I have read everything by Chris Bohjalian, many multiple times. The Flight Attendant has to be one of my favorites! I know many reviewers didn't like Cassie and felt that her character took away from their enjoyment of the book. I disagree-I found Cassie to be a likable character despite all of her many, many flaws and mistakes. Yes, she is a mess, and yes, she handled a horrible situation in the worst way possible, but throughout it all she still has heart. And, the suspense of the novel was great! There were twists and turns at every corner that I never saw coming. But, Bohjalian didn't let the suspense get in the way of his incredible storytelling skills. A must read!

I cannot say that this is a bad book. I had read Bohjalian's The Sandcastle Girls and really found the book fascinating. I just found that parts of the story was too far fetched to even possibly be true. But since it is fiction, I guess it doesn't have to be realistic.

** spoiler alert ** This book was made available via Netgalley. I have not been compensated for this review.

My score should actually be a 3.5.

There's a part of me that doesn't understand why this book was so compelling, but it was. I shouldn't like Cassie, the main character, and yet I did, at least a little. I did care about what her eventual fate would be, despite how much I didn't always connect with her.

This book is trying to tell a thriller and mystery from a different angle than the normal detective or CIA agent perspective, which was refreshing for the most part, even though I did learn that I prefer the other POV better.

I also liked that both perspectives we got were women, a breath of fresh air in the thriller world.

The biggest critique I honestly have with the book is that we never get the whole story regarding Alex and what he was actually doing in Dubai, even though Cassie ends up in a role where she could be told the truth. If she was told, it's not shared with the reader.

It didn't feel like real life, where things are never clean and unsolved mysteries are par for the course. Instead, it felt like a plot hole or a miss on the part of the author. However, it does feel the same way books like Gone Girl or the Girl On the Train felt at the end- it's the end, even if all the questions weren't answered.

While this may not be my favorite novel by Chris Bohjalian, it was still very entertaining. The character of Cassie is broken in ways that many of us do not understand and cannot relate to, but she was written in a way that made us empathize with her. The murder mystery at the heart of this story is enriched by wonderful details about real criminal organizations and investigative bureaus. I read this book quickly and found myself picking it up to read during middle of the night feedings of my 8 week old baby. Sometimes, I had a hard time falling back asleep because my mind was whirring thinking about where this story was going. Great book, easy read!

When I heard Chris Bohjalian had a new book coming soon I couldn't wait to read it! This was not my favorite however. The main character, Cassie, was a alcoholic who slept with anyone and made nothing but bad choices. The story of who was murdered and who did it and why seemed to be a small part of the book. I would of liked more mystery and less bad choices.

A broken heroine wakes up after a night of drinking to a dead body beside her in bed. A fabulous start to a book I couldn't stop reading. What followed was a jet-setting, but not so glamorous tale of a flight attendant who found her self in the wrong place at the wrong time. The pages were peppered with surprises, culminating in a satisfying and surprising conclusion. This action packed book makes the ever popular and lovable psychological thriller feel like overkill as it exuded a minimalist mystery.

Genre: General Fiction (Adult)
Publisher: Doubleday
Pub. Date: March 13, 2018
Stars: Goodreads does not include ½ stars. I feel this novel should be 3½ stars.

POSSIBLE SPOILER

The author, Chris Bohjalian, is one of my all-time favorite authors. I believe he is today’s Hemingway, writing American literature with an emotional force. I first discovered Bohjalian when I read his 2010 book “Midwives.” The setting for that book is rural Vermont, known as the Northeast Kingdom (NEK). Since I spend a good deal of my year in the NEK I was delighted when I recognized the towns and the region’s customs that the author is referring to, especially when he mentions the town of Barton, which is where I summer. But, even if the work was located in an unfamiliar place, I still would have loved the novel. “Midwives” blends moral, medical and political themes. “The Flight Attendant” is similar if you substitute the word “medical” with “sexual.”

Although, many of the author’s novels (and I have read them all) take place in Vermont, this one doesn’t. The sexy, flirtatious flight attendant, Cassie, lives in NYC, and her work has her traveling internationally. She is no stranger to blackouts and is accustomed to waking up in the bed of a man that she just met on the plane. But this time, when she wakes up in a Dubai hotel room, the man lying next to her is dead, she has blood in her hair, and she has no memory of what happened. Did she, or didn’t she kill him? The novel could be entitled “Confessions of a Flight Attendant,” as its filled with sex, murder, and mystery, but have no fear that you are reading a rubbish; Bohjalian is too talented to write a trashy novel. And if a murder mystery is not your type of story, Bohjalian also manages to get today’s headlines into the plot, including Russian espionage, the FBI, and the CIA. His ability to weave these topics together is enjoyable. Moreover, as in all his novels, it is obvious that a good deal of research went into the writing, giving the story an authentic feel.

Unfortunately, for me, this page-turner lost much of its oomph somewhere along the way. Maybe it is because Cassie, who is now known in the news as the “Tart Cart Killer” is so self-destructive you can guess how she will sabotage any progress her lawyer makes on her case. Or maybe the surprise ending is too much of a leap for me to believe. Or maybe, and most probably, my disappointment is that I expect the author to write a masterpiece time and time again. Although this is not my favorite of his work, I still recommend you read this book. Bohjalian is not capable of writing an uninteresting novel. On a personal note, he also happens to be a genially nice guy who respects his readers and reviewers. He actually, contacts myself and other reviewers via the internet thanking us for reading and reviewing his work. He has been writing best sellers for over twenty years, there is no professional reason for him to do this other than that he is a nice guy who happens to be one heck of a writer. Enjoy the book. You will never board a plane again without wondering what your flight attendant is really like.

The title and description of this book grabbed me right away - as a former flight attendant who knows that crazy things happen on an overnight and a lover of mystery, I needed to read this thriller! The novel follows Cassandra, a flight attendant with a penchant for men and alcohol, both in excess. When she wakes up next to a dead man in his hotel room in Dubai, how does she put together the pieces of what happened? Through flashbacks, hangovers, and more poor choices. Cassandra is an absolute mess of a person that the reader can't help but rooting for. The author drops many clues throughout the book to the ending, so pay attention as you race through the book to see what happens to the flight attendant.

Chris Bohjalian is an author that I can't count on to entertain me with a good story so I requested his latest book when I saw it on Netgalley. The description made it seem like something that I'd really enjoy.

This follows Cassie, a flight attendant who wakes up one morning after a one night stand next to a dead body. She can't really remember what happened and must piece it together.

I can't really say that I liked Cassie at all. The way she clung to drinking even though it was clearly destroying her life made the book a little less enjoyable. She makes it very hard to like her. As she is not likeable it made the book seem to drag on to me. Quite frankly I just got tired of reading about her.

There was some action and some twists that unfolded towards the end but I feel like some of the action should have come sooner. I would have rather had a little more action and a little less of Cassie bumbling around.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the galley.

Started off with a lot of promise. Fresh story line, great beginning but the story moved a little too slowly for me and I didn't love the main character. I liked her vulnerable side but didn't connect with her self destructive nature and desire to make her life a mess. I did love her relationship with her niece and nephew which made her a bit more human and relatable.

Thank you to Net Galley for the Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

Solid 3.5 stars. I was interested in this book from the very beginning. The plot is smart, interesting and current and not one that is entirely played out in the current suspense novel trend. With that said, this is not one of my favorite's of Bohjalian. I think it gets a bit "ramble-y" in parts and there's quite a bit of background story to one of the main characters that I didn't find that interesting or relevant. Actually, it was slightly interesting and was relevant but not to the extant that ALL the detail was given. I just found myself wanting him to get back to the current story. The ending wrapped everything up nicely and included some surprises that I didn't see coming.

This book is very suspenseful, a real page-turner.

Cassie, a flight attendant, wakes up after a blacked out drunken night lying next to a one night stand gone wrong: he's dead, lying in bed next to her. What would you do when you wake up next to a dead man?

Cassie isn't your average person: she is a flight attendant, a (mostly) functional alcoholic and of course an unreliable narrator. She remembers meeting a woman Miranda during her mostly blacked out evening, but has difficulty finding her. What does Miranda know? How is she involved? Does she know Cassie woke up next to a killed man?

Throughout the book, the perspective shifts between Elena (Miranda) and Cassie building to a tense and well crafted climax.

Recommended if you enjoy suspense and murder mysteries.

A thrilling and intelligent novel sure to keep you in suspense!
I wasn't expecting this book to be so unpredictable and fresh. I expected another "Gone Girl" or "The Girl on the Train" knockoff but that wasn't the case at all. Instead, I was thrown for a loop by complex characters, torn between what was real and what wasn't. This book spoke to human fears, of waking up after *possibly* committing a crime. of not being sure if you can trust anyone, especially yourself. And the main character is so terribly flawed but it humanizes her.

Cassie Bowden is a heavy drinker who, one morning, wakes up beside the body of a dead man in a hotel that isn't hers. She lies through her teeth to everyone, more afraid of the fact that she may have killed him and that she might be framed. The entire time, I kept thinking "just tell them the truth" while at the same time saying "wait, they probably wouldn't believe you". I love that this fear created adequate tension and fueled the story.
Well worth the read.

I cannot believe this was my first book by Bohjalian, but it definitely won't be my last! He is very good at creating a strange, intriguing atmosphere and memorable characters. The story was slow, but well written and I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

What would you do if you woke up in bed with a dead guy in Dubai ? You don't remember anything would you leave and go back to the states?

I liked this so much more than his last novel. Cassie is an independent woman and flight attendant with a dependency on alcohol to deal with her empty personal life. She describes herself as "easy," and this easiness leads her into a web of international intrigue she never sees coming...despite the dark overtones, this novel was a fun diversion for me. A well crafted thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Buckle up!

When long-time flight attendant and hot mess Cassie Bowden wakes up in Dubai one morning, she's face to face with a dead man. Since the details are foggy on how the night wore on, she thinks she may have killed him. Not wanting to stay in Dubai to get questioned, arrested, or prosecuted, she wipes off finger prints and heads back to the airport. Everything and everyone, FBI included, catch up with her once her plane lands in New York. They want to talk to all of the flight attendants who were serving this now dead passenger. Bohjalian uses the same style he typically does for his storytelling; alternating perspectives of two characters chapter by chapter. The Cassie chapters have readers glued to the page; the Elena chapters are a bit more difficult to get into, mainly because readers don't get to know who she is while she's in the hotel room with Alex and Cassie. While The Flight Attendant might not be my favorite of Bohjalian's books, it's still a well-thought out and researched story.

A true edge-of-your seat mystery! The book begins with Cassie Bowden waking up after a blackout drunk night, next to a corpse. The reader is immediately drawn in, and will find themselves reading late into the night, to find out if Cassie is ultimately held responsible, or silenced, by those who wanted Greg Sokolov dead. The author’s style reminded me of Robin Cook, and I believe fans of his medical espionage novels will also appreciate The Flight Attendant.

Once again Chris Bohjalian is proving that he is an excellent writer using the female point of view. I don't know how a man captures the voice of his female characters so well. In The Flight Attendant Bohjalian introduces us to Cassie Bowden. Cassie seems to make one horrible decision after another and this leads her into an international nightmare of murder and intrigue. Cassie awakes one morning next to the dead body of her one night stand. She is pretty sure that she isn't responsible for the death but isn't sure who exactly might be. Bohjalian is an expert at writing books with twisty endings and this one definitely doesn't disappoint. Once I reached the ending I had to flip back to the beginning to start the book all over again in order to see what clues I had missed during the first read through. Read and enjoy!

Chris Bohjalian has hit another one out of the park!! Don't start until you have time to finish because you can't put it down! From the first page you get hooked into his sad pathetic and totally unlucky character. The title character wakes up after spending another drunken night with a passenger from her flight, with blood dried into her hair from his dead throat slashed corpse next to her in bed. Unfortunately for her, she has had another drunken black out and is unsure if she or some else killed him! Kudos to Chris Bahjalian on another winner! Please keep them coming!