WOW! I immediately rushed to order a hard copy of this book! Such a unique premise! It’s so crazy to think this could actually happen in real life! I loved the characters in this book. I loved the narrators. This was executed so well! Drowning has been on my shelf for a while now, but I’m running to read it next!

I can’t believe this is only TJ Newman's third novel and that she hasn’t been writing all her life. She writes the most amazingly cinematic thrillers. She knows how to bait the hook, snag you, and then reel you in to the point that it’s near impossible to put her books down until you've finished them. I am so looking forward to the film version of Drowning, which I have no doubt will be a massive success. And I hope Worst Case Scenario will get optioned for a film version as well. I had the pleasure of reading an eARC of the book recently and was more than thrilled to get a chance to listen to the audio version as well.

Worst Case Scenario has a killer opening, with a pilot having a heart attacked at 35K feet, sending the plane spiraling down…where it slams into a nuclear power plant! Not being confined to a plane (like Newman’s previous novels) WCS has a larger cast of characters. And Newman uses this new ‘open world’ to her advantaged. There are multiple storylines here (all with connection to the incident of course) meaning there are more characters for us to care about…and more characters for her to put seriously intense situations. And though we have the overarching big picture possible plant meltdown storyline, there are several more more personal stories happening, which are every bit as intense and emotional. Newman is fast becoming one of my favorite thriller writers. Characters you'll care about, a great plot, and some insanely intense story beats make this a book you can't miss. My only complaint…wish she wrote faster, lol. Sorry but one book a year just isn’t enough. If are even remotely a fan of thrilling stories, don’t wait, grab this one ASAP! And to Ms. Newman…keep up the excellent work and bring on the next. I’d like to thank Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review an advanced copy of the audio version of T.J. Newman’s Worst Case Scenario.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R2PJQ0DKQRX8I0/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_SRTC0204BT_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

"Mr. President, a plane has crashed into a nuclear power facility."

With one bone chilling sentence, the emotionally intense Worst Case Scenario, by the phenomenal bestselling thriller author T.J. Newman, begins a very scary story that unfortunately highlights how inadequately unprepared we are for such a cataclysmic world ending event.

Thoroughly researched, we are given simplistic explanations, as the President says, "talk to me like I'm five. I'm a smart guy but I'm no nuclear engineer." But understanding what is happening doesn't make it any less horrific. What makes it a turn paging thriller is this writer's ability in just a few short chapters to make us care about the heroic everyday characters, from brave widower fire chief Steve and his teen son Matt, Ethan who gives all as the plant manager, and Joss, a scientist, who beyond all odds will do everything to keep her promise to the president that he, that everyone, will have a future...well almost everyone.

I never heard voice actor Joe Morton
perform before, and now I need him on every audiobook. Between the author's words and his breathtaking emotionally draining performance I was just a sobbing puddle of tears. Reading and listening was almost too immersive an experience for my nerves.

The author's previous books, Falling and Drowning, both 5 Star reviews, have been optioned for the movies. For me, this latest of her thrillers, will be the blockbuster in Hollywood. The last chapter will have even the heartless feel broken but still smiling, with a glint of hope, and that's the best case scenario when finishing a T.J. Newman catastrophic event thriller.

I received a free copy of this book/audiobook from the publishers via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review.

T.J. Newman takes the wildest scenarios and turns them into stories with high-action plots and characters in impossible situations. Worst Case Scenario definitely had me questioning if I ever want to ride a place again. The immediate tension, the thrill, the fear keep you invested and hoping for the best outcome for the characters you quickly become attached to. Fun and exciting action thriller. Thoroughly enjoyed Joe Morton's narration.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ALC.

Awesome! I was blown away by this book! I read T. J. Newman’s 2nd book Drowning and I couldn’t put it down! In my opinion this one is even better!!

The idea her book is based on ( included in the audio I listened to) is a fear that has probably entered many people’s imagination; A plane hitting a nuclear plant! I was on the edge of my seat. Rooting for the main characters and the whole town!

Newman does a wonderful job at bringing the reader into the minds of the characters. I was scared, terrified, devastated, relieved, overjoyed and overcome with tears as I listened to this book! I experienced so many emotions as I followed the community members through their attempt to avert a nuclear disaster.

Not knowing anything about how nuclear reactors work or how they are stored didn’t hinder my enjoyment of this novel. Newman took me through the mechanics and steps needed for me to understand the process as it was happening.

One of my favorite things about the book is that it’s believable. The way some people are hero’s and others cowards. The way some people sit back and watch others and some jump in to help. I don’t know what I would do? Would I be too terrified to help or would I step up to the plate?

I cried lots of tears at the end. It just felt so real! The characters became dear to me. Joe Morton made them absolutely come alive! Excellent narration!!

I really think you will like this book and I hope it will be made into a major motion picture! 5 glowing stars!!

Many thanks to T. J. Newman, Hachette Audio/ Little, Brown & Company for the ARC via NetGalley!!!

I have read Falling and Drowning by T.J. Newman and I don't know how she's going to top this disaster novel. I was on the edge of my seat wondering how they were going to resolve a plan crashing into a nuclear power plant. My only feedback is there were a lot of characters and at times how certain narrators fit into the story. I wish there were less viewpoints so they could be more distinct.

Thanks to T.J. Newman, Netgalley and Hachette Audio | Little, Brown & Company for allowing me to listen to this audiobook ARC.

This was my first T.J. Newman book, and while it won’t be my last, I am going to need to wait a few months before I pick up another one! This was the most suspenseful book I’ve ever read, and I literally sat screaming in traffic while listening. Also, Joe Morton as a narrator was absolutely perfect at making me so stressed I wanted to pause every minute.
However, between the moments of absolutely insane intensity, this book was packed with the goodness of humanity. I was stressed because I genuinely cared about every single character I met. I wanted everyone to get their happy ending, even when I knew that wasn’t going to be a possibility. Each character felt fully developed, gave a unique point of view, and influenced how I felt about the plot. And with a list of 20 or so characters, that’s an impressive feat.
I will also note that I have zero knowledge about nuclear reactor meltdowns (surprise). But Newman made sure to include enough information throughout the book so that it was easy to understand how life-or-death every moment had become. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of seamless ways to include that much information, so chunks of the story felt more like a textbook excerpt. I knew the information helped ramp up my anxiety, but it was still difficult to not just fully skip forward to get back in the action.
Overall, if you’re looking for something that will grab your attention, this could definitely be an option! My only warning would be that three of the main characters are children and they are involved in very intense moments, including the death of parents. I know that can be an extremely sensitive subject, and wouldn’t want to gloss over it!
Thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown & Company for the free advanced audiobook copy in exchange for an honest review!

This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart


Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

4.5 hearts

This author never disappoints in providing fast-paced action with possible dire consequences. Worst Case Scenario delivers a frightening case with a plane and a nuclear plant.

The points of view we get are from ordinary people who give their all for others and the greater good. Our primary characters include Steve, the firefighter who recently lost his wife to cancer and is raising his son. Jocelyn, a single woman and scientist who heads the team for the area in handling nuclear disasters. Ethan, the director of the nuclear plant. Carla, another firefighter, desperate to save a little boy caught in a vehicle in the middle of a fire.

I really enjoyed the action, as well as the competent people who tried their best to save everyone. There is an emotional intensity to the horror of the facts, and when things don't work as they should. The selflessness and courage were amazing to see.

I will say I wish there had been a bit more about the aftermath and how things were improved for the future. I'd like to learn a bit more about the situation of nuclear plants and storage of spent fuel rods. Also, there was a trucker who helped with a couple of different aspects of the shutdown and then saving the small boy who I thought should have got more credit.

Worst Case Scenario was exciting and thought-provoking. I recommend this author's thrillers. I have loved them all.

Narration:
The narrator allowed me to stay in the story, which I always appreciate. The voices were comfortable and seemed appropriate to the characters. I listened at my normal 1.5x speed.

It's a good thing I didn't wear makeup to work because I would be a mess right now. Oof, I wasn't expecting to cry so hard at the end there. Wow.

I've been 50/50 on TJ Newman up until now. I had some strong feelings about her first book (not the good kind) but I took a chance on her second book and I loved it. I'm going to go ahead and just assume that book one was a fluke for me, because here we are at book three and I am floored once again.

The action is nonstop from start to finish. I found myself actually holding my breath as I listened because some of the scenes were so intense. She writes with great description so that it was truly a movie in my mind while I read.

There was action and heart, fear and excitement. I wanted to know what happened from start to finish. I craved to know the ending! But I also dreaded it a little because you know that not everyone can make it out alive in such a scenario.

This was an incredible book. I will probably find myself snagging a hard copy to reread at some point. I highly recommend this one.

Worst Case Scenario by T.J. Newman
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
336 pages
Releasing today August 13th, 2024

A pilot suffers a heart attack while 35,000 feet in the air, causing a commercial airliner filled with close to 300 passengers to crash into a nuclear power plant in Minnesota, leading to a national crisis. Power plant workers, firefighters, and those in the community surrounding the power plant must work together to do the unthinkable & make extremely hard decisions to save their friends and family.

What an emotional and tense ride!!!! T.J. Newman knows how to catch you & pull you in right from the start. Her descriptive writing style allows me to envision everything & make me feel like I’m there. The characters in this book all are faced with the unthinkable & have to make extremely hard decisions in a short amount of time. Each chapter started with “___ hours remaining” which made my emotions heighten. A thrilling ride!

Read if you like:
✨Intense storylines
✨Emotional reads
✨Multiple perspectives
✨On the edge of your seat feeling

Thank you @tj_author @littlebrown & @netgalley for an eARC & ALC!

#tjnewmanauthor #tjnewman #thriller #suspense #netgalley #netgalleyreviewer #arc #alc #littlebrowncompanypublishing

When a pilot suffers a fatal heart attack, his plane crashes into a nuclear power plant outside of a small town in Minnesota, and the countdown to global cataclysm has started. Can the specialists at the plant and the town itself work together to avert disaster?

TJ Newman has readers in the palm of her hand as they turn page after page, hanging on every word, clinging to the hope that things will be okay on both a micro and macro level. That is one of Newman’s great gifts. She not only makes the reader care about the high-concept stakes but also the people involved. If you enjoyed her two previous thrillers, then this is a must-read. If you haven’t had the pleasure of reading a TJ Newman book, this is a great starting place.

The audiobook is absolutely fantastic. The narrator does an admirable job of making every character come alive individually, which is no small feat. He deftly navigates the technical parts of the book, and it is never dull or pedantic, just propulsive.

Thank you Hachette Audio for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Action-packed story that both thrills and terrifies! The scenario is plausible and definitely makes you worry that it could truly happen. TJ Newman excelled at fleshing out the characters; you could feel everything they felt and really got to know them. There were a few eye-rolling moments but otherwise I was swept away into the story and recommend it if you’re looking for a fast-paced, suspenseful read.

T.J. Newman once again had me hooked from the get-go. Worst Case Scenario is the third of T.J. Newman's books and just like her past airplane related thrillers, this one had me on the edge of my seat.

When a pilot has a heart attack while flying, the plane crashes into a nuclear powerplant in a small town. The disaster results in ordinary people being asked to do extraodinary thinks.

Thank you Hachette Audio and NetGalley for my copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

A disaster story of mammoth proportions! The list of challenges to overcome are endless but wow what a way to portray it!
The writing I found comfortable without being over the top and created just the right amount of atmosphere.

Worst Case Scenario is even more gripping and death defying than I expected.. I thought it would be the worst case scenario in a plane but this story went way beyond that. In the first few minutes the pilot suffers a widowmaker heart attack and the plane crashes into a nuclear power plant. And things go downhill from there. There are some gruesome details in the crash, deaths and injuries that occur, but the story isn't overly graphic. TJ Newman is fantastic at creating suspense, combined with loveable and relatable characters who you don't want to lose.
The audiobook narration by Joe Morton really captured the urgency and drama and also contained realistic sound effects and radio transmissions, I almost felt like I was watching a movie unfold.

After eagerly reading Newman’s first two books, I couldn’t wait to get to this one. The fact that it was a departure from the strictly plane-based setting was one of the things I was most interested in seeing, because honestly, how many nightmare plane scenarios can we read without having an impact on the travel industry? Also, I was approved for the audiobook version of this, narrated by Joe Morton, and these seem like just the right kind of story to be read in audio format.

The action starts immediately in this book. It starts out with the pilot having a massive, fatal heart attack at 35,000 feet, while the copilot is in the lavatory. The plane crashes into a nuclear power plant in rural Minnesota, creating an immediate catastrophe of immense proportions. Part of the power plant is damaged, and parts of the plane have landed across the town, creating blockages and traffic accidents, in addition to the impending potential for a nuclear meltdown that has the capacity to surpass Fukushima and Chernobyl in terms of severity.

Joe Morton, the narrator, does a wonderful job of telling this fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat kind of story. There are CB radio transmissions interspersed with the story, and plenty of sound effects, and I was pulled into the action right from the beginning. Newman keeps the tension high throughout the story, but she also has a talent for creating storylines that draw in my emotions—there’s the single dad and his son who are struggling to connect, a small boy who is in a tough spot to save, and then the whole town full of people who are trying to avoid the same fate as the people of Pripyat, Ukraine. However, it was incredibly frustrating to realize early on in the book that the narrator mispronounced “nuclear” as “nuc-u-lar” every time, which took me out of the story.

Each chapter starts with a countdown to the zero hour, keeping the story tense for nearly the entire time. The pace was consistently fast, but the ending felt a bit rushed. I loved the way that the characters were developed and we got to know each of their storylines to add an emotional investment to the book. Each of the characters was stuck in a tough situation, and everyone did what they had to do, regardless of what they wanted to do. While each of her stories are terrifying in a different way, this one was less claustrophobic and more far-reaching. I would suggest that if you plan to read this, to read a hard copy or e-book, and avoid the audiobook, especially if mispronunciation of simple words bother you.

I think this author is extremely talented, I just don't think this book was for me.

When it comes to thrillers I try to go in as "blind" as possible to the details of the plot and I think I was just expecting something different from this book. I think it would be great for a lot of people, especially if you are into reading about disasters/ possible global catastrophic events.

I was able to listen to the audiobook and I do recommend this format. I enjoyed that at times it really sounded like the characters were talking on the radio, which added to the listening experience.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to listen to the audiobook in advance

T. J. Newman has another bestseller with this thriller. As I am listening to the book and explaining to my husband what it’s about, he said that’s a bit far fetched. However, later that day while watching the nightly news, we watched the Brazilian Airline plane crash killing everyone. My husband turned to me and said, I guess the story could really happen. I listened to the audiobook and the narration was so well done. I especially liked the sound effects. They added to the story.

Thank you #NetGalley, #HachetteAudio, #LittleBrown&Company, #T.J. Newman and #TheWorstCaseScenario for the advance audiobook for my honest review.

Worst Case Scenario starts immediately with a situation to get your pulse rising and it never stops. T.J. Newman takes terrible situations and brings life to them through her lived experience, research, and writing. This was no exception.

Following a crash, a small town in Minnesota loses power and isn't sure what's going on - but as we learn with them, the tradeoffs, their choices, and what happens in between is sobering and impactful. This isn't a book I'll easily forget!

I read it in audiobook format. I found I couldn't do much other than listen since the material kept me so engaged.

Thank you to Netgalley, Hachette, and Little Brown & Company.

Worst Case Scenario by T.J. Newman 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is a NetGalley Audiobook approved ARC!
A little over 8 hours normal speed I was glued to my headset the whole time and binged this to completion in one sitting.
The narrator does an amazing job keeping you on the edge of your seat as the tension mounts. And I really liked the difference with the radio calls sounding almost real.
The multiple POVs were easy to follow and even as fast as this audio breezed by I found myself emotional on several occasions! This was a phenomenal thriller and I will be backtracking to more of her works in the future.
If you've seen the Korean film Pandora this is some of the same scenario but that didn't detract from the story at all.