First published 2026
Ivan, a seventy-something man carrying decades of regret, meets his daughter Nina at LAX for a European trip meant to repair their broken relationship. Nina, cynical and guarded in her late twenties, has agreed reluctantly to this journey with her sentimental father. Their flight gets delayed repeatedly. Hours pass as they trade barbed conversation that exposes years of hurt and miscommunication beneath their stubborn affection. More flights get canceled. Security grows tight. Airport workers become evasive about what's happening. Ivan and Nina realize they're trapped inside the terminal with no clear explanation. The delays transform from inconvenience to imprisonment. Outside forces keep them sequestered while the world beyond the airport appears to crumble. Father and daughter must navigate both their damaged bond and an increasingly surreal situation where escape becomes vital. Their need to protect each other grows urgent as ordinary airport chaos gives way to something far more sinister.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: damaged-relationship, enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: LAX
Period: Contemporary
256 pages · Hardcover · Europa Editions
Content warnings: anxiety, depression, mental-illness