“A beautiful, unsettling novel about the depths of love, the burden of nostalgia and the maddening impossibility of translating feeling into language.”—Imbolo Mbue, author of Behold the Dreamers

A taut, emotionally gripping, and surprisingly funny novel about a father and daughter stranded in an airport at the end of the world.  

Ivan is a solitary man in his seventies, set in his ways and haunted by the failures of his past. His smart and cynical daughter, Nina, is in the twilight of her twenties and has long kept a distance from her sentimental father. But when Ivan proposes a trip to Europe in hopes that it will bring them closer together, Nina reluctantly agrees. They meet at LAX, where their departure is delayed. And delayed again. And again. As the hours drag on, their sharp, caustic and wide-ranging conversation reveals a lifetime of misunderstandings, unhealed wounds, and stubborn love. 

Soon more flights are canceled, security tightens, airport staff grow evasive, and it becomes clear to Ivan and Nina that something is wrong. They begin to suspect that they’re being held prisoner—sequestered from the world without explanation. At last, the surreal starts to overtake the mundane, and their need to escape—and to protect each other—turns increasingly urgent. 

What begins as a piercing portrait of a father and daughter becomes a novel of eerie suspense, as Nina and Ivan navigate not only their fractured bond but also a world teetering on the brink of collapse. A story of loving across gaps—between parent and child, between things said and unsaid—and about what happens when the outside world finally mirrors the chaos within, Passengers is Maksik’s most timely and accomplished novel yet.

TARGET CONSUMER
- Readers of contemporary literary fiction that explores intimate family relationships, especially complex parent–child dynamics
- Readers who enjoy character-driven novels centered on sharp dialogue, emotional tension, and psychological depth
- Readers drawn to speculative-tinged or surreal narratives that reflect collective anxiety and a world on the brink, without being overt genre fiction
- Fans of emotionally resonant, compact novels in the vein of Rachel Cusk, Ben Lerner, Don DeLillo (late work), Jenny Offill, Paul Auster, and Paul Yoon
- Readers interested in fiction that reflects generational divides, climate anxiety, and the emotional atmosphere of contemporary life

KEY SELLING POINTS
- A father. A daughter. One last chance—before the world stops.
- A biting, dialogue-driven novel about an estranged father and daughter stranded in an airport that is slowly becoming a prison.
- A powerful, tightly focused portrait of a strained but deeply bonded father–daughter relationship, unfolding almost entirely through razor-sharp, intimate dialogue
- A brilliantly rendered single setting — an airport in prolonged limbo — that becomes a metaphor for emotional suspension, global uncertainty, and stalled connection
- The novel seamlessly blends emotional realism with eerie, escalating suspense, as mundane delays give way to a sense of larger, unnamed catastrophe
- Maksik’s prose balances humor, tenderness, and existential dread, creating a reading experience that is both emotionally gripping and unexpectedly funny
- A timely exploration of generational anxiety, aging, regret, and inheritance, as personal histories collide with a world that feels increasingly unstable