The premise of this book is that a pilot leaves his house in the morning to fly an extra flight and his family is abducted / kidnapped / held hostage unless he crashes the plane.
Throughout the book we get to know the pilot, his family, the crew, and the terrorists better. I don’t want to call it a slow burn, because it’s an active hostage situation, but the book does take its time getting through everything.
The captain’s family starts out as captives in their own home. The baddie even entered the house before he left for work that morning. Captain Bill gets a call (maybe a facetime) from his wife, but it’s actually the kidnapper, and he shows Bill his wife and son strapped with explosives. The baby (thankfully) doesn’t have a bomb vest.
While reading this book I had a lot of thoughts about the pilot and passengers and their abilities to contact the ground. It almost felt like it was too much access, and it shouldn’t be allowed. I could see how if a lot of things went the right way, this could actually happen.
Captain Bill enlists his head flight attendant to keep an eye on the passengers and the other flight attendants and make sure nobody does anything crazy. He’s thinking about them and their families the whole time he’s flying and talking to the terrorist.
I liked how we got to see what was happening in the air, with Bill’s family, with the air traffic controllers, and also with the FBI agents who are aiming for a safe outcome. I liked this book, and it’s a quick read. My rating: 4 stars.