A review by jennyfer
Drowning by T.J. Newman

5.0

Flight 1421 leaves Honolulu bound for the mainland, but within minutes of takeoff the plane becomes unresponsive and crashes into the ocean. As the last of the passengers prepare to exit down the slides, a wall of flame forces them to close the doors to survive - and soon the 12 surviving passengers and crew find themself freefalling into the abyss.

What follows is a breathless, action packed tale of rescue and disaster, interwoven with the personal tragedy of the main characters: Will, Shannon and Chris.

Will, an engineer, was accompanying his 11 year old daughter Shannon to the mainland states. Instead they find themselves at the bottom of the ocean, perched precariously in a rapidly decreasing air pocket. His estranged wife, Chris, is an underwater welder, and is frantically working with Navy crews to find a plan to get her family home again.

This is a fast-paced, gripping read that you can smash through in a night, if you're prepared to stay up until the small hours. It's vividly written - I felt like I was watching the story unfold rather than reading the words on the page - with enough detail to be real without overloading on the jargon. The characters - both the main ones and all of the supporting ones - are "real", well crafted, multidimensional characters who you find yourself caring about (even the asshole one).

And oh my - it was a rollercoaster from opening page to the final line.

This was an excellent read.

~Many thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review~