𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑾𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒅𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒅𝒚?

Susan Walter just raised the bar for the locked room mystery trope. We've all read and enjoyed this trope done on trains, but on an airplane? It's Susan, so I knew it would be good, but I had no idea just how cunning and diabolically clever this twisty thriller would be.

Flight 868 is headed to San Juan, Puerto Rico. As expected, there is a diverse cast on board the plane, including a wedding party, a high school baseball team, a grief-stricken woman, and someone with a secret they are desperate to keep hidden. The mood is light and celebratory until the plane hits turbulence due to bad weather, and then a lightning strike plunges the plane into darkness for a short time until the electrical system is restored. Everything is breathing a heady sigh of relief...well, almost everyone. One person isn't breathing at all. The battered body of a passenger is left behind in the lavatory, and the air marshal on board has the unenviable task of desperately trying to explain how this could have happened under his watch.

As an avid people-watcher who often makes up stories about the people I encounter, being privy to the inner lives of all of the passengers really appealed to me. One by one the layers were peeled away until the common thread holding them together was revealed.

*cue meme of Susan standing in front of a board with 57463 post-its on it grinning maniacally*

It was nothing short of brilliant how everything came together, and with so many moving parts, this was a huge risk that paid off in a BIG way. You will suspect EVERYONE on board this plane because every single person has something they're trying to hide. The action refused to abate, and even though I was getting claustrophobic and overwhelmed with panic at times, I wasn't letting go of this book. At the risk of including spoilers, I'll just say that this is much more than just a relentless survival thriller. There is an unimaginable loss coupled with casual privilege that is developed and explored so brilliantly, I think just about everyone reading can relate in some way, even if only peripherally.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for this coveted early copy. This book will publish February 17, 2026.