First published 2011
Leslie Haskin works as an insurance executive in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. When terrorists strike the twin towers, she finds herself trapped in a building under attack. She must navigate 36 floors of smoke, debris, and chaos to reach safety. Each floor brings new dangers as the structure fails around her. Other survivors struggle alongside her in the stairwells. The descent forces Haskin to confront not just immediate physical peril but the emptiness of her previous life. Her career had centered on corporate benefits, status, and influence. Now those priorities crumble as completely as the building itself. The experience strips away everything she thought mattered. Haskin shares what she witnessed during those crucial hours. She describes the sounds, the fear, and the determination that kept her moving downward. This account captures both the terror of that morning and the personal reckoning that followed. Her story reveals how catastrophe can reshape a person's understanding of what truly matters.
Genres: adventure, action, biography-memoir, 21st-century, american-history
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: personal-reckoning, survival
Setting: World Trade Center
Period: September 11, 2001
74 pages · Kindle Edition · Bethany House Publishers
Content warnings: death, graphic-violence