This is a nonstop thriller, and the book was so engaging I couldn’t put it down. I am so afraid to fly and I don’t think this book helped, but I’m not planning to go anywhere and wouldn’t give up the chance to read this book anyway. This is hands down the best thriller I’ve read in at least two years. I loved it

I enjoyed this book. I was impressed with the writing style and the knowledge the author brought about airplanes and procedures for high jacking. I would definitely recommend this to mystery, thriller, suspense readers.

Huge thank you to Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster and T.J. Newman for the Advance Reader Copy of Falling! First the publisher description, because they are the pros at this! Thirty minutes before the flight your pilot’s family was kidnapped. For his family to live, everyone on your plane must die. The only way the family lives is if the pilot follows his orders and crashes the plane. Enjoy the flight.
Whoa! Right?! We as readers all know that not all “Hype” books translate to great stories, some books are just, hype… BUT, when you have Don Winslow, Adrian McKinty, and Steve Hamilton onboard with your book, it is not hype, it is TRUTH! This book does deliver on the hype and is absolutely something new and at the same time engaging in the way that we all enjoy thrillers! First rule of writing, or of anything for that matter, is to write what you know. Ms. Newman’s years of experience in the flight industry really sets a believable narrative for the basis of our plot. The pilot, the plane itself, the flight attendants, all very believable, with in depth descriptions of their roles and responsibilities. For me it really allowed me to enjoy the story, almost as if I were a passenger on the plane! I am just glad I was on the ground, while my head was in the clouds! Ha! Again, believe the hype, it really is that good! Just be glad that you are not one of the 41 publishers who turned down this incredible book, you just may have been out of a job. Great tale of perseverance for the characters in “Falling” and even more so for the author T.J. Newman! Congrats and well done! #falling #NetGalley #tjnewman

What a captivating thriller!
Some good advice before you start reading:
Get a comfy chair, have enough food and drinks on hand. See that you have enough time to finish the book!
You will not be able to put it down.
And if you want to read it on a long Transatlantic flight ... take some good tranquilizers with you.

A fabulous page-turner that has you on the edge of your seat. Great characters, some twists and turns. Great debut.

Wow wow wow a fantastic edge of your seat thriller .A pilot told to crash the plane or his family will be killed and this unputdownable novel takes you on a wild ride.The author does a great job building the tension .A book that has movie written all over it.I will be telling everyone who loves a good thriller to grab this book.#netgalley #avidpress

What a fantastic debut thriller from T.J. Newman!! It is intense and suspenseful from the beginning - once you start reading you will not want to put it down. I will be shocked if this doesn't get made into a movie. This is the perfect summer escape - but I wouldn't read it while flying! I look forward to reading more from T.J. Newman in the future. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

WOW! This book was a hell of a ride! It gripped me from the very beginning and refused to let go until the very end. Smooth beginning, action-packed plot, and perfect ending made this book fantastic! She managed to give the exact amount of detail needed without being overly wordy. I loved this book and can’t wait for her next! Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my free arc in exchange for my honest opinion, I LOVED it!!

Buckle up before you start reading this one! This was an edge of your seat thriller that I couldn't put down. I read it in two days. I thought it was a well thought out concept executed to perfection. Highly recommend this book!!

Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

Flight 416 is on its way to New York when Captain Bill Hoffman finds out his wife and two children are being held hostage by a man that has strapped them into explosive vests. The man contacts Bill in-flight and tells him that if he doesn’t crash the plane, killing all “souls” aboard, then his family will be killed.. Talk about a dilemma! A fast paced suspense/mystery thriller taking you on a wild ride. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for a review.

On a transcontinental flight a pilot learns his family is being held hostage. He’s given a choice—crash the plane or watch his family be blown up. But is anything that simple?

This first novel reads like an action-packed thriller movie with Bruce Willis as the pilot!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and Avid Reader Press for sharing this great debut! This a great thriller about an airplane hijacking (of sorts) and kept me reading all my waking hours until I finished. Recommended for anyone who likes thrillers, but not recommended for reading on your next plane trip.

This amazing, pulse pounding novel doesn’t let up for a second. A page turner meant for the big screen; I had to read it in one sitting because I could not put it down. The real, relatable characters are well written and the plot is believable, if at times, a bit predictable. An exciting ride that will make you appreciate family, in all its forms.

If you’re looking for a thriller that reads like a movie, here’s one for you: T.J. Newman's upcoming debut thriller, Falling!

Are you a good flyer or a nervous flyer? If you are a white-knuckle flyer you’ll probably want to skip this one so it doesn’t give you something else to worry about when you get on a plane!

Captain Bill Hoffman is ready to fly 143 people from Los Angeles to NYC for Coastal Airways. He’s done his preflight checks and his favorite flight attendant, Jo, is in charge of the cabin. Bill and his first officer are ready to go, and they expect a smooth flight across the country.

Then he receives an email message: his wife and two young children have been kidnapped and have bombs attached to them. If Bill doesn’t crash the plane, the kidnapper will kill his family. His choices: kill everyone on board (including himself) or let his family die. And he can't involve the authorities, because his family will suffer the consequences.

Falling was written by a former flight attendant who wrote most of this during cross-country flights when her passengers were asleep. It definitely reads like a book written by someone who knows her s—t!! (Plus, I've heard from two friends who are flight attendants that it's pretty authentic.)

This was one of those books that you frantically turn the pages of, as you can’t wait to see what unfolds. It’s a tremendously entertaining thriller, fast-paced in many ways, with a diverse and enjoyable supporting cast. As I was reading it, I was totally casting the movie in my head!

If I had any criticism, I felt the kidnapper was a little too stereotypical, but as my friend Phil and I discussed in our impromptu buddy read, it could’ve been problematic any way Newman went. But the book had more emotional depth than I expected, which was great. I devoured this in one sitting.

NetGalley, Avid Reader Press, and Simon & Schuster provided me a complimentary advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!!

Falling publishes 7/6.

I probably shouldn't have read Falling by T.J. Newman as I am a horribly nervous flier! But it was fantastic, an absolute thrill ride of a novel. (I might never get on another plane again. Ever.) And I loved knowing that it was written by a stewardess- which added to the realism!

Imagine a plane being hijacked while the hijacker is not even on it. That is what happens in "Falling." The author is a flight attendant so she knows what she's writing about. We read the perspectives of the pilot, his wife at home, and other characters.
This book is full of tension. Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for allowing me to read this.

Falling will put you on the edge of your seat from beginning until the end. You'll find the characters real and believable. You'll find it hard to put down until you find how everything works out.

What a wonderful new writer! Kudos on a spectacular read, especially for those of us who are thriller fans. Perseverance will out, as T. J. Newman has so aptly proven. This novel is a surprising twist on a plot construct that always proves a good read. Terrorists are hell-bent on making their point by hi-jacking an airplane, regardless of whether or not their action has any bearing to the point they are trying to make. This new author jolts us out of the ordinary and delivers a whopper of a page turner.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

This book combines a game of Would You Rather with a plot akin to the Keanu Reeves classic "Speed", but takes the stakes way higher (both figuratively and atmospherically).

While there aren't too many unpredictable twists, it's definitely a wild ride. There are multiple plotlines going that all support each other. The characters are well written and the pacing gets more intense as we reach the final destination.

I cannot wait until the inevitable file adaptation. Definitely worth a read, but probably not when you're about to or currently flying.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC. All opinions are my own.

When a pilot’s family is kidnapped, the kidnapper forces him to choose between the family or his passengers. As the pilot does his best to maneuver the situation, he’ll have to rely on a trio of flight attendants and the goodwill of law enforcement on the ground to keep everyone safe. Debut author T.J. Newman relies heavily on her personal experience as a flight attendant for her fantastic first novel Falling.

Bill Hoffman is a veteran of his airline. He was there in the early days when no one knew if the company would survive. Now, more than two decades later, he enjoys a fair amount of seniority…except when it comes to the boss. When Bill gets the call to fill in at the last minute for a flight from L.A. to New York, he doesn’t think twice about saying yes.

His wife, Carrie, isn’t thrilled. Bill promised to spend his days off with the family. His 10-year-old son, Scott, is playing in the Little League season opener. Between managing Scott’s baseball schedule and taking care of their surprise baby, Elise, Carrie’s hands are full. Although she’s grumbling when they say goodbye, Bill knows he’ll find a way to make it up to Carrie when he gets back.

Minutes after Bill leaves home, however, Carrie and the kids are taken hostage inside their own home. The hostage taker calls himself Sam and seems to know where Bill is headed. He waits until Bill is in the cockpit and pushing back from the gate to get in touch with his one demand. Bill will have to make a choice: his family or his passengers. If he doesn’t crash the plane into a location yet to be revealed, his family dies.

Bill’s mind begins to race. He’s bound and determined to land the plane safely, and he knows he can’t let anything happen to Carrie and the children. Despite Sam’s warning against it, at the first available opportunity Bill tells the head of his flight crew, Jo, about what’s going on.

He and Jo have flown together for almost their entire careers. They’re coworkers and friends, and he needs someone he can trust. Sam refuses to tell Bill where to crash the plane, but he does let Bill in on the fact that someone else on the flight is working with him. If the terrorist can have an accomplice, Bill can have one too.

As the flight travels the five hours between the two major cities, Bill, Jo, and a whole host of other people fight to keep everyone on the plane and the ground alive. Bill’s adrenaline is running at a permanent high, but he knows one thing for sure. No one is going to die on his watch today.

Author T.J. Newman worked for 10 years as a flight attendant and wrote Falling while she spent time in the air. Her experience shows in the lingo she uses that all real-life flight crews will surely recognize. Newman keeps a balance, though, between the authenticity of that language and making sure readers know what they’re talking about.

She also builds realistic characters. Bill’s fear and his helplessness ring true as does his resourcefulness. Like other people trained in high-risk jobs, Bill leans into his training to help him figure out the problem.

As the senior-most flight attendant, Jo is ready-made for these types of crises. Readers will hope for attendants like her on their future trips. Like Bill, she’s three-dimensional and relatable.

The made-for-the-movies climax and ending might seem a touch corny, but these types of stories almost require an ending where readers and/or viewers are cheering and teary-eyed by the end. Newman picks her terrorists’ cause with care, making it feel relevant to today’s world. She also doesn’t hesitate to give her terrorists some sympathetic qualities. What they did was wrong, as Carrie asserts at one point, but it’s easy to understand why they did it.

The book fits squarely within its genre and as a movie would be instantly rewatchable. Readers who enjoy a fun thriller with unexpected story twists will definitely enjoy this one.