I usually take my action thrillers in a two hour dose at the movie theater with my boys. This time, I listened to the brilliant @actuallystevenweber read it to me as I brought in the Fourth of July at work. BUT... rumor has it that I’ll still get to see this on screen at some point.
This “would you rather” action drama takes place in the sky as a pilot’s family had been taken hostage in their home and the pilot has an impossible decision to make. It was fast paced and captivating and I loved this book!

I loved it! The first couple of pages had me wondering about this book. But I quickly found myself engrossed in the storyline. Bill is a pilot. He and his wife Carrie have a ten year old son and a 10 month old daughter. Bill is leaving on a flight that wasn’t on his schedule but that he agreed to take when his supervisor called him. Bill is happy to see that a family friend, Jo, is one of the flight attendants. Shortly into the fight, Bill gets an email from Carrie. The picture shows Carrie and their son tied up, obviously being held captive. He is told to put on his headphones and wait for a Facetime call. The caller gives Bill a choice – crash the plane when instructed or the man will kill Bill’s family. Although Bill asserts to the kidnapper that neither of these things will happen, he has no idea what he is going to do. The book is engrossing. It was one that I happily stayed up late to finish. Falling is a five star book for sure.

What a pulse-raising thrill ride of a suspense novel I’ve just read! Grand in scope and executed masterfully by author T.J. Newman. I was hooked and held enthralled from the opening page, unable to stop reading because I.HAD.TO.KNOW what happened next.

With 143 souls aboard his flight to New York Captain Bill Hoffman is going to be given a choice.
The lives of his passengers or the lives of his family. This is not your normal terrorist hijacking!
All bets are off in this grandiose chess match that the author executes with deft and expert ability.

I haven’t read a book this good in quite some time and if you are looking for a good beach read look no further but make sure you apply that suntan lotion in advance because once you start reading you’ll
become lost in this thoroughly engaging storyline very quickly!

I received a free electronic copy of the ARC of this excellent debut novel from Netgalley, T. J. Newman, and Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read 'Falling' of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. I am pleased to recommend T. J. Newman to friends and family and hope for a second work from her toot sweet.

The tension never falters as we travel the sky's with pilot Bill and his friend Jo, or attend meetings with the California FBI or Bill's family and friends. This is a fast read you simply cannot put aside till you complete our tale. The protagonists are sympathetic, the horror very real, even the bad guys are coming from an understandable aspect we can see if not tolerate. Bill and Carrie's children, Little Leaguer Scott, and baby Elise play an important role in this adventure. The inclusion of both the family and other, random people touched by this tragedy gives this tale its special sauce, in my opinion. Give it a go. You won't be disappointed.

I really enjoyed this book. The details about airline protocol really added to the storyline. I enjoyed the characters and loved their commitment and determination. The minute-by-minute thoughts and actions by the characters were realistic. There were a couple items in the story that seemed implausible, but the landing of a hijacked plane meant to crash is in itself unlikely. So the book is more about the heroic nature of people when they find a way to work together. This novel is a great read and I highly recommend it!

This is a fast-pace Suspense Mystery/Thriller. This book takes you on a wild ride of action, twist and suspense. Basically without giving anything away this book is only about a pilot being made to choose to save his family or to save everyone on the plane he is flying. This book pull me in so fast, and I did not want to put it down at all. I spend most of today reading this reading. All the characters where developed, and they really came to life. My favorite character was Jo who was a flight attendant. I loved her character so much. This book is told to us by a couple different character, and Jo is one of them. I love the parts that came from Jo's point of view. I cannot believe this is T.J. Newman's first book...WOW... What a great job. This is a must read thriller, but you should not read this book if you are going to fly anytime soon. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Avid Reader Press) or author (T.J. Newman) via NetGalley, so I can give honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

Hi review below for ‘Falling’ and next up the new book by Sarah Alderson ‘The Stalker’

‘Falling’ by T.J. Newman published by Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster on July 6th

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SPOILER ALERTS

Already irritated by a 3 page missive from the President of Avid Reader Press at the start of the book ( I presumed it was the start of the book ) that included details on how wonderful a person the author is ( this of course is fine but better at the end ) plus plot giveaway, then was further irritated by the desire of one of the flight attendants as she wished ‘she was one of the bubbles on top of the coffee she was pouring’, the then introduction of ‘Daddy’ (also answered to ‘Big Daddy’ ) as another flight attendant did nothing to quell it 😊
My choice to read a 4th book set on a plane ( didn’t finish 1 ) and so cannot complain about the content and the action scenes are good, even if they do contain highly improbable drama where chemical weapon cannisters are being thrown around, caught and deactivated by passengers, however I can complain about the authors seemingly want to explain the terrorists motivation, tbh it sounded justified but it was so OTT that the Captain makes it his life mission to help the people the terrorists were acting on behalf of ‘for the rest of his days’ as he had ‘promised one of the terrorists’…..however worthy a cause I think any reader only wants so much of it in one book ( maybe I am wrong on that? )
The story turns farcical when the aeroplane is due to crash on a baseball game in NY and the players being given warning of this decide to ‘play on’ regardless ‘as patriots would’ whilst everyone is scrambling to leave, all to the tune of ‘New York, New York’ being played over the sound system by an unsuspecting Frank Sinatra
I can safely say I was as pleased to finish the book as the passengers were to land

2 Stars
3/10

This was an incredibly entertaining read! It is always fun to try new authors so I decided to give this book a try and I am so glad that I did. This was one of those stories that made you wonder what you would do if you found yourself in the same situation as the characters and I found the pages to fly by quickly. I am so glad that I decided to pick up this fast-paced and exciting story.

Captain Bill Hoffman agrees to pick up a flight on his day off. It is a six-hour flight to New York and it should be fairly routine. It turns out to a nightmare that he could never have imagined. Someone has his wife and kids and in order to keep them safe, he is instructed to crash the plane he is flying, killing everyone on board. Bill is determined to figure out how to save his family and his passengers but he is not sure how he is going to be able to do it.

This book started with a bang and never let up. There were so many twists and turns and I spent most of the book worried about how things would work out for the characters. I grew to really like the key players in this story and loved seeing them work together to get things done. There were some really exciting scenes that had me turning the pages as fast as I could just so that I could see what would happen next.

I would recommend this book to others. This was an incredibly exciting and entertaining story that had me glued to the pages. I am incredibly impressed by T.J. Newman’s debut novel and cannot wait to read her future works.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Avid Reader Press via NetGalley.

Wow...what a story! It's full of heart-stopping action throughout. I actually listened to this one and it could definitely be a movie.

Captain Bill Hoffman picked up an extra flight...and soon he will wish he hadn't. As soon as he leaves his house, his wife and children are held hostage and strapped to explosives. Once he is told of this, Bill is given the choice to crash the flight (saving his family) or don't and his family will die.

This was such a fast paced story told in multiple POVs--Bill, his flight attendant, Jo; and the FBI on the ground. There is so much going on and it never lets up. I couldn't wait to see how it was all going to turn out.

The narrator for this is Steven Weber and he was excellent.

Thank you to Avid Reader Press, NetGalley and Libro.fm for the advanced reader copy and ALC in exchange for my honest review.

4 Trapped Stars
Well, this had a serious draw for me as a past flight attendant during the time when we could be hijacked to Cuba. There had been one experience where the crew was on pins and needles the entire flight as the pilot allowed someone to leave the flight before takeoff without taking their suitcases off which was normal standard procedure.

Fall has all of the necessary elements to make a summer hit, and something I would Not read on a plane.

A pilot on a cross-country flight from Los Angeles to New York’s JFK airport faces his worse nightmare. Shortly after takeoff from LAX he is informed that his family has been taken hostage. The demands are simple. Crash the plane or his family will be killed.

This is just the beginning of the debut novel by T.J. Newman – a former flight attendant who wrote this book on her own cross-country and all-night flights. As a result of her experiences, Falling is authentically tense and scary. Ms Newman has created a cast of characters that are varied, interesting, and believable. The pilot is just the kind of person you hope to always have piloting the plane you’re on, the people on the ground and in the control towers are competent and dedicated, and the plot is presented with lots of chills and suspense.

Falling is definitely a good summer read. Highly recommended.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

Super exciting and difficult to put down! Today is release day so be sure to grab your own copy.

Once I started this book I found myself thinking about it when I had to go and do other things, longing to get back to find out what would happen next. This is a fantastic debut thriller, with just the right amount of action, tempered with some humor and some clever twists. There's definitely a bit of anxiety as I was hoping everyone I cared about would survive the ordeal, but it is the good kind of anxiety that kept me turning pages.

The premise is--Pilot takes off with a plane full of people flying from LA to New York. When he reaches cruising altitude, he gets a video call from home, and it turns out that his entire family has been kidnapped. He is told that he has to choose--crash the plane or his family dies. Tell anyone, and they all die. What happens next is a wild ride!

While I probably wouldn't choose to read this one on a plane trip, I highly recommend this gripping tale that will make your heart beat faster and your breathing become more rapid as you frantically turn the pages to discover the fate of the family and the passengers on the plane. The only shortcoming I found was that I didn't have much buy-in for the motivation of the people behind the events that occur. I did really like the characters involved, especially the flight attendants. Because the author is herself a flight attendant, the details are authentic and believable, which made me enjoy the story all the more.

𝘍𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 is an incredible debut novel by T.J. Newman about a pilot given the choice between crashing a commercial flight or saving his family. But it is also about so much more - the decisions people make and our responsibility to one another.

After reading 𝘍𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, it is hard to believe Newman is not a seasoned thriller writer. The story dives right in and takes place over one day. Initially my heart was not racing, but it was nice to have the pace build as the story progressed and become high action. One of the things I loved about this book is how easily I was invested in both the story and the characters. You even felt for the villian(s). It was also refreshing to read a thriller where characters do not anger you for making dumb mistakes or choices. Instead, I was cheering for the characters and ended up crying over the goodness of people. You cannot say that much when reading books, particularly not thrillers.

If you are thinking about watching Manifest, skip it and read 𝘍𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 instead. It is so much more satisfying, not to mention better written. 𝘍𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 is unlike any thriller I have read before in the best possible way. It has already been optioned for a movie that I am excited to watch! It is one of those books that will translate so well to screen. Also of note: T.J. Newman was a flight attendant so the accuracy in this book is 👌.

Falling will have you filled with suspense and caught up in the action until the very end. If you are going to pick this book up, I suggest leaving enough time to read it in one sitting. It is definitely one of the top thrillers I have read so far this year.

Overall, I loved 𝘍𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 and highly recommend it. Please read it so I have someone to discuss it with!

Thank you @NetGalley and @avidreaderpress for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my fair and honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Avid Reader Press for my gifted ARC!

I wasn’t going to read Falling by T. J. Newman. It sounded a lot like Hostage (another newly released plane hijacking thriller), which I strongly disliked.

However, I saw great reviews for this book and decided to give it a try because why not? Also people said you could read it in a day, and I’m always down for a fast-paced novel.

This book is intense. It’s claustrophobic. It follows a pilot who’s family has been kidnapped. The catch? To get them back and save their lives, he needs to crash the plane.

The whole book takes place in just a few hours. I’ve read a few thrillers that take place over a short period of time, and I think it’s a new favorite mini-genre of mine.

Because it takes place on a LA to NYC flight, there’s a lot going on! This is a high stakes thriller that feels very real. The author does a great job of tapping into the reader’s emotions and building suspense.

This is definitely one to pick up.

Bill Hoffman is a pilot with Coastal Airways. He is married to Carrie and has a son, Scott, age 10, and and daughter, Elise, 10 months. Bill was called in to fly today at the last minute. The Hoffmans had been having internet problems and Carrie had called in a technician who arrives just as Bill is leaving. As soon as Bill leaves, the technician calling himself, Sam, pulls a gun on Carrie.

When Bill takes off, he receives a message showing his family wrapped in explosives and a man holding a gun on them. Bill is instructed to crash the plane or his family will be killed.

Thus begins a story of terror and hard decisions to be made. Bill has to decide who to trust to try and help him through this awful predicament. He repeatedly says he will not crash the plane.

Oh, this book! This is what you call an edge-of-the-seat thriller. I admired Bill’s and the flight crew’s bravery and then wondered what makes evil people do this stuff. If they think they are getting sympathy for their pathetic past in their country, forget it! If it’s true that the U.S. let this country down, then I can understand their hatred up to a point. However, the U.S. is not here to save the world. You must step up and save your own county. All in all, this book had me on the edge of my seat from the start to the finish. Whew! What a flight!

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I received an ARC of this incredibly tense thriller. Very well written, very detailed, and very believable. The tension mounts page by page until the very end. Great suspense novel

I've never read a book like this and absolutely loved it. I'm a big traveler and will no doubt be thinking about this scenario on future trips. Great writing. Highly recommend!

It wouldn’t surprise me if Falling was one of the summer’s breakout books. It would be the perfect vacation read except for that pesky plane issue.

Bill Hoffman is an experienced pilot whose boss called him specifically to pilot this flight. At the same time he starts the flight, his family is held hostage as an unknown person asks him to choose the passengers on the plane or his family. They want him to crash the plane at an unknown destination.

The book is a wild ride. The premise is great and can lead to a good book club discussion on this versus that, what would justify allowing someone else to die. I had a couple of thoughts on the plot. I love that the book is not just focused solely on the pilot and his family, but it does get a little lost in telling what is happening in a few too many locations. Eventually the crash destination is revealed, and I won’t spoil that since it’s a secret for most of the book, that chapter felt a little out of place as did the control tower chapters.

I fell in love with the flight attendants in addition to the young FBI agent. Not a surprise since the author was a flight attendant herself, but there is such a quirky group that you really get the feel that there is a camaraderie along with the rest of the crew.

While I was pretty sure I knew the overall big picture ending, I couldn’t put the book down trying to figure out who was involved in the scheme, why and who would survive.

If you like action adventure movies and books, you should check this one out.

“Falling” is a thriller that follows a pilot who is given an ultimatum to either crash the plane he is flying or his family will be killed. This was a heart-racing read that I managed to get through quickly. I guess it was necessary to have the background characters to make the decision-making of this problem a bit more functional, but I felt the presence of some of these additional characters took away from some of the tension of the book. This book is screaming for a film adaptation. It was a solid read and a thrilling book that takes you on a ride. 3.5 stars ⭐️, rounded up to 4 stars ⭐️ . Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Capt Bill Hoffman arrives at work, called in on as special favor to the Chief of Pilots to captain a nonstop flight from LAX to NY. Once the flight takes off, he is given a choice: crash the plane or his family, young wife Carrie and two small children will die.

What happens next is a nonstop action adventure as Bill enlists his long time friend and flight attendant, Jo, to help thwart the terrorists from the sky, while Carrie and Jo’s FBI agent nephew, Theo, fight on the ground for their lives and the lives of all the souls on board the plane.

Full of suspense, drama and unexpected turns, this was easily one of the best, most memorable, heart stopping thrillers I’ve read this year. Highly recommend, but not for a onboard plane read. Keep it on the beach!