T.J. Newman's Falling - Review

Falling by T.J. Newman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


An adrenaline-fueled edge-of-your-seat thrill-ride.

Bill Hoffman boards a flight he’s been requested to pilot at the eleventh hour, shortly afterwards discovering his family has been kidnapped.

He is presented with an impossible choice – allow the terrorist to murder his family or crash the plane into an as yet undisclosed target.

With only limited time and limited resources, Bill must find a way to warn others of the threat and save his family without flying the plane into oblivion.

‘Falling’ is the debut novel by T.J. Newman, a relentlessly-paced action thriller that follows the plight of Flight 416 and efforts to save the souls onboard from the threat of a terror plot. Rather than hijack the plane, the terrorists have hijacked the pilot, holding his family to ransom in an insidious game that masks the world-altering tragedy that motivates their evil plan. We follow the crisis from multiple view-points – with pilot Bill in the cockpit, his wife Carrie and their children trapped by the terrorist who gained entry to their home, flight attendant Jo and her colleagues and the passengers, and FBI agent Theo and his fellow agents, plus glimpses of Air Traffic Control as the situation escalates.

Newman delivers a gripping novel, a deftness of touch to the prose propelling us through the action-packed plot, moments of suspense and emotional tension ratcheting throughout multiple twists and turns. The aviation procedural detail is fascinating, lending the action an authentic edge – aviation thrillers instantly becoming Newman’s niche thanks to her previous life as a flight attendant. Vivid imagery and propulsive action and dialogue leap off the page - this is a movie in prose, and would make an engrossing film (which is reportedly in the works). Jo and Theo perhaps proved to be my favourite characters, while Bill's determination not to choose between two truly evil options and instead try to find the right way against the odds demonstrated an admirable strength of character.

Despite being thoroughly entertaining, the novel, of course, has a dark heart. The terror attacks on September 11th, 2001, scarred the world, and changed both aviation and international security forever. The war on terror became a new and terrifying conflict, one that we continue to feel to this day. As for genocide and territorial conflicts across the globe, this remains as timely as ever. In the Western world, we often don't realise how blessed we are to know peace, something that holds heavy resonance in the novel as we brush against the periphery of true horror.

Packed with heart-wrenching moments and thrilling action sequences, ‘Falling’ is an intense summer blockbuster that may encourage you to wonder if perhaps anyone can be the hero.



View all my reviews
Follow me on Facebook
Follow me on Instagram
Follow me on Threads
Follow me on Twitter