My son finished Jurassic Park and wanted to read another Crichton together. I am not sure why he picked Airframe, but he did and so we read it together. Honestly I have no idea how well known or widely read this book is/was, because I have never (!) before read any Crichton!
Airframe is literally about an airframe! Casey Singleton is a quality assurance vice president at Norton Aircraft. In this role, she is tasked with investigating an in-flight mystery/accident that seriously injured like 60 people and killed 3. The plane landed fine, and the clues from air traffic control are insubstantial, so this is a real mystery! Also there are big talks with China about a big airplane deal — which, pointedly, the airplane factory union does NOT like — and this accident puts that all at risk, so there’s a lot of pressure from the higher ups to clean it up asap, and from the union to NOT clean it up asap. As they investigate the accident, a nosy and obnoxious journalist gets wind of it and follows the clues in an effort to rush a big, scandalous story before deadline. Casey, a methodical and observant person, slowly discovers little odd clues that point her in the right direction – but meanwhile she has to outsmart the powerful people trying to use this investigation to achieve their own ends.
This is a bit of a strange book that is far outside my usual reading habits. It’s like 60% airplane facts and 30% corporate quality assurance. Not topics that usually spark my interest! But it’s a good mystery, in the end. The first third was pretty slow, but not excruciatingly so, and the last quarter really sped up and tied it all together – I put off bedtime to finish the last 10%.
None of the characters were really fleshed out, and there were several characters that always made me go, wait who’s this guy again? The journalist in particular was grating and felt like a quickly drawn stereotype designed to stick it to journalists and/or women (?) (we meet her as she’s getting ready for work after a one-night-stand, you know, because she’s a selfish floozy) But by the end you start to admire Casey’s tenacity and smarts. Even though there were A LOT of Airplane Facts, some of which I just skimmed over, honestly, I respect the research and skill that clearly went into the technical construction of the mystery.
If you like Crichton’s style, airplane facts, and/or a non-traditional but realistic mystery, are ok with 90s style casual sexism and not overly concerned with character development, this might be a good one for you – but maybe don’t read it on an airplane. Solid 3 stars, glad to have read it with my kiddo but didn’t change my life.
