Helpful Score: 1
Drowning by T.J. Newman is THE thriller of summer 2023, and I loved it!
Soon after takeoff, a commercial jet flying from Honolulu to the mainland suffers a catastrophic malfunction. The pilots are unable to control the plane so the only option is to ditch into the ocean. The 99 souls onboard include Will, an oil rig engineer, and Shannon, his 11-year-old-daughter. Miraculously, nearly everyone survives the water landing, but then the situation gets more complicated when jet fuel catches fire, separating the survivors into two groups - those who've already exited the battered aircraft and the twelve who remain onboard.
Many private and military resources race to the crash site to help the victims, including Chris, a professional deep sea diver who is Shannon's mother and Will's estranged wife. The rescuers can't agree on the best plan for extraction. Can they reach the people trapped inside before it's too late?
I really enjoyed Newman's debut Falling, but I liked Drowning much more. In both, a unique aspect is the author's insider knowledge about flight operations from her experience as a flight attendant.
The third person narrative switches between the survivors and rescuers. I got fairly well acquainted with the trapped passengers and crew and felt great empathy for most of them, but the many rescuers blended together in my mind, except for Chris. Chris and Will's backstory, including a tragic loss, is shared in flashbacks, which brings more emotional depth to an already intense and fast-moving plot. The ending could have gone two ways, and Newman led me to be happy with either option.
I highly recommend reading this via audiobook narrated primarily by Steven Weber with Laura Benanti voicing Chris. At 1.0 speed, it's just under 8 hours long, but I'm guessing most listeners, like me, will bump up the speed as the plot's pace increases. As many reviewers have stated, this novel is truly like a movie in your mind, and I hope this story will inspire a film adaptation.
Many thanks to Avid Reader Press, Simon & Schuster Audio, NetGalley, and Libro.fm for access to review copies of this summer blockbuster.
Soon after takeoff, a commercial jet flying from Honolulu to the mainland suffers a catastrophic malfunction. The pilots are unable to control the plane so the only option is to ditch into the ocean. The 99 souls onboard include Will, an oil rig engineer, and Shannon, his 11-year-old-daughter. Miraculously, nearly everyone survives the water landing, but then the situation gets more complicated when jet fuel catches fire, separating the survivors into two groups - those who've already exited the battered aircraft and the twelve who remain onboard.
Many private and military resources race to the crash site to help the victims, including Chris, a professional deep sea diver who is Shannon's mother and Will's estranged wife. The rescuers can't agree on the best plan for extraction. Can they reach the people trapped inside before it's too late?
I really enjoyed Newman's debut Falling, but I liked Drowning much more. In both, a unique aspect is the author's insider knowledge about flight operations from her experience as a flight attendant.
The third person narrative switches between the survivors and rescuers. I got fairly well acquainted with the trapped passengers and crew and felt great empathy for most of them, but the many rescuers blended together in my mind, except for Chris. Chris and Will's backstory, including a tragic loss, is shared in flashbacks, which brings more emotional depth to an already intense and fast-moving plot. The ending could have gone two ways, and Newman led me to be happy with either option.
I highly recommend reading this via audiobook narrated primarily by Steven Weber with Laura Benanti voicing Chris. At 1.0 speed, it's just under 8 hours long, but I'm guessing most listeners, like me, will bump up the speed as the plot's pace increases. As many reviewers have stated, this novel is truly like a movie in your mind, and I hope this story will inspire a film adaptation.
Many thanks to Avid Reader Press, Simon & Schuster Audio, NetGalley, and Libro.fm for access to review copies of this summer blockbuster.
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