It’s engaging and informative, though I wish there was more on Terry’s perspective. A great read overall!

A big thank-you to HarperCollins & NetGalley for this ARC! No Ordinary Bird is set to publish on September 2, 2025.

No Ordinary Bird is a memoir by Artis Henderson about her father, Lamar Chester, and the plane crash that took his life in 1985. The book is split into two 'arcs' after opening on the traumatic event - the 'before' arc, where Lamar Chester is a poor farm boy turned pilot and part-time marijuana smuggler, to the 'after' arc, where the author begins to piece together her past with her father.

I really liked this book. It's short but is still a solid page-turner. It starts small, exclusively honing in on Lamar Chester before expanding outwards into the politics of the late 70s to early 80s. I think to an older reader who lived through those eras, this information might be redundant, but as a younger person born in the mid 90s, my interest was piqued. I had heard about the Iran-Contra Affair and the role the U.S. played in Guatemalan, Nicaraguan, and Bahamian politics in history classes, but this provided a more comprehensive summary, and adds a human to it by connecting it to Lamar Chester.

I think the only thing that I have to say negative about this book is that I wanted to know more about Terry's perspective, the son from the first marriage that Lamar took on his transports. Seeing as how he was more involved in his father's business than the author was, it would've been cool to hear from his side about how he felt regarding his father and smuggling. But I understand that this is Artis' story to tell, and that Terry might have not wanted to detail too much about that part of his life.

No Ordinary Bird is a beautifully written and deeply moving memoir that captivated me from the first page. Even knowing how the story ends, I found myself compelled to keep reading, eager to understand the choices and moments that shaped the journey. Henderson masterfully reveals how a single decision can alter the course of an entire family, weaving together personal history, emotional depth, and reflection with grace. The pacing is steady and engaging, and the backstory unfolds in a way that feels intimate and universal. A powerful reminder of the weight of our choices—and the resilience that follows.

No Ordinary Bird reminded me a lot of the story shared about another smuggler during this time in the movie American Made. No Ordinary Bird is told by Lamar’s youngest daughter. Since her father died when she was only 5, she did the work in researching all the details of his life and his experience going from a commercial pilot with Eastern Airlines to smuggling drugs.
It was told through her lens, and the research, memories and details were compelling.

"He was propelled by a macho insatiability that was everywhere in the 1970s, from Burt Reynolds to muscle cars to the ongoing war in Vietnam. It would carry the United States into the madness of the 1980s, paving the way for Wall Street scandals, the Gordon Gekko era, and the Ronald Reagan presidency."

This certainly says something about the author's father and his continued drive to achieve within the drug smuggling community. While these are external influences, he also had more immediate factors in his environment (family dynamics, etc). The author's quest to understand her father and therefore herself and her place in the world is a wonderful mix of personal reflection, and historical fact.

This was a fascinating book! How well do we really know our parents? Especially a parent that might have been taken from us at a young age? Artis Henderson uses this book to explore the rumors about her father, his death, and the complexities of being a good person while being on the other side of the law.

When Artis was very young, her father took her up in his plane (a normal occurrence for them), but this time, the plane crashed, killing her father, but leaving her to survive with multiple injuries. At the time of the crash there were incitements against her father for running drugs on his plane into the US. After his death, her mother isolated them from all his known associates.

We not only learn about what kind of man Artis' father was, but we are also privy to the conspiracies and the fact that the government might have had more to cover up than to prosecute.

Not only was this book interesting, but it brought forth the humanity of her father. Not all people who break the law are bad people, some just want a better life for their family (and then get in too deep?). The first half was good, the second half was exciting!

Thank you to Net Galley for giving me a copy of this book. The opinions are all my own.