Massive congratulations to T J Newman for such a truly gripping debut novel.

This is one of the best debut novels I have read so far this year, I was hooked from the start and couldn’t put it down, the suspense was captivating and I would often think to myself, holy shit, or no don’t do that, or wow that was unexpected....

I am not a fan of flying and going into this book I thought to myself well this isn’t going to help my phobia... but in an amazing way I think it has helped.

T J Newman is an author to watch out for, and I totally recommend you read this book.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for so kindly gifting me this ebook!

30 minutes before take-off Captain Bill Hoffman has been given the most impossible choice - save the lives of his family or the 143 passengers on his plane. What should have been a routine take-off has left Bill shaken and hesitant of who he can trust. Fly through this thrilling, adrenaline-filled adventure to see the choice he makes, and who survives.

'Falling' is of the best debut thrillers of the year, and is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.

So happy this book did not let me down after having such high hopes! Loved it! Excellent writing, great characters and will have you hooked from the first few pages; I couldn't put it down once I started! I am recommending this to so many people who love thrillers. Would make a great movie I think too! Thanks so much for my ARC!

If you only read one book this year, make sure it is “Falling”. (But maybe not while you’re on a plane!)

This book will keep you on the edge of your seat, your pulse racing and your fingers itchy to turn the page - you won’t want to put it down because you will NEED to know what happens next.

Full of believable characters, your heart will go out to pilot Captain Bill Hoffman as he works his way through a dilemma most couldn’t, you cheer for the gutsy Jo Watkins and her crew Big Daddy and Kellie, and you admire Bill’s wife Carrie as she protects her young family while being held at gunpoint by a seemingly crazed lunatic. TJ Newman’s background in the airline industry has given us a frighteningly realistic plot that we hope we will never encounter, but at the same time can’t help but ponder just how we would react if put in the same situation.

Clear your afternoon, keep the coffee coming - you won’t want to put “Falling” down until you reach the final page. TJ Newman has set a very high standard with her debut novel and I can’t wait to see what she delivers next. 5 stars - more if I could.

With thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Australia for access to this amazing ARC, in exchange for my review.

3.75☆

I dare you to put this book down after the first page!

Falling is the debut novel from TJ Newman, former flight attendant, and takes the reader on a thrill ride up in the skies and a hold your breath race on the ground.

As much as a pilot's family could be kidnapped for blackmail against a full planeload of passengers, the only thing that held me back from really enjoying this thriller is the I found it just a little unbelievable that there wouldn't be backup procedures, more thorough background checks, just more protection against this happening.

Doubts aside, Falling sucks you in from the first page, and until it's safe to land to won't want to put this book down!

Falling - T J Newman
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A heart stopping, pulse pounding thrill ride of a story.
T J Newman had me hooked from the first page and I couldn’t put the book down.

When Pilot Bill Hoffman receives an email from his wife, with the ultimatum, crash the plane or his family won’t live, Bill lives out his worse nightmare.

A brilliantly delivered story with so much heart pounding intrigue and intensity. Intense, realistic and a gripping story. Highly recommended.

“All I want is to see what a good man— a good American man— does when he’s in a no-win situation. What does a man like you do when he has to choose. A plane full of strangers? Or your family? See, Bill, it really is about the choice. You. Choosing who will survive. That is what I want.”

Falling is the first novel by American author, T J Newman. Contact from his wife, soon after the take-off of Coastal Airways Flight 416, destination JFK airport, New York, brings a shock to veteran pilot Bill Hoffman. Carrie is shown bound, gagged and trussed up in a suicide vest, holding his ten-month-old daughter, Elise. His ten-year-old son Scott is also bound and gagged.

The man holding them captive in their own kitchen gives Bill a choice: crash the plane (destination to be specified), or watch his family murdered over WhatsApp. There is no other demand: this is it. But from the outset, Bill is adamant he will do neither. “I get why you’re doing this but it doesn’t justify what you’re doing!”

There’s just a five-hour flight time, and it goes without saying there’s to be no telling, not to the crew, cops, or FAA. Crashing the plane will be a nasty business, involving gassing the passengers and killing the First Officer. Bill is grateful for a reliable flight crew, but how can he possibly save the one hundred and forty-nine souls on board, and his family?

It’s a real pleasure to watch this edge-of-the-seat drama unfold: plenty of lateral thinking and resourcefulness from characters meeting unanticipated challenges, heroic acts and plenty of action both in the air and on the ground, including a baseball game and a trail of destruction left in the wake of an FBI agent following a hunch. There’s a twist or two, and right when it looks like Bill might pull it off, the threat that the military might shoot them down.

Most thrillers require a degree of suspension of disbelief, but Newman, no doubt through her intimate knowledge of the subject, makes her story so easily believable, readers may hesitate before boarding another plane. About the only thing that seems really far-fetched is the unfailing internet/cell phone cover all the way across America. Newman’s debut novel grabs you on page one and doesn’t let go. Unputdownable!
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and the publisher.

Why it took 42 submission for TJ Newman to find an agent for this book I will never know. It was unputdownable. I couldn’t stop reading, it had me gripped on the edge of my seat from the very first page. It was an emotional roller coaster, one minute I was mad, then feeling grateful, brave and appreciative and the next I was holding back tears because I didn’t know what was going happen. I could easily see this book becoming a movie, no doubts about it. The feelings that this book produced in me just blew my mind, the characters we very well written, there were no missing pieces and everything flowed smoothly. High praise for TJ Newman and her thrilling debut novel.

“Falling” is an outstanding thriller, and I suspect it will prove to be one of the standout reads of 2021. An incredibly simple, but terrifying, premise and strong characterisations made for a novel to be read in a sitting.

When Captain Bill Holloway takes command of his flight from Los Angeles to New York, it’s a routine commute for him. Within minutes of takeoff, it becomes something very different. He receives an email. His family is being held hostage. The ransom the terrorists demand is simple: he must crash the plane he’s flying.

Holloway tells the terrorists that they won’t kill his wife and small children, and he won’t crash the plane, but he has no idea how to achieve this. He’s stuck in the air. His communications are limited. If he tells the authorities, his family will be killed. He can’t tell anyone on the plane, as an unknown confederate is on-board and monitoring him.

What will he choose to destroy – his family or his plane?

This premise is so simple that you can almost see the movie posters. Yet it’s also intensely suspenseful and credible (similar things have happened in real life to bank managers). Newman writes well, and the pace is fast, and hard to resist. I read this novel in approximately the same time as the flight was scheduled to take (five hours). I was completely involved in it.

The characterisations are strong, which engages you even more deeply in the story. Although there is certainly some terrible behaviour on display here, Newman is more interested in showing us the best of humanity. People rise to the occasion. They help others. They do their jobs with utter professionalism. In a crisis, they think of others, not just themselves. It’s not the main point of the story, perhaps, but it’s a strong undercurrent, and one I liked.

This does lead to the novel’s only real flaw. Newman tries very hard to humanise her terrorists, and explain what they’re doing and why. I don’t disagree with her decision to humanise them, but I found the extremity of their response to certain events a bit of a stretch. I also struggled somewhat with their victims’ willingness to accept and understand those motivations, too. I think that if this occurred, it would probably take a lot longer for the victims to reach that point.

Aside from that, this is a brilliant thriller. A very simple premise, strongly played out with empathetic characters and genuine tension, generated a stronger reaction in me than many more complex thrillers. I’d recommend this not just to readers who like thrillers, but also to readers who like strongly character based stories or those who like fast paced stories. It’s a novel that should have wide appeal.

This is not the sort of book I would normally pick up to read, but I was glad I did!

It gets you from the first page, when we are in the middle of the drama, the tension is high. From there I was hooked and had to find out what and how this happened.

We find out just what led to this.... a pilot is threatened, a plane and family taken hostage, he must crash the plane or his family dies... what will he do?

The tension builds through the whole of this book and leads to some fantastic, anxiety ridden outcomes.

Great characters, gripping plot and ongoing action, great read!

Wow! What an incredible debut novel. Fasten your seatbelts and pull your seat back straight because this is going to be one helluva ride!

When Coastal Airways Captain Bill Hoffman is called in on his day off to pilot flight 416 from LA to New York, he little imagines it will be any more than a routine flight. With clear weather, he’s not expecting any problems flying the Airbus A320 carrying 144 passengers, his experienced co-pilot Ben, two senior flight attendants, Jo and Michael and young probationary attendant, Kellie. Even though Bill should be enjoying family time with his wife Carrie and kids, they’re used to managing without him and he plans to make it up to them later. However, with the flight underway and the plane set to cruise, Bill is sent a shocking photo of Carrie and the kids being held hostage in their home, with a suicide bomber’s vest strapped to Carrie’s chest, and told he must make the impossible choice to either save his family or crash the plane.

Even though he has just found himself thrust into every pilot’s worst nightmare, Bill is determined that neither of those options will happen on his watch. With Bill doing all he can in the cockpit to keep the flight safe and his flight attendants preparing the passengers they make a formidable team. The action and the tension as the remaining five hours of the flight count down are relentless as events unfold rapidly in the air and on the ground.

What I really enjoyed about this book, was seeing the flight crew’s training kicking in as they planned and managed the situation. This should have been no surprise since the author was a flight attendant for 10 years, writing much of her book while flying red-eyes. However, the professionalism which Jo, Michael and Kellie showed really added an authenticity to the action. I was however, a little disappointed in the stereotyping of the terrorists and their motives, but this was the only aspect of the novel that I felt could have been more imaginative and did not detract from the very suspenseful plot or the rapidity with which I turned the pages.

This book should come with a warning that under no circumstances should you be tempted to buy it in the airport bookshop to read on your flight. Much better to read it with your two feet firmly on the ground.

Est. availability date: 2 June 2021

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The basic premise of this book is Bill is off to fly a commercial plane. Unbeknownst to him, someone has kidnapped his family and now he has to decide - crash the plane and kill everyone on board, or his family dies.

This book was a little bit more difficult to rate. I loved the pacing, the action was non stop and really exciting, the author obviously knows her stuff when it comes to flying (which is why I’ll look past naming a character “Big Daddy” - it absolutely sounds like a flight thing), and I did want to see how everything would resolve.

I’ll look past a lot of things - the unrelenting cavalcade of coincidences that meant this was pulled off perfectly being the least of them - because the book was engaging enough that I wasn’t bothered by them. What DID bother me was the story behind the baddies which leant itself to some pretty cringing patriotism. There were so many reasons to target Bill - a disgruntled coworker or a jealous former classmate spring to mind - so using cardboard cutout Middle Eastern bad guys with no real logical reasoning behind their stand was quite a confusing take.

So, I’d recommend this book for anyone looking for an exciting roller coaster ride where the good guys win the day, the bad guys get their comeuppance, and you’re not too bothered about the bits in between making perfect sense.

WOW!! Falling is an amazing story and a debut novel at that. T. J. Newman has written an incredible story that had me spell bound and unable to stop reading. The beginning grabbed you and then it just didn’t let go - I struggled to read any faster. Fast moving and so exciting. My heart beat was in overdrive.

Captain Ben Hoffman is a pilot, dedicated and loyal, so when he is asked to fly that day when he was supposed to be attending his son’s important baseball game, he says yes. A technician turns up to fixed their home cable just as he is about to leave. His wife, Carrie, his son Scott and little baby daughter are held captive and he is told to choose between saving his family or saving the plane and there is someone else on the plane who is also involved. What will he do? The story unfolds and we are held in suspense.....

Highly recommended read.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher Simon & Schuster Australia for a copy to read and review.

4.5☆ - An impressive debut novel!

Not one to read thrillers often, the blurb intrigued me... and horrified my pilot husband. Yes, I read this story with a slightly different perspective to many readers with my close association to the aviation world, and was still able to enjoy the ride.

An impressive debut novel, Ms Newman's characters jumped off the page from the first startling sentence. I appreciated the complexities of each scene/situation but also the humanness of each and every individual in this book... even the "villain".

I cast my vote to this being made into a film... at least then the hubby will watch it (and yell at the screen if the aviation side of things isn't realistic... heh heh heh).

NB I received an ARC of this novel.

Falling is a nail-biting suspense thriller about a terrifying flight from LA to New York, where the pilot has been given an impossible choice: the plane or his family. It’s probably a good time to read it, with hardly anyone flying just now, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I requested after an invite from NetGalley and seeing a run of highly positive reviews, and have to agree that this deserves to be a bestseller. I’m also not at all surprised to hear that the rights to the movie triggered a bidding war!

Veteran pilot Bill Hoffman can’t say no when his boss asks him to fly to NYC at short notice, but has no idea what’s in store: soon after take-off he receives a call from a terrorist who has kidnapped Bill’s wife and kids, and delivers the chilling ultimatum - either he crashes the plan, or they will be killed. Refusing to do either is not an option - how can Bill and his brave crew save all their lives?

This was superbly plotted and paced, and features a fantastic cast of characters, especially courageous Jo and cheeky Daddy. The author cleverly manages to make us sympathise with the villain, without ever wanting him to succeed. This is the author’s first novel, written while she worked as a flight attendant for Virgin Airlines, and the jargon and flight-talk gave it a very realistic feel. The ending, however, is pure Hollywood - highly recommended! 4.5 rounded up for the gripping delivery, some good twists and the eye-catching cover.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC, which allowed me to give an honest review. Falling is published on June 2nd.

Wow! This is a thrilling, heart stopping, page flipping read right from the very first line. What an incredible debut!! I read this book in two sittings it was so hard to put down.
What I loved most was the atmospheric writing, it was so well done that it was like I was there in it. I think I even caught myself holding my breath at times! I felt the same exhilaration you would get during an intense, action packed movie that you can’t look away from. I could envision what was happening and feel the tension and fear of the characters in a situation that can only be described as anyone’s worst fear. I loved this fast paced and thrilling read!! Highly recommended!!

A pulse pounding thriller that will have you flying through the pages!

The first line of this novel made me shudder! I personally wouldn’t want to be reading this pre-flight!

Bill Hoffman is a pilot for Coastal Air, he’s about to captain a five and a half hour flight on an Airbus A320 to New York. He’s been called in on his day off and wifey is not happy. Just into the flight Bills laptop pings with an incoming email. It ’s from his wife Carrie, which is unusual and it has a picture attachment. Bill studies the picture, blinking and confused……it’s his family room, in the middle of it is his wife Carrie and their children. Carrie has a vest over her torso, like a suicide bombers…..holy fizz!

Bill’s family has been taken hostage and he’s stunned, he has no idea what he is about to encounter until he receives the incoming FaceTime call on-screen. He is given a daunting ultimatum - crash the plane to save your family!

One hundred and forty four souls on a plane are bound for New York, will they survive this flight? To make things even more tricky an unknown accomplice is onboard. The flight attendants are memorable characters, I especially loved Jo, what a strong and wonderful person!

Just when you think you know how the plot is going to play out there are some interesting twists. How will Bill and the crew and the FBI agents on the ground handle the situation?

A highly enjoyable, fist pumping and gripping story of survival. It’s akin to reading an action packed movie, very Hollywood worthy and creative.

Well done to the author for persevering and not letting the forty one rejections stop her determination to have her story published. This is such a wonderful debut novel by TJ Newman a former bookseller turned flight attendant.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book for an honest review.

Wow!!! If you like edge of your seat, how the hell is this going to end stories, this is for you!! Couldn't put it down because I just needed to know what was going to happen next.

Definitely recommend.

Falling is the ultimate high-octane, cortisol raising, adrenaline-pumping novel. It'll probably be available in bookshops in airports. I personally wouldn't read it on a plane. The Airbus in this novel, flying from LA to NY with more than one hundred and forty souls (that's airline jargon), is highjacked, from a distance. The captain, the tall and handsome Bill Hoffman, finds himself in a no-win situation - crash the plane or his family dies.
What will he choose? How will he go about it?
If you read the genre, watched the Hollywood movies - you already know the answer to those questions. Regardless, it was still interesting to read through and see how things unfold.

"Falling" the debut novel  by T. J. Newman Is an action packed thrill ride taking place in the skies and back on the ground. An airline pilot is faced with an impossible choice, crash his plane with 149 souls on board or lose his family to a terrorist kidnapper. Captain Bill Hoffman is determined to save both the passengers and his family so with the help of his senior attendant alerts the authorities through her  nephew.....a renegade FBI agent with a point to prove.
Written by a former bookseller turned flight attendant, the attention to detail is evident. We are taken through the horrors of a gas attack in the cabin and the machinations of the crew members to protect the passengers and alert ground staff and FBI to the developing threat. When the stakes are deadly all options are on the table and tensions run high.
I felt like I was watching an action movie (not my chosen genre generally) but I got caught up in the ride and the fate of the characters. The background of our two terrorists is touched upon and the motivations for the attack. The dilemma of how we as a society view and process violent acts around the world (or conveniently don't think about them at all) is real....and was one of my take away from this novel.
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster (Australia) for the advance digital copy. Publishing date June 2nd 2021 ....recommended for adrenaline junkies.