I liked this book, but it wasn't a stand out to me. It felt derivative (think Girl on the Train) and repetitive. We get it-- she's a self destructive alcoholic who can't trust herself or her memories. That being said, I do think Bohjalian created characters who are multidimensional and interesting. Each of them has flaws and strengths and feels very human. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it's good enough to recommend to avid readers of the genre who want more of the same.

Quick paced thriller, not a bad summer read. We know from the beginning she didn't do it, and it seemed to take awhile to get what the "thriller" part was going to be. She does spectacularly stupid things which was super annoying. It made it hard to like or empathize with the character.

THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT is a taut.and fascinating study of Cassie, the title character drowning in her own alcoholism and self-destructive tendencies. Bohjalian Is an engaging author who paints portrait of a woman in crisis.

Cassie awoke in a bed with a bloody corpse and no knowledge of how either of them got there. Her decisions, truth telling or lying, hiding or facing the situation make for fascinating reading. The book deals with the international intelligence community, banking and money laundering and other very topical issues.

The victim, Alex Sokolov and other minor characters kept up a level of continued engagement. The enigmatic Elena gave us a clue about the current discussion of Russian intrigue which is certainly a valid concern now.

Within Cassie's self-destruction behavior, the reader is essentially very sympathetic because Bohjalian allows us to view her history and relationships. He even manages to convey the difficult, detatched life of many people in the airlines industry.

Personally, I like books when all the loose ends come together and I have a sense of closure. I was able to read the epilogue, sigh and close the book as a very fulfilled reader.

Absolutely wonderful! I was riveted from the first page. well fleshed out characters, the perfect anti hero and a great secondary cast.

I felt as if I was traveling around the world. I love the combination of cat and mouse/spy thriller. I look forward to reading more worka from this author.

*I would like to thank the author, publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair review*

Every book by this author is completely different and completely enthralling. One of my favorite authors. This book is intelligent and suspenseful.. Loved it and recommend it like all the rest.

One of the best of Bohjalian's books--and that's saying a lot because so many of his books are must-reads--even for Oprah. I don't think I'm giving away too much to say that the premise is: a drunken flight attendant wakes up next to the corpse (murdered--throat slit) of her last-night's hook-up in a swank hotel in Dubai. The rest of the book is well written cloak-and-dagger spy-thriller stuff--with twists that you won't see coming. I read the entire book in one rainy weekend, only getting off the couch to grab an apple or to make more coffee. Well done, Mr. Bohjalian.

THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT
Chris Bohjalian


MY RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️▫️
PUBLISHER Doubleday Books
PUBLISHED March 13, 2018

THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT is an intriguing and intense international thriller that will have you tightly buckling your seat belt.

SUMMARY
Cassie Bowden, a veteran flight attendant from New York wakes up in a beautiful hotel room in Dubai, next to a dead man. Blood was everywhere around them, his jugular had been cut. With a piercing hangover caused by her incessant love for alcohol, Cassie can only vaguely remember the events of night before. She knows Alex Sokolov had been on her flight and they had gone out to dinner and had gone back to his hotel for drinks. But she doesn't remember killing this handsome man. Could she had done it? She has no idea, she was blackout drunk. Cassie is way to afraid to call the police, so she leaves the hotel and begins a web of lies and a string of bad choices.

REVIEW
THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT is an intriguing and intense international thriller which captures your attention on take-off. Cassie’s life is just a hot mess and she has no one to blame but herself. Her excessive drinking lies at the root of her cascading problems. And she can't stop, even when she is at the core of an FBI investigation. The story is a unique combination of murder, espionage, and politics with a character who is vulnerable, madly unreliable and in fear for her future. Cassie’s character is fascinating. There was no ceiling to the trouble she caused, and to the trouble she was in.

CHIS BOHJALIAN never fails to entertain us. THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT is no different. He has creatively woven a tale with an alcoholic woman in denial that you just don't know what to do with. She has yet to reach rock bottom, and continually makes bad choices time and time again. The conflict for me was I really want her to be okay and get her act together. I particularly loved how BOHJALIAN creatively uses FBI interview notes to tell integral parts of the story.

Thanks to Netgalley, Doubleday Books and Chris Bohjalian for the advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first book by Chris Bohjalian, and now I finally understand why I keep seeing his name everywhere! A smart, tautly plotted thriller, featuring a protagonist who is deeply aware of her own flaws. Although this feels nothing like a traditional spy thriller, there is an intriguing spy thread running through it. I'll be reading more novels by Bohjalian.

3.5 stars

This book started out really strong for me. The premise is great : a woman wakes up next to dead man who has clearly been murdered. Why did the killer not kill the flight attendant as well? Initially, the story really grabbed me and although it did keep my attention.

However, there were parts of this book that were really slow and I was quickly loosing interest. In the end the story was interesting and I think readers will enjoy it.

The Flight Attendant is one of those books that will stick with you for a bit. The main character is flawed and believable, and as she continued to make questionable choices, I became found myself becoming more sympathetic toward her. Some of the plot is a bit hard to believe, full of more than a few coincidences, but it all came together well by the end.
If you're already a fan of author Chris Bohjalian, you'll definitely want to read this one.

This was one of those books that started off with a bang, then dwindled down to a flicker, then went out with a bang. Cass is a flight attendant who is a hot mess. She sleeps around with all sorts of men and blacks out often due to her alcoholism. I kept trying to put myself in her shoes but really had a hard time because c’mon, how stupid could you be to get wasted in another country and then completely pass out with a stranger…the emphasis on this being in another country. And that country being Dubai. Now, I’m not a world traveler or anything but I really don’t think you want to get thrown into a prison in Dubai. That just seems really scary. But I digress, I am not Cass. Waking up next to a dead body with his throat sliced open was the first big wakeup call Cass has in this book. I found most of the book to be about the FBI investigation instead of clues being uncovered little by little. This is why I felt the book slowed down in the middle. All the important information is stated in the beginning because we are right there with Cass when she leaves her lipstick and buys the scarf and gets rid of her purse. The mystery lady, Miranda, is given up to the reader right away which I think could have been kept secret a bit longer for the sake of suspense. The ending was quite good since I didn’t guess what was going to happen at all. It was all wrapped up as quickly as it started. I personally would have liked to see some of the middle story taken out so that the book could have kept the faster pace.

Thank you to Netgalley, Chris Bohjalian, and Doubleday Books for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A walk of shame was all that she planned for - but waking up the morning after with a dead body next to her was unexpectedly horrible and life changing.

An attractive flight attendant. A handsome, rich hedge fund manager. Flirting at 30,000 feet followed by a boozy date night and a one-night stand.

The morning after, Cassie Bowden wakes up in a hotel bed with a monster hangover, blood in her hair, and a very dead Alex Sokolov with his throat slashed. What the hell happened?! Cassie struggles to remember the events of the night, but can’t. She recalls a romantic dinner, lots of booze, a female visitor named Miranda– and then nothing.

This is not the first time Cassie has blacked out after a night of binge drinking and cannot remember events from the previous night. Did she kill her one-night stand after she blacked out? She’s not sure.

This story is told in alternating perspectives of Cassie and Elena (AKA Miranda), and the events that unravel after that fateful night.

This story is interesting and suspenseful, and I wanted to devour it in one setting.

I liked so many things about this book:
1. The unreliable but likeable flight attendant, Cassie. Cassie has many flaws, but she is human and relatable. She acts out of self-preservation but she is conflicted by her actions. She is tormented by the baggage of growing up with an alcoholic father, her own bad drinking behavior, and feels guilty when she makes bad decisions. She has a lot of self loathing. But you sympathize with her trials and tribulations and can’t help but feel sorry for her. You want her to overcome her challenges and be a better person.
2. Elena was also likeable. She is a calculated killer with an ethical perspective. She doesn’t believe in harming innocent people. Her backstory made me identify with her. She has a unique outlook and is a strong and smart character.
3. The author’s research into US and international law, which was obviously extensive and reflected within many details of the book.
4. The glamourous settings. The reader is taken on a fascinating journey that spans Dubai, New York City, Russia, Rome, Paris. It’s an international thriller with beautiful, vivid descriptions of the cities, landmarks and culture.
5. The inside peek into the world of flight attendants, who literally live out of their suitcases for most of their careers.
6. The FBI reports sprinkled throughout the book which share a different perspective and add substance to the plot.
7. The ending had many surprise twists and I enjoyed it. The ending also gives closure to many open storylines and it was a satisfying conclusion.

The last Chris Bohjalian book that I read was The Guest Room which I didn’t really like. This book has so much more substance, more developed characters, more research and facts and I loved it so much more than The Guest Room. It’s almost like this book was written by a completely different author.

The book has a fabulous plot, and is fast paced in the beginning and end with a steady pace throughout. It’s a fast read and I enjoyed it.

Thank you, NetGalley, Chris Bohjalian, and Doubleday Books for the opportunity to preview this book.

5 star read! Love this author and Cassandra was a great character to follow!! Amazing book.

This book was REALLY good! I have never read a book by this author and now I am glad that I did. Cassie, the main character, was not the brightest bulb. She drank too much, partied too much, slept around the globe (literally) and was incredibly impulsive. She was actually really great main character because I never expected her to do a lot of the things she did. Elena, the Russian spy, was the opposite, cold, calculating and did everything with an extreme amount of planning and thought. The book took many turns that I did not expect, and that to me, is a sign of a GREAT thriller. Honestly I was completely surprised at the ending. I had NO clue what was going to happen and although a little confusing, a really good ending as well. Definitely recommend this book!

Cassandra "Cassie" Bowden is a flight attendant and alcoholic. She binge drinks and is no stranger to black outs and one night stands. On a flight into Dubai she flirts with a man in the first class cabin and ends up spending the night with him. When she wakes up the next morning, she needs to remember where she is and hopes to slip quietly out of bed when she discovers the blood. A lot of blood, and quickly determines that the man she spent the night with is dead. Has she killed him? She doesn't think so. She has done some crazy things when drunk but never anything violent. If she didn't kill him. then who did? Could it be the woman they shared drinks with the previous night?

Freaking out, she cleans up the room and heads back to her Hotel to meet up with the flight crew. Hoping to cover her tracks, she lies to her friend on the crew. She lies to the FBI, she lies to her union but tells her attorney the truth - that she is a heavy drinker who does not know how or why the man died in bed next to her.

This book started out really strong for me. The premise is great : a woman wakes up next to dead man who has clearly been murdered. Why did the killer not kill the flight attendant as well? Initially the story really grabbed me and although it did keep my attention. There is also the part of the story where we learn about the killer, why she did not kill the flight attendant initially and her hunt for her after the fact. Somewhere along the path of this story it lost some of its UMP for me. It became a little flat. Cassie is not the most likable character and I found I really did not care what happened to her. Her attorney at one point even makes a comment about Cassie not having a rock bottom. The writing is good and this book started strong but lost me along the way.

I received a copy of this book from Doubleday Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A gripping dramatic thriller, The Flight Attendant explores how well one knows one's self, the tight grip of substance abuse, and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Cassie Bowden relies on drinking for facing nearly every facet of her life, and one night blackout drinking leads to something much darker. As she finds herself embroiled in an international murder mystery, Cassie must work out for herself whether she did this, and come to terms with the destruction her drinking leaves in its wake.

Genre: General Fiction
Tone: Sad and depressing at times

This was a sobering story about a woman who's childhood shaped her into a binge-drinking and self-destructing addict. For the most of this book, Cassie was in denial about how dependent she was on alcohol and shied away from the idea that she'd become just like her alcoholic father. While she was an avid animal lover (volunteered regularly at the animal shelter) and still managed to function enough at work to maintain a good employment status, Cassie was a sloppy individual in her personal life. Watching her story unfold was painfully slow at times and cringe-worthy as she made mountains of poor decisions day after day.

Likes?

Being stuck in Cassie's head was mostly torturous but her lawyer, Ani, was intriguing, as was that other (view spoiler) POV featured. I liked the FBI summarized statement reports included, though I have no clue at all if those reports mirrored authentic ones, but it gave some life and credibility to the story.

◎ Overall, this was an exhausting but interesting read.

◎ Most giggle-worthy lines in Cassie's thoughts?

The proof was in the proof.

Chris Bohjalian claims that he seldoms writes about anything he knows. That’s startling, because I’ve read several of his books and believe he knows just about everything. Research is the answer (my favorite trait for authors that I admire). In “The Flight Attendant” he demonstrates just how industrious and skillful he is as he unravels the life of someone engaged in a most intriguing occupation and, in turn, disengaged with life in general.

Intriguing it might be, but ideal it’s not. Long hours, erratic schedules, dealing with unhappy people, boring stretches of inactivity, poor pay, and the dreadful possibility of a fatal ending all dull the excitement of visiting faraway and exotic places. In “The Flight Attendant,” Bohjalian tells of one attendant’s battle with alcoholism, a constant need for male companionship, and a predilection for lying that takes her on a gruesome journey that seems to never end.

Cassie Bowden awakes in a bed in Dubai with a man whose throat has been cut and who has bled out all over her naked body. She remembers him as a passenger in her first-class cabin on a flight from the United States, their hookup at the hotel, and meeting another woman in his suite as heavy drinking commences. She also seems to remember having left the hotel, but then nothing. This is not an unusual night for her, except for the death, as Cassie is addicted to drink and drunken sex that seems to go along with her job as flight attendant.

Her other depravity, the lying and deceit she usually displays, gets her more deeply involved with the crime until she eventually blurts out her actual recollections and confusion to her family, friends, attorney, and the authorities resulting in a whole host of bad people trying to do her in. It’s an intriguing study of alcoholic fog and murder in a distant country.

Bohjalian, as usual, is masterful in his development of the story and cleverly weaves together characterizations and situations that keep the reader enthralled. This book is highly recommended for a look at an interesting profession and the possible side effects of an unbridled life of addiction and carnal behavior. The withdrawal into a coverup of lies also proves to be a life lesson not to be forgotten.

This novel is a complex international thriller. Suspenseful and intelligent!

"I awoke beside a dead man. I may have gotten away with murder." It is not the first time Cassie has blacked out after a night of untamed drinking. Cassie wakes up in a dense fog. This place is not her hotel. She is in someone's room in another hotel. And she is in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Brace for Impact.

Cassie, a flight attendant, has just discovered that her Russian hedge fund date from row 2C is lying in a pool of his blood. She remembers another person in the room hours prior, Miranda. They all drank together. But now Cassie is not sure what happened. What did she do in her nebulous state? She tries to cover all her footsteps and fingerprints leaving no trace behind. But there is Miranda. But also Meghan, another attendant, who remembers Cassie's flirtation with Alex during the flight.

The Flight Attendant has a suspenseful and intricate plot. Told in alternating points of view, Cassie, and Elena (Miranda) both tell their sides after the scene which makes the narrative intriguing. Cassie's uncanny ability to lie coupled with her paranoia makes us suspect that she may be an unreliable storyteller. I love Cassie's thought process after Dubai, the pondering of each detail with the precision of a mastermind. After all, she can only rely on herself to determine what happened and what is to follow. Elena is a well-respected paid assassin and can cover the truth with a twenty-two. Her father taught her everything he knew from his former KGB days. Each of these characters carries a multi dimensional personality with a unique backstory and family members with quirks and personal behaviors. The author did not skimp out on the details which made the characters believable and relatable. Oddly enough, you sympathize with conflicting characters, which is an engaging twist. As the story unfolds, we learn more about who Alex Sokolov is and why he is dead. What is Miranda's involvement. And why the FBI is questioning Cassie.
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The author did his research on several levels. With an international murder setting, the legal details of foreign and domestic law and protocols of the FBI are precise. The setting of Dubai boasts with Arabian pride, with grand hotels and the souk markets with omnipotent smells of spice. The author also had specific details of the role of an airline attendant, flight routes, the in-between arrangement, flight bidding and also of the preferred color of lipstick, red. The intricacies of the plot and narrative felt remarkably complete and created authenticity.

My only complaint about the novel is that the character building and the reminiscence created a time lag between the action of the plot. But it may be a reflection of my need for fast-moving plots.

The story moves at a metronomic pace creating a hunger in the reader. And then there is intermittent turbulence to make you gasp and the undeniable debacle at the conclusion that will leave you reaching for oxygen. The Flight Attendant is a great story that engaged the reader on many levels. I highly recommend The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian.

Thank you, NetGalley, Chris Bohjalain, and Doubleday Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.