Falling

A Novel

By: T. J. Newman

Narrated by: Steven Weber

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
“Terrifying…buckle up for a chilling summer read.” —People (Best Books of the Week)
“The perfect thriller! A must-read.” —Gillian Flynn
“Stunning and relentless. This is Jaws at 35,000 feet.” —Don Winslow

You just boarded a flight to New York.

There are one hundred and forty-three other passengers onboard.

What you don’t know is that thirty minutes before the flight your pilot’s family was kidnapped.

For his family to live, everyone on your plane must die.

The only way the family will survive is if the pilot follows his orders and crashes the plane.

Enjoy the flight.

Critic reviews

"Narrator Steven Weber keeps the tension high in this debut thriller written by a former flight attendant. A plane has been hijacked. Bill, the pilot, is faced with a choice: Crash the plane, or his wife and two children will be murdered. The story jumps around from the plane to the kidnapper holding Bill's family to events in the past that shaped the characters. Weber sounds authoritative as Bill speaks to his passengers and keeps his emotions in check as he develops a plan to ensure the safety of his family and those on the flight."

Well, that was a wild ride!

Didn't do a single other thing today but listen! What a tremendously heart wrenching story.

Uneven

I wanted to like this listen so much, and thanks to Steven Weber, I did. He is a wonderful narrator. The story I found to be up and down. Sometimes I would react with, "Whoa!' and at other times, it was kind of predictable. I read in the Times Book Review that it has been commissioned by Universal (I think) for a movie already. I could definitely see that (was "casting" the roles in my head as I listened : ). Anyway, good book. Interesting premise.

Somewhat disappointed

Word of mouth led me to expect a taut thriller. But although the premise is unique, and the characters pretty well drawn, something about the writing felt “off.” I think what it lacks is jolts — things happen that you weren’t expecting, that stop you in your tracks, that take you off-guard.

Unfortunately, as the action progresses, it’s pretty easy to figure out what’s going on and what’s next. What we get is predictability instead of excitement. Off the top of my head, I can think of several writers who do this better: Nelson DeMille, Frederick Forsyth, Jo Nesbo, Ken Follette, Ira Levin . . . . Writers who make you stay up too late to keep reading. Newman ain’t it.

A good start for freshman novelist

This book has all the hallmarks for being adapted into a thriller movie. Not sure if that was the author’s intent or not but I congratulate her success.
The book moves at an acceptable and pleasant pace, and there are meaningful character development at the same time, something not easy to accomplish as a writer. It “gets to the point” while giving you reasoning to be invested in the characters.
It’s believable. I’m so many thriller genre novels you often need enough slack in your line of suspension of disbelief that you might as well just allow it to be free-range. This is a personal preference, some folks don’t care so much about this. But I just happen to enjoy stories where my mind isn’t forced into a pretzel logic state.
I’m looking forward to her next effort!

Masterpiece

I saw a report on the Today show about this flight attendant who wrote an amazing book and I decided to give it a try on Audible. I was thrilled from beginning to end and found myself amazed at the author’s use of words to embrace the reader and draw them into this story. I hope she continues. She’s got a fan here!