by T. J. Newman
First published 2021
Captain Bill Hoffman receives a devastating phone call thirty minutes before takeoff. His wife and children have been taken. The voice on the line delivers an impossible ultimatum: crash Flight 416 into the ground, or watch his family die. One hundred and forty-four passengers board the aircraft bound for New York, unaware that their pilot faces an unthinkable choice. As the plane climbs to cruising altitude, Hoffman wrestles with a decision that will determine whether he saves the people he loves most or the strangers who trust him with their lives. The flight attendants notice his erratic behavior. Passengers grow suspicious. Time runs out as Hoffman realizes that someone on the ground holds all the cards, and every minute in the air brings him closer to a choice no parent should ever have to make.
Genres: adventure, mystery, crime, thriller, action, aviation
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: New York
Period: 21st-century
304 pages · Hardcover · Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
Content warnings: kidnapping, violence