Former flight attendant T. J. Newman has written several novels detailing aircraft crashes and their brutal outcomes. Her latest, Worst Case Scenario, is a true nail biter. Luckily, I didn’t read it until I had finished my summer travel!
An uneventful flight across the country turns into a horrifying nightmare when the pilot suffers a fatal heart attack. The copilot caught literally with his pants down in the bathroom is unable to take control of the spiraling plane. The plane crashes into a nuclear facility in an isolated part of the country. There is a lack of resources available to plant workers to prevent the facility from a meltdown, and along with the 300 passengers, deaths continue to climb. Final solutions create heart-rending choices for the facility staff, the rescue crews and the townspeople. Suspense continues until the end, and with this type of accident there is no true happy ending.
While traveling, I also picked two novels by Flynn Berry, Northern Spy and Trust Her. Northern Spy describes the deep divide in Northern Ireland, with a division between two sisters, one of whom has been a member of the IRA. She has become an informer and enlists her sister to help pass information. Tess, with a one-year-old son, is reluctant to take part, but the thought of helping end the conflict finally pushes her into a dangerous role as an informer. So many devious people who offer support but provide none leave the sisters on their own. A final escape and an offer of protection and relocation finally resolves their dire circumstances, and they begin to believe that the cease-fire will provide them with a future free of conflict.
In Trust Her, the sisters are living their new lives without looking over their shoulders every day for IRA retribution. After four years, the peaceful bubble bursts when IRA gunmen coerce Tess into once again becoming an informer, this time for them. They are still seeking retribution, although the war has mainly ended. Tess and her sister Marian are once again forced into an untenable situation, and who to trust is almost impossible to discern. The war may end but the wounds are deep and the sisters realize they may never be totally free of fear.
Nothing like a good book to carry one away! Hope you enjoy one of my favorites!
