QUICK TAKE: Sometimes I'm a sucker for a big, dumb action thriller, and well, FALLING is a big, dumb action thriller. Essentially SPEED on a plane, I absolutely smashed through this propulsive story about a commercial airline pilot forced to choose between saving his family and crashing the plane he's piloting, killing everyone onboard. If you're looking for this year's NBA winner, look elsewhere. But if you're looking for a fast-paced beach read, FALLING might be perfect for you. I had a freakin' blast with it.

Falling is an action packed, nerve wracking novel. It grabs you from the beginning and has a very unexpected twist.
Very enjoyable and gives you a lot to think about!

(3 1/2). A wild and wooly ride. A different kind of spin on a pretty believable plot. Fast moving from the start, this book will keep you turning pages until the very end. A little too much sap makes it really a 3 star read but it sure is entertaining. Good stuff.

“When the shoe dropped into her lap the foot was still in it.”

That‘s the first sentence, and I‘m certain I held my breath throughout the entire story, until the end. This was the most thrilling and suspenseful thing I've read in a long time. Twists and turns everywhere! These scenes were terrifying every time I thought of how plausible they were. Hopefully a situation like this isn't probable, but I could definitely envision it happening. My heart rate was high and my grip was white-knuckle while I read on my Kindle. A fast-paced, super fun thriller!! I think this will be a great summertime read.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Avid Reader Press, and Simon & Schuster for the chance to read it early in exchange for a review!

Wow! T.J. Newman's Falling is an excellent thriller that grabs the reader and doesn't let go and it seems so realistic. there were only two things that keep me from giving Falling 5 stars. The first concerns the prologue. The writing is not on the same quality. I almost stopped reading any further. The prologue is not necessary. There's enough starting momentum with the chapter that follows it. The other is the political slant to the book that comes out. It presumes that America is or should be the world's protector, an insurer against all the evil in the world. America cannot take on that role. Sooner or later, America has to leave other countries to their fate. Otherwise, our armed forces would be stretched to the breaking point as Congress will never and should never endorse, let alone, fund enough military to be the world's policeman, which is what would be required to stop every fanatical leader bent on genocide or domination. Look at North Korea, Russia, and China, among countless other regimes where the military has taken control.. Thank you to Avid Reader Press for taking a chance on her. A fuller review will be posted on Goodreads, and later when it is published on Amazon.

Starts out fast right on the 1st page.....& keeps up the pace all the way through! A thriller penned by an actual flight attendant.....& you can tell as you're reading that the author knows her way around a plane, & uses the 'in-flight' lingo. The story seems to move along at the speed of the action happening on the page......it's a quick, 'hard to put down' read. Maybe this will be the 'action-beach read' of the summer?! The 'Acknowledgements' at the end are worth the read too.
I received an e-ARC to read & review from publisher Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster via NetGalley.

OMG! Since 24’s season 5 21st episode I haven’t gotten so tense! I am so close to explode! My heart is pounding so fast! I can crush because of extra adrenalin rush as the blood keeps pumping into my veins! What a freaking eyes popping head spinning gut wrenching ride I jumped on!

This book is sticky! It glues to your hands, taking control of your mind, forcing you cut your connection with the real world and for cues you to enjoy the action packed, fist pumping, jaw clenching, heart throbbing pacing!

Don’t you ever dare to put it down! If you do that, you’ll regret it because when you turn back your normal life, intense feeling of claustrophobic cabin fever will follow you in everywhere!
Let’s take a closer look to the plot line:
Captain Bill Hoffman feels sorry how he left things with his wife at home. She didn’t answer his calls which is strange because whenever they have argument, she never chooses silent treatment. Something is off.

He couldn’t be so right because as he sits on his seat at the cockpit, checking last things before his flight from LAX to NYC’s JFK airport, he gets an email from his wife without subject attached with a photo shows his family are hostages of a very dangerous man.

As he clicks the man’s FaceTime call, he sees his wife strapped with explosives (just like Bodyguard’s final freaking episode)

The man call himself Sam tells him he has two choices he’s going to crash the plane if he doesn’t he will kill his family. Plain and simple.
Bill cannot tell it anybody if he does that his family dies. If he rejects the plan again his family dies.

So he has to obey the rules. He has to change the rotate to Washington D. C., killing his copilot by mixing white powder with his coffee inserted his bag and throw a gas can at the cabin before crashing the plane!

He carries 144 souls onboard whose lives at stake. Will he crash the plane to save his family?
At the cabin, there are brave flight attendants do their best to keep the passengers alive as Bill literally deals with fight or flight situation.

Jo, experienced flight attendant, is close friend of Bill learns the threat at the first hand and thankfully her nephew Theo is FBI agent but even their resources and ATC’s support can not be enough to fight against the big threat.

What’s going to happen? Could loved be saved and could the imminent political threat and national crisis be stopped before things are getting escalated?

There are so many movies take place in the plane like Passenger 57, Red Eye, Nonstop, United 93, and lately Joseph Gordon Levitt’s 7500.

This book’s storyline is quit best example of action packed- adrenaline rush- cabin fever movies and with fast pacing, mind whirling, high tension storyline helps you consume it as like you’re devouring your favorite action movie! ( its storyline is so much better than the some of the movies I listed before so this has great potential for an adaptation!)

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!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press/ Simon& Schuster for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

Falling is one of those fast paced thriller novels that sucks you in and takes you along for the ride, while not really offering anything new or innovative to the genre, and that's ok. I definitely enjoyed this for what it was. It allowed me to get out of my head while I was reading it and just enjoy the tension and thrills as they came, which was all I really needed.

The characters in this story were incredibly well fleshed out and believable, and the author definitely does a good job of making you care for these people and wanting the best possible outcome for everyone involved. The stakes/consequences could have been a little higher in the fact that every character makes it out generally unscathed and alive, but this is just a preference I like to see in these types of stories to lend a little more believability and credibility to the story.

The political motivations behind the kidnappers actions was a little heavy handed, and at this point a little over played. Give me some new reasons as to why your villains want to incite terror into the world, and step away from things that have been done so many times before. If the author had been a little more innovative that way, this book could easily have been elevated above most others in the genre.

Despite this flaw this will definitely be a popular "blockbuster, summer beach read" novel that I wouldn't be surprised to see adapted into a movie before too long. And if this is your type of read I definitely recommend checking it out.

Can I give this book. more than 5 stars? This was the fastest I’ve read a book in a long time. Loved the storyline, characterizations, everything. The book was just the right length for a mid air crisis. Can’t wait for more books from this author! Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Falling by T.J. Newman is a superb read with a well defined plot and characters. Well worth the read!

What an edge-of-your-seat thrill ride of a book! You just can't put it down. The author keeps you guessing and wondering how the protagonists will overcome the impossible. This book is more than just another thriller, it evokes compassion for the "bad guys" or at least makes you think what drives people to commit certain drastic acts. It's not all black and white and the complacency/ignorance of the Western world takes it's toll on people in other parts of the world. Great debut novel!

I absolutely loved this book, especially as a frequent flyer that has been staying home thanks to the pandemic. It is realistic -- almost to a fault -- and while not probable it could happen. A terrorist hijacks a cross country flight and offers the pilot an awful choice -- crash the plane or have his family, which is being held hostage by another terrorist -- die as an alternative. The back-and-forth negotiations and events that unfold will keep you engaged in the narrative up until the very last page. It has strong characters (including the bad guys), flawed characters (including the FBI and air traffic controllers) and an interesting series of plot points that involve modern day communications in real time with passengers on board the flight. The author is a former flight attendant, which is why the plot is so realistic, and as a first novel it is nothing short of fantastic. Even if you have not been on a plane all that much, this is one great read.

Heart Thumping -Non-Stop Action-from START to FINISH!! ❤️

You can read this relentless ADRENALINE thriller in the course of the five hours or so that it might take you to fly from LAX (Los Angeles) to NY’s JFK airport....but I suggest you read it when your feet are planted firmly on the ground!!

Captain Bill Hoffman’s family has been kidnapped thirty minutes before his flight but he doesn’t know this yet.

His wife Carrie, and his two children are being held hostage, strapped to explosives 🧨

And, he isn’t supposed to share this information with his first officer, Ben or his cabin crew.

Once airborne, he is given the “choice” of crashing the plane to save his family OR saving the 149 souls onboard, instead.

The pace is FAST as the action alternates between the choices being made in the cockpit, what our fearless flight attendants are doing in the cabin, and the support being given by the FBI and ATC (Air Traffic Control) on the ground.

As a 25+ year flight attendant, myself, I loved reading a book without the stereotypical pilots and flight attendants you usually find in these books! The story was peppered with actual “lingo”and authenticity only a crew member could write, because our author was also a flight attendant, for Virgin America and Alaska Airlines, for 10 years, before selling this novel!

Although I fly for a different carrier, we too have “legendary employees” like Michael “Big Daddy”, who have “three digit employee numbers.

And, many of us “slam click” on our overnights, as lead flight attendant “Jo” does too! (Hotel door slams shut, you hear the click of the lock and you don’t see the crew members again till the next morning).

Kellie-the “reserve” flight attendant who got the assignment “last minute” when someone else called in sick. Yes-that is how it works! It was her lucky day!

I had SO MUCH FUN reading this, as I immediately donned my thinking cap, wondering how I would have handled the situation …

And, YES, I laughed, I cried, and I cheered them on!!!

You cannot ask for more than that in a thriller!!
This will make a great 🍿 movie!

Congratulations to Torri Newman for her perseverance in not letting the 41 rejections stop her from submitting this to #42! Being a flight attendant will give you a thick skin-and it paid off here! I live in Phoenix and have referenced The Changing Hands bookstore in a past review! (Our Souls at Night-Kent Haruf) I hope you will have a book signing at your old store, sometime?

Expected Publication July 6, 2021 from Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster

Thank you for my gifted copy provided through NetGalley in exchange for a candid review!

As I started reading this book, I was all ready to give it only 3 stars because of the frequent offensive language. While I understood the purpose of including it, I didn't feel there should be so much of it. BUTTTT.... Omigosh, this turned out to be one of the best books I have read in a long, long time! I never put it down from start to finish. If I had to leave my bedroom, I carried my phone around with me (using the Kindle app). If my battery needed charging, I continued to read as it charged.

I am so glad that the author finally found someone who would publish it for her, and how I hope she will write more! Even though my late husband was a pilot, and I could relate to a lot of the captain's functions, I still would have loved the story! It grabbed me and wouldn't let go! Oh, and the language improved as the story progressed.

This book chronicles a plane hijacking unlike any other. In a post 9/11 world, as a society we rest easy thinking that the FAA has improved regulations to the point that this is borderline impossible to occur. The author presents a new kind of hijacking that feels deeply, unsettlingly plausible. It's a book that reimagines the trolley problem for the contemporary reader.

This book is packed with action from the very beginning to the end. However, unlike most thrillers, the fast pace is not at the expense of developing rich and deep characters. This book is both deeply thrilling and deeply human. I am not usually an emotional reader but I found myself so endeared by the characters that I was laughing, crying, and cheering (out loud!) as the story unfolded. I was downright shocked that this was a debut novel.


Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC.

I am preparing a (favorable) review for Washington Independent Review of Books and it will appear on WIROB's website sometime around the pub date for the book. I'll attempt to circle back here and add the link at that time.

The story of this book’s publication is almost as much fun as the book. A young woman named T.J. Newman spent years working as a flight attendant for major airlines. During and outside of her long flights, she made good use of her time thinking and writing about a terrifying story set around an airline pilot, his family, and a couple of people who would best be labeled “terrorists.” Once she had finished her writing and turned it into a novel, she tried FORTY different times to get interest from an agent or publisher. Finally, a smart agent liked it and now it is a BFD thriller and publishing phenomenon, it should make an EXCELLENT movie, and she will make lots of well-earned $$$.

The situation is that 140+ passengers are on a flight from LA to New York. Their pilot had gotten a call shortly before the flight was due to take off about an urgent pilot staffing situation, so he volunteered to step in and take the flight. Just as he was leaving the house, a “Cable repairman” showed up and as the pilot left, the “repairman” took the family hostage. The pilot is contacted and told that he has a choice: the plane or his family. For the family to survive, he has to crash the plane, killing everyone on board.

The premise is fairly straightforward, and part of me expected that it would be resolved neatly. It’s called “JAWS at 35,000 feet,” so I was prepared for tension and suspense. But what sets this one apart is the author’s depth of knowledge about airline procedures and flight operations (including the primary role of flight attendants being the safety of the passengers). She also does a great job developing characters that the reader both knows and cares about. The “bad guys” have an interesting and thought-provoking backstory and although there were a couple of things about the ending that I might quibble with, overall it was a fun read and well done. With thanks to Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster and NetGalley, who provided a copy in exchange for this honest review, T.J. Newman’s Falling gets four solid stars.

This was a really solid suspense novel, and I powered through it in two days. I love it when authors write from their own knowledge and here the author gives us a really interesting insight into the inner workings of a plane and cabin crew. Twisty, interesting, and characters that you actually care about. . Really enjoyed it, easy reading. It hooked me in and I needed to know how it would end. Also love that it makes you empathise with all characters, including the “enemy”.
It is a little predictable in places hence not five stars, however still a good read.

A really excellent book. Keeps the reader in suspense all the way through. I am very glad to have received an advanced copy to review. I can't recommend this book any higher. Best book I have read in a long time. Very well done!! The only thing I can say outside of high praise is that there needs to be better delineation when another character is switched too. I found myself doubling back to see who again I was reading about. This book is so exciting you really don't want to have to do that - you just want to forge ahead! Very well done Ms. Newman. What a movie this would make!!!!!!!

Falling by T.J. Newman
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
If you had to choose between your family being killed or crashing the plane your piloting with 149 souls, what would you choose?
If you thought it was down to the last five minutes of your life, how would you spend it? What kind of human would you be?

Those are the things I wondered as I read this book.

It’s been a while since I read a whole book in under 24 hours, I’m normally a slow reader, but I couldn’t put this book down. It completely captured my attention. From the very first sentence this book pulls you into the fast paced journey from 35,000 feet in the air and will leave you holding your breath. I love that this full throttle thriller also touched on current world events that is so important to talk about.

Publication date is July 6th

Thank you so much to @NetGalley @simonandschuster @tj_author for the advanced copy.