation. I thought the flight attendants were especially well written and performing. Emotional, tense action makes Falling a must read for fans of suspense thrillers.

This is the first book I read from this author and I’ve enjoyed it, although it was not gripping as I though it would be. It’s a story about an airplane hijacking but with a bit of a different spin. Book is fast paced and action packed, but the plot goes off the rails for me and the plot twist was not a surprise. Overall I’ve enjoyed it, but I believe it would be better as a screenplay.

claustrophobia-inducing, nail-biting-causing, edge-of-your-seat, 5-star debut thriller for tj newman! definitely a wild and unpredictable ride that kept my stomach in knots and my mind guessing.

In T.J. Newman's Falling, veteran airline captain Bill Hoffman boards his flight as usual. Nothing seems out of place except that his wife was upset he had picked up the trip when he was supposed to be at his son's baseball game. When he gets a call from her in-flight, the face time image that comes through doesn't make any sense: she is strapped to a suicide vest and she and their children are gagged. A terrorist has taken his family hostage and presented Bill with a choice: his family or the plane full of passengers.

This book was a thriller true to its name. I could NOT put it down. I had so many things to do yesterday, but I was convinced that if I stopped reading the plane would fall right out of the air. Newman is a flight attendant and her experience shows through in the details of this breath-catching adventure. I don't usually love thrillers, but this one really had me. The characters were wonderfully written and impossible not to love. As a reader, I was genuinely concerned for their survival. The whole time I kept thinking if they don't turn this into a movie they are just throwing money away. I was happy to read that the film rights have been awarded to Universal Pictures. I will be anxiously waiting with money in my hand at the box office window.

Read this book, but be sure to fasten your seatbelt first!

Falling came along with massive hype, a thriller written by a flight attendant with unique insights into the world of airline travel, looking to answer a question many have probably asked when boarding a flight... are we ready to put our lives (or souls) in the hands of one person? Remembering the Germanwings disaster, when a deranged copilot decided to crash the plane into a mountain for no clear reason, it brings this question always to prominence. The novel itself was okay, with some interesting moments, but overall not as thrilling as expected from all press around the book. An entertaining page turner, short and quick read to pass the time, but nothing more. 3 out of 5.

Really good, thrilling account of a plane hijacking. I really appreciated the "insider knowledge" the author was able to bring to the book as well. I really liked this book!

Enjoyed Falling...it's fast-paced action and the book overall. It read to me like a movie! Reminded me of the suspense of Speed and a race against time to save people on a plane destined for disaster!

The premise of Falling pits a pilot's love of his family against his responsibility to the one hundred and forty-three souls on board his flight. This thriller will have you questioning what you would do if put in a similar situation and learning that just perhaps you will do something different.

I'm a slow reader, so when I come across a story that grabs me by the throat and won't let go, a story that demands I continue, I'm in book heaven. One that raises moral questions is even better. Is the "bad guy" really so bad? Is violence ever a justifiable means?

I'm not sure I will ever look at a pilot and flying the same way. Millions of us get into these little metal boxes and go hurtling through the air. Do we ever really think about the fact that our lives are quite literally in someone else's hands?

I recommend Falling because of the great plot twists, the moral dilemmas raised, and the searing thrill ride.

The Falling by T.J. Newman was an interesting read. However, I struggled with the novel. I love novels and films that discuss planes, as I love to travel.

The plot of the novel is quite interesting and intriguing. The novel follows the story of a pilot, Bill, whose family has been kidnapped by a terrorist. The terrorist gives the pilot limited time to make impossible decisions.

Unfortunately, halfway through the novel or lesser, I had to stop reading the novel because the terrorist was depicted in a very stereotypical and problematic manner, and moreover, the author had decided to call them as Yazidis, which shows that there was no research done to recognize and realize the trauma that the community has suffered under ISIS. More specifically, I study social justice and human rights, with a focus on gender-based violence. At a conference a couple of years ago, I met someone from the country who spoke about the atrocities that these groups of people, in particular, have faced.

To me, while the plot overall was interesting and offered a good framework, I think a lot more research needs to be done, especially when representing something so sensitive and moving. We need to think about terrorists in a more complex manner and move away from constructing Brown stereotypes of them. Terrorists can be of any race and creed.

While the novel attempts to paint a complex portrait of hijacking, I think more nuance and sensitivity could have also been presented to the readers on such a sensitive subject.

I thank Netgalley and the author for proving me with an early Advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

Hands down the best thriller I've read in a really long time! Make sure that when you're ready to start it, you have the rest of the day free because you won't want to stop. The plot was fresh, the character development was fantastic, and I felt like I was right there along with them. This reads like a movie and I really hope it gets turned into one!