Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-ARC of Drowning by T.J. Newman.
Drowning is the story of surviving a plane crash only to have to survive longer as it plunges beneath the ocean. A suspenseful, action story that keeps the reader turning pages. Throughout this book, I could imagine it as a movie. Some circumstances are unrealistic, and the author needs to know that important characters can die, but overall an exciting read.

Thank you to Netgalley & Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster for this amazing read! This came out 05.29.23!

This book was SO good!! I liked it more than Falling I think, but for different reasons. Chris, Will, and Shannon had me in a CHOKEHOLD needing to know what was going on 24/7!!

I found this one to be a bit more technical which was nice but I also felt like there was a point where it was almost *too* technical for me, personally. Regardless, I still thought it was really unique to add to the plot because I’ve never seen that before. It had a good pace and unique characters, but I only REALLY cared about Chris, Will, & Shannon… and maybe Kip. The other characters fell a little flat for me.

Newman had me on the edge of my seat with that ending though!! It was really unexpected and I suggest having tissues on hand when finishing this nail biting read!

Ohmygosh! I absolutely loved this book!!! It was so suspenseful!! I immediately finished this book and purchased her other book! It was so so good! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thriller or tearjerker? Either way, both aspects were done really well!

It's funny how the same author can deliver such drastically different books. I detested Falling and found it terribly problematic, but this one I LOVED.

Drowning jumps right into it and never lets up. There wasn't a slow moment, just lots of tense and emotional ones that had me crying. What a ride!

I loved getting to know all the different characters. They were so realistic and well-developed that you truly care about them. I was rooting so hard for Chris and her family. There was a perfect balance of character backstory and fast-paced action, which the author weaved together seamlessly.

The technical explanations weren't the most exciting and I probably didn't grasp everything clearly, but in no way did it affect my enjoyment of the novel. There's so much heart and human emotion and moving scenes that struck a chord.

No doubt this is a book that will keep you on the edge of the seat the whole time and take your breath away as you fly through it. Pun unintended.

Thriller or tearjerker? Either way, both aspects were done really well!

It's funny how the same author can deliver such drastically different books. I detested Falling and found it terribly problematic, but this one I LOVED.

Drowning jumps right into it and never lets up. There wasn't a slow moment, just lots of tense and emotional ones that had me crying. What a ride!

I loved getting to know all the different characters. They were so realistic and well-developed that you truly care about them. I was rooting so hard for Chris and her family. There was a perfect balance of character backstory and fast-paced action, which the author weaved together seamlessly.

The technical explanations weren't the most exciting and I probably didn't grasp everything clearly, but in no way did it affect my enjoyment of the novel. There's so much heart and human emotion and moving scenes that struck a chord.

No doubt this is a book that will keep you on the edge of the seat the whole time and take your breath away as you fly through it. Pun unintended.

QUICK-ISH TAKE: So, the story goes that in her former life, @TJ_author was a flight attendant who wrote her first book -2020’s plane hijacking thriller FALLING- on the back of cocktail napkins. Having read the author’s latest disaster epic, DROWNING, it's clear TJ must have dealt with a lot of terrible airline passengers in the past, because this book is basically a revenge fantasy geared towards scaring the shit out of any of us from ever flying on a commercial aircraft ever again.⁣
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**Pauses review to shake fist at “guy who took two bags of SunChips and an extra stroopwafel”**⁣
⁣
Do you experience symptoms of…⁣
-Aerophobia (fear of plane crashes)?⁣
-Claustorphobia (tight spaces)?⁣
-Thalassophobia (bodies of water)?⁣
-Cleithrophobia (being trapped)?⁣
⁣
If you do, then...hell yeah, that’s fun. But also, get excited for DROWNING. Because while this book is propulsive, unputdownable, action-packed, cinematic (it just sold in a HUGE auction to WB) and easily my favorite reading experience of the year so far, it is also a terrifying amplification of all your favorite phobias packed into 300 pages.⁣
⁣
Here’s what you need to know: soon after takeoff, Flight 1421 crashes into the pacific. During evacuation, 12 passengers are forced back onboard the plane...which then sinks 200 ft underwater. As the survivors try to stay alive, an elite coast guard unit must work against the clock to rescue everyone.⁣
⁣
Think APOLLO 13 or THE MARTIAN, but underwater. This is a high-concept commercial thriller, but it also packs an emotional family drama punch, with our MCs -dad Will and daughter Shannon- trapped underwater, and rescue diver wife Chris doing whatever it takes to save her family. The ending -no pun intended- left me breathless.

Shortly after takeoff from Honolulu, flight 1421 loses an engine to fire and all systems are non-operational. The pilot has no choice, but to crash land in the ocean between Molokai and Lanai. Everyone gets ready for the crash and subsequent evacuation. Will is accompanying his 11 YO daughter to a camp on the mainland, much to her chagrin. Luckily, he is an oil rig engineer who has knowledge that will come in handy after the crash. As soon as they begin to evacuate the plane after a water landing, jet fuel catches fire and it is not safe to continue with the evacuation. After everyone who wants to evacuate leaves the plane, the twelve remaining passengers and crew members close the doors and the plane begins to sink. After coming to rest, they have a compartment of air that Will calculates will last about six hours. Is a rescue possible? Does anyone even know there are still people on the plane?

After reading Falling by T.J. Newman, I knew that I would read and love Drowning, and I did. This is one of those books that you just hang on and enjoy the ride. It is a thrill a minute and you can't help but keep reading or listening to find out who will survive. The pace is so quick, when you come to the end of a chapter you can't stop. This is one of those books you will want a block of time for, as I read/listened to it in less than one day. The characters are so varied and relatable. You have a couple of kids, an older couple, a new widower (his wife was killed in the crash), crew and more. My heart broke more than once while reading this one and my emotions were all over the place. I was rooting for this small group, and every time something went wrong, I was gutted. This book reminds me of those disaster movies I watched as a teen like The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno or Earthquake. I highly recommend Drowning, if you enjoy a good disaster thriller.

Loved loved loved this book. A great fast paced adventure. An all-time favorite author of mine from now one.

Highly recommend as a summer read at the beach or pool.

Falling was a 5 star read for me, captivating me from chapter one.
Drowning is just as good!
By chapter 2 I had tears in my eyes and dread in the pit of my stomach.
What I really liked about Drowning was that it was a totally believable scenario, nothing seemed far fetched-neither the initial incident or the rescue attempts.
The difference was, unlike Falling, I didn't have a "feel it to my toes" connection to any one character as I did with the flight attendant in Falling. That being said, Drowning as a solid 4.5 stars for me and T. J. Newman is now an auto-buy author.

#drowning #netgalley

An emotional thriller!

I couldn't resist a book about a family and A plane crash.
The plane loses an engine and crashes into the ocean.

The crew and passengers are torn, some evacuate the plane while others stay inside.

I could not read this fast enough.
I had to find out if anyone survived or not.
My heart was in e throat and I cried a few times.

I really cared about Shannon and her parents Will and Chris.

Most suspense books we read of course pages flyby but it's rare to become attached to the characters.

I think this will be a hit with readers. The book is selling well.

The author was a flight attendant before writing this book and her earlier book.


Thank you to the author PR and Net Galley

Highly recommended. 4 1\2 stars

I was so excited to read this book as I loved Newman's first novel Falling. However, I was less impressed with this book. The story starts very quickly as a plane crashes soon after take off and a handful of passengers are on board the sinking plane. The story focuses on the family dynamics of Will his wife Chris and daughter Shannon. Father and daughter on onboard the sinking aircraft while mom Chris is determined to rescue the survivors. At times the story got bogged down on the explanations of the rescue mission that I found a little boring for myself personally. I think if you have a more technical mind those details might be very enjoyable. The rescue details at times slowed the story down a bit for me. The scenes on the plane while the passengers are trying to make a plan for survival were very engaging for me. Having read Newman's first novel I was anticipating a sinister plot, however it never materialized. I think readers who enjoyed Newman's Falling will likely enjoy this book as well.

A fun, fast-paced story with a fresh claustrophobic setting and stakes that just keep getting higher.

We're thrown right into the action and characters from the very first page, and barely given a chance to breathe (in a good way!). I was impressed at how Newman head-hopped so effortlessly in a way that was easy to track, and although there were quite a few characters, I never felt lost.

DROWNING is the height of bingeable, and I'd recommend to anyone looking for a fun, fast read.

Grateful to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc!

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read and rate this book. I loved it!!! Kept me on my seat the whole time. Having worked in the airline industry in the past, I definitely felt the fear and anxiety of the characters. Now I have to check out more of T.J. Newman's work!! 🩵🩵🩵

“More than two hundred feet below the surface, engineer Will Kent and his eleven-year-old daughter Shannon are waist-deep in water and fighting for their lives.”

This book was completely bonkers.

As a person who dabbles in aerophobia, I probably should have given this book a pass.

It was TENSE.

I may have stopped reading several times to call my mom.

My mental health aside, this book was EXCELLENT.

Fast-paced and engaging, heartfelt and visceral, this book had all the things.

You root for the main character, even if he is a bit of an ass.

Worth the sweaty palms, I’m looking forward to reading the author’s debut novel.

8/10

Thanks to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for this gut-clenching ARC.

Having read the previous book I guess I should have been prepared for the manipulation and fear that would follow but it did just seem so very formulaic. The disaster is about to happen and the tension that is created early on. There is a child involved, the crew have lives outside this one moment ……, and so it goes. I can understand if people want an armchair thriller then this is it. Maybe not so good for frequent flyers. It is fast paced, just as falling was, it is well researched especially from an airline operational perspective. The underwater aspect adds a new element in rescue. I’m sure it will be a film as when you’re reading it you are visually creating it. The detail is there. Thanks to @netgalley for the chance to read and review this book

Wow I really enjoyed this suspense thriller! It actually reminded me a lot of The Martian. Everything that can go wrong, does. But don’t worry because the people have more ideas!!! There were a lot of emotions going on. I cried twice. Gosh it was a fun listen though!!

A thriller about a commercial jetliner that crashes into the ocean and sinks to the bottom with passengers trapped inside—and the extraordinary rescue operation to save them.

I didn't think I would love this book as much as I did! This reminds me so much of the thrill I go through when I read State of Fear by Michael Crichton.

The transition statements were succinctly written plus the inclusion of familial bonds really pushed the story forward. There were some off topic lines here and there but I didn't mind them since the book had a strong foundation.

My only criticism of this book was that I had a hard time keeping the 12 passengers straight. There wasn't a lot to differentiate them, in my opinion. Maybe it was all the short names (Ryan vs. Andy vs. Will vs. Kit) but I kept confusing Ryan and Andy and I still don't know the difference between Jasmine, Molly and Bernadette.

However, that being said, this is a very fast-paced book that I didn't want to put down. I wanted to keep picking it up and finding out what was going to happen. I love that Will and his daughter Shannon were the main characters and I enjoyed getting bits of their backstory.

I will say some of the technical stuff had me skimming a bit, but it wasn't anything that detracted from the story. This was a book that truly kept me on the edge of my seat, and that's rare lately!

What I liked:
✔️the overall premise. I love anything about disasters. I was the child that hyperfixated on the Titanic 😂
✔️the interactions and differing personalities of the characters. They all seemed to blend well together and it was super believable how they bonded over tragedy
✔️I learned stuff! Nonfiction elements within a fiction thriller

What I didn’t like:
✖️some of the military moments were hard to keep my attention. The lingo was difficult at times

What an adrenaline fill wild ride of a book! Flight 1421 crashes into the ocean just outside of Hawaii six minutes after taking off. This happens literally in the first pages of the book, and that's not even the craziest thing to happen. The writing was enthralling, it kept me engaged the entire time. I could not put it down because I had to know if the passengers of Flight 1421 made it out!! It was an intense story that focused not only on just a plane crashing into the ocean, but the humanity behind such a tragic event. I felt the characters were relatable, most even likeable. I appreciated the development of all the characters, the back story on Will and Chris and just want to scream from the rooftops about how perfect their daughter Shannon is. Overall, I highly recommend this fast paced and stunning book, and cannot wait to read more by this author!

Thanks so NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book. All opinions within this review are my own.