Drowning is a roller coaster of a ride that will have you holding your breath, cheering on the passengers, crying and celebrating each step of survival. Lots of suspense as you eagerly await the fate of the remaining passengers trapped in the plane beneath the ocean. How could they ever survive. Above the ocean teams are working frantically to come up with a plan. One of the rescuers her daughter and ex husband are passengers so she cant fail. Highly recommend that you get your copy of Drowning, put it to the very top of you TBR pile and prepare for a wild read.

4.5★s Drowning is the second novel by American author, T J Newman. Two minutes out from take-off on their flight from Honolulu to San Francisco, Will Kent and his eleven-year-old daughter Shannon watch as the engine of their A321 Airbus erupts into flame. Flight Attendant Molly Hernandez has seen it too, as have many others. Shannon wonders why they’re not turning back to the airfield. First Officer on Flight 1421, Kit Callahan reports to air traffic control: not only have they lost thrust in engine one, but also all hydraulic fluid in all three systems. ATC clear the runways for their return, but Kit replies “Unable. We cannot turn around. We cannot climb. We have no hydraulic power. We have no control of this aircraft. Don’t give us alternates. Get a rescue team ready to get us in the water.” Six minutes and thirty- seven seconds after take-off, with ninety-nine souls on board, Flight 1421 crashes into the sea. The Coast Guard puts out an appeal for help: “Commercial fishermen. Private sailboats. Tourist catamarans. Dive boats. Fishing charters. They put their work, vacations, and honeymoons on hold”, but the scene they encounter is horrific: aviation fuel alight on the surface of the water, and many of those who exited the plane via the chutes unable to escape the flames. As an engineer, Will could see that there was only one safe place: inside the sealed aircraft, and he convinced Kit to seal the doors. Now they were twelve, a mixed bunch: two children, an elderly couple, a honeymooner abruptly widowed, a nurse, a bartender, a salesman, and three aircrew. Not all agreed with this strategy, and they were vocal about it. But when the plane began to sink, things got even more challenging… Most thrillers require a degree of suspension of disbelief, but Newman, no doubt through her intimate knowledge of the subject, in addition to some thorough research on aspects with which she was less familiar, makes her story so easily believable, readers may hesitate before boarding another plane. With vignettes supplying the backstory of the passengers, crew and some of the rescuers, Newman’s second novel has a bit of a Poseidon Adventure feel to it, and the lateral thinking required to save people trapped in a plane under water is enthralling. As with Falling, this one grabs you on page one and doesn’t let go. Unputdownable! This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and the publisher.

Former Virgin flight attendant and Arizona bookseller TJ Newman’s thriller writing career was launched into the stratosphere two years ago with the publication of her smash-hit debut Falling. In an era overflowing with domestic noir, that was a very different tale of a family man under pressure. High-stakes thrills and action as an airline captain’s family was kidnapped, awful ransom demands were made, and he and his aircrew faced their worst nightmares on a cross-country redeye flight. That was a ripsnorter of a read, but it left a question: what next? Like a rollercoaster, Newman takes readers from great heights to suffocating depths, ratcheting up even greater tension in Drowning, which is another white-knuckle thrill ride that unfolds like a big screen movie on a page. We’re still in the world of commercial aviation, and this time, mechanical failure cascades into freak tragedy, as mere minutes after take-off Flight 1421 plunges into the waters off Hawaii. Some passengers die on impact, many evacuate onto life rafts floating on choppy seas. But a dozen survivors end up trapped inside the fuselage as it sinks onto an undersea cliff. This time, those outside the airliner aren’t trying to solve a kidnapping and stop an even greater crime, but are battling nature and the limits of human ingenuity to prevent a tragedy. As the Coast Guard, Navy, and a private diving crew led by Chris Kent wrestle with the weather, near-impossible odds, and each other to attempt a rescue, the trapped passengers have only a few hours of air left. Failure isn’t an option for Chris, though, as her young daughter and her ex-husband are still onboard Flight 1421, with time dwindling and a volatile situation building inside and outside the fuselage. Overall, Newman has successfully crafted another edge-of-your-seat adrenaline ride. While there are a few moments or coincidences that require some reader generosity in terms of suspension of disbelief, Drowning is another taut, one-sitting read threaded with plenty of emotional impact to match the action and tension. Strap yourself in and enjoy the ride.

I was curious to see how this author and former flight attendant would tackle the story of a downed aircraft, where some people escape, many die but a small group of people remains in the body of the plane as it sinks into the sea. Given the recent loss of Oceangate’s submersible “Titan”, which disappeared shortly after it started its watery descent (with the fear of people stuck in cramped conditions, dwindling oxygen supplies and a race against time), this thriller seemed a relevant read. Coastal Airways flight 1421 is due to fly from Honolulu to San Francisco. It has a catastrophic systems failure and drops out of the sky like a lead balloon just after take-off. Life vests are donned and brace positions assumed. Boom. The plan dives, ruptures and water permeates and some people can escape but some are engulfed by the fire that is spreading along the fuel line on the surface of the sea. Others remain put. The wreck is sinking and drifting downwards through the Sunlight zone (which makes up 5% of the ocean and offers just a touch of light), settling and teetering at 200 feet, and among the passengers are Will Kent (who is an engineer and knows engineering things) and his 11 year old daughter Shannon. Will’s estranged wife, Chris, (she and Will are at the tail end of separation) is on the surface and just happens to lead a professional dive rescue team (because that is what she does). The novel is structured in chapters, charting the time since impact and the levels of oxygen anticipated remaining on board. Cameras are sent down from the Chris’ team and faces of survivors can be identified at the windows, which motivates the rescuers on land to pull out all the stops. I am sure it was explained but how come one pilot was outside, still strapped into his seat, bloated, already being eaten by fish and then there were those inside, still managing in dim light to move around and be functional? I may have missed the technical detail on this. Once the cameras from the rescue team above become evident to the incarcerated passengers, there was apparently a sense of relief. Thus people “milled about and sat in passenger seats while snacking through the food cart..” Really? I would be sweating blood by that point. Who could eat if they are stressed beyond belief in these circumstances, knowing the oxygen is rapidly dwindling and the whole rescue effort is a race against time? Generally there is a good level of tension but the whole premise and people’s responses seem way off what I imagine to be reality. There is a lot of description, which is very visual and therefore really suited to film (it will be no time until this is made into a movie), but, as a read, it gets too bogged down in detail, with little character development. There are an awful lot of acronyms to memorise and quite some technical information, which left me skimming certain parts of the narrative. The aircraft might have been resealed but wouldn’t the passengers get the bends at 200 feet, given all the electrics had failed and water was seeping in through a crack in the cockpit door? I guess I just couldn’t shake my scepticism about the whole concept of the story, and just didn’t pick up what others describe as the “…devastating emotional power and heart-stopping suspense…” I suppose I kept reading to see how ridiculous the plot would get, which is neither an edifying nor satisfying reading experience, is it? It will no doubt make a good film as it would be better suited to that medium.