Reviews

Falling by T.J. Newman

stu_smith's review against another edition

2.0

The book equivalent of a Gerard Butler movie

cassisterner's review against another edition

emotional tense fast-paced

3.5

debsol11's review against another edition

5.0

This book was unbelievable in many ways and truly would all this have happened as it did. BUT it still kept me in throttle and I absolutely could not stop reading until I finished. Every page had something new on it and it is nice to hear about the resiliency of the human spirit as well as the coming together in a time of need

amandahop's review against another edition

3.0

I liked this one starting out but the more I think about it the less I like it overall. I enjoyed learning more about the inner workings of the flight crew but the motives for the hijacking just irk me.

jfjordan's review against another edition

5.0

WOW!!! A real page turner! If I hadn't had to go to work the next morning, I would've read this book in one day! A very well-written debut novel, and I do not remember finding one typo! (A BIG plus in my world!)

So... when does the movie come out? The reason I write this is because I'm a screenwriter and the whole time I was reading this novel, I was picturing movie scenes. I'll bet the author was doing the same as she wrote this book!

Highly recommended!!!

becky27's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

manuser21's review against another edition

2.0

While I initially found this book thrilling, and engaging, it lost its way over the course of it. It was clunky in the middle as it kept shifting from 3 different characters, and nothing really occurred that showed the villains were threatening. They just didn’t do anything.

I guess I was expecting more from it :/

shelly_book_lover's review against another edition

5.0

I listened to Steven Weber narrate this book. OMG!! The book was great, as was the narration. I couldn't stop listening!!

There were a couple of outdated stereotypes and one scene that I felt was a little farfetched, however the overall book was so good that these didn't know any stars off.

kendal_alana's review against another edition

3.0

from the opening chapters, i thought i was going to be more into this book than i ended up being. i liked how action packed it was but for some reason i just wasn’t all that engaged. i read a review where someone described the story as dull and i think that’s pretty accurate.

i was excited to read this and had high hopes but it fell flat for me. i still want to read tj newman’s second novel though.

rbharath's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

As a fast-paced entertainer this is ok. There isn’t very great character development or backstory. 

Captain Bill Hoffman is a pilot with Coastal Airways. He is happily married with wife Carrie, son Scott and baby Elise. Bill has been asked to do a flight from LA to JFK in place of a pilot who could not make it for personal reasons. As he is leaving home, a repairman Sam comes over to look at their internet connection which has been down since a day. Bill tries reaching his wife before he takes off but it goes to voicemail. Once he is in the air with co-pilot Ben, he receives an email with a picture of his family captive and is told to expect a FaceTime call. The man on video is wearing a suicide vest, says his name is Saman Khani and he will kill Bill’s family unless he crashes the plane. He also warns that he has a Plan B with people on the plane as well. 

As is to be expected with a story such as this, there is a lot of action and the pace is very good. The story shifts between what happens on the flight and the ground. Jo, a flight attendant, is a good supporting character. The character set is good – just about right for this story. None of the characters is really developed. There are some sketchy recollections from Bill on his family, including a silly love-at-first-sight passage with his wife Carrie. The backstory to the terrorists’ traces back to what the Kurds in the Middle-East went through, but this is poorly written and failed to engage me. The plot is eye-catching but shallow in detail. 

Overall, this is a decent read as an entertainer.