Falling

By: T J Newman

ISBN: 978-1-3985-0725-8

Simon and Schuster (2021)

“Falling” is an outstanding thriller, and I suspect it will prove to be one of the standout reads of 2021. An incredibly simple, but terrifying, premise and strong characterisations made for a novel to be read in a sitting.

When Captain Bill Holloway takes command of his flight from Los Angeles to New York, it’s a routine commute for him. Within minutes of takeoff, it becomes something very different. He receives an email. His family is being held hostage. The ransom the terrorists demand is simple: he must crash the plane he’s flying.

Holloway tells the terrorists that they won’t kill his wife and small children, and he won’t crash the plane, but he has no idea how to achieve this. He’s stuck in the air. His communications are limited. If he tells the authorities, his family will be killed. He can’t tell anyone on the plane, as an unknown confederate is on-board and monitoring him.

What will he choose to destroy – his family or his plane?

This premise is so simple that you can almost see the movie posters. Yet it’s also intensely suspenseful and credible (similar things have happened in real life to bank managers). Newman writes well, and the pace is fast, and hard to resist. I read this novel in approximately the same time as the flight was scheduled to take (five hours). I was completely involved in it.

The characterisations are strong, which engages you even more deeply in the story. Although there is certainly some terrible behaviour on display here, Newman is more interested in showing us the best of humanity. People rise to the occasion. They help others. They do their jobs with utter professionalism. In a crisis, they think of others, not just themselves. It’s not the main point of the story, perhaps, but it’s a strong undercurrent, and one I liked.

This does lead to the novel’s only real flaw. Newman tries very hard to humanise her terrorists, and explain what they’re doing and why. I don’t disagree with her decision to humanise them, but I found the extremity of their response to certain events a bit of a stretch. I also struggled somewhat with their victims’ willingness to accept and understand those motivations, too. I think that if this occurred, it would probably take a lot longer for the victims to reach that point.

Aside from that, this is a brilliant thriller. A very simple premise, strongly played out with empathetic characters and genuine tension, generated a stronger reaction in me than many more complex thrillers. I’d recommend this not just to readers who like thrillers, but also to readers who like strongly character based stories or those who like fast paced stories. It’s a novel that should have wide appeal.