Can I give this book. more than 5 stars? This was the fastest I’ve read a book in a long time. Loved the storyline, characterizations, everything. The book was just the right length for a mid air crisis. Can’t wait for more books from this author! Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Falling by T.J. Newman is a superb read with a well defined plot and characters. Well worth the read!

What an edge-of-your-seat thrill ride of a book! You just can't put it down. The author keeps you guessing and wondering how the protagonists will overcome the impossible. This book is more than just another thriller, it evokes compassion for the "bad guys" or at least makes you think what drives people to commit certain drastic acts. It's not all black and white and the complacency/ignorance of the Western world takes it's toll on people in other parts of the world. Great debut novel!

I absolutely loved this book, especially as a frequent flyer that has been staying home thanks to the pandemic. It is realistic -- almost to a fault -- and while not probable it could happen. A terrorist hijacks a cross country flight and offers the pilot an awful choice -- crash the plane or have his family, which is being held hostage by another terrorist -- die as an alternative. The back-and-forth negotiations and events that unfold will keep you engaged in the narrative up until the very last page. It has strong characters (including the bad guys), flawed characters (including the FBI and air traffic controllers) and an interesting series of plot points that involve modern day communications in real time with passengers on board the flight. The author is a former flight attendant, which is why the plot is so realistic, and as a first novel it is nothing short of fantastic. Even if you have not been on a plane all that much, this is one great read.

Heart Thumping -Non-Stop Action-from START to FINISH!! ❤️

You can read this relentless ADRENALINE thriller in the course of the five hours or so that it might take you to fly from LAX (Los Angeles) to NY’s JFK airport....but I suggest you read it when your feet are planted firmly on the ground!!

Captain Bill Hoffman’s family has been kidnapped thirty minutes before his flight but he doesn’t know this yet.

His wife Carrie, and his two children are being held hostage, strapped to explosives 🧨

And, he isn’t supposed to share this information with his first officer, Ben or his cabin crew.

Once airborne, he is given the “choice” of crashing the plane to save his family OR saving the 149 souls onboard, instead.

The pace is FAST as the action alternates between the choices being made in the cockpit, what our fearless flight attendants are doing in the cabin, and the support being given by the FBI and ATC (Air Traffic Control) on the ground.

As a 25+ year flight attendant, myself, I loved reading a book without the stereotypical pilots and flight attendants you usually find in these books! The story was peppered with actual “lingo”and authenticity only a crew member could write, because our author was also a flight attendant, for Virgin America and Alaska Airlines, for 10 years, before selling this novel!

Although I fly for a different carrier, we too have “legendary employees” like Michael “Big Daddy”, who have “three digit employee numbers.

And, many of us “slam click” on our overnights, as lead flight attendant “Jo” does too! (Hotel door slams shut, you hear the click of the lock and you don’t see the crew members again till the next morning).

Kellie-the “reserve” flight attendant who got the assignment “last minute” when someone else called in sick. Yes-that is how it works! It was her lucky day!

I had SO MUCH FUN reading this, as I immediately donned my thinking cap, wondering how I would have handled the situation …

And, YES, I laughed, I cried, and I cheered them on!!!

You cannot ask for more than that in a thriller!!
This will make a great 🍿 movie!

Congratulations to Torri Newman for her perseverance in not letting the 41 rejections stop her from submitting this to #42! Being a flight attendant will give you a thick skin-and it paid off here! I live in Phoenix and have referenced The Changing Hands bookstore in a past review! (Our Souls at Night-Kent Haruf) I hope you will have a book signing at your old store, sometime?

Expected Publication July 6, 2021 from Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster

Thank you for my gifted copy provided through NetGalley in exchange for a candid review!

As I started reading this book, I was all ready to give it only 3 stars because of the frequent offensive language. While I understood the purpose of including it, I didn't feel there should be so much of it. BUTTTT.... Omigosh, this turned out to be one of the best books I have read in a long, long time! I never put it down from start to finish. If I had to leave my bedroom, I carried my phone around with me (using the Kindle app). If my battery needed charging, I continued to read as it charged.

I am so glad that the author finally found someone who would publish it for her, and how I hope she will write more! Even though my late husband was a pilot, and I could relate to a lot of the captain's functions, I still would have loved the story! It grabbed me and wouldn't let go! Oh, and the language improved as the story progressed.

I am preparing a (favorable) review for Washington Independent Review of Books and it will appear on WIROB's website sometime around the pub date for the book. I'll attempt to circle back here and add the link at that time.

The story of this book’s publication is almost as much fun as the book. A young woman named T.J. Newman spent years working as a flight attendant for major airlines. During and outside of her long flights, she made good use of her time thinking and writing about a terrifying story set around an airline pilot, his family, and a couple of people who would best be labeled “terrorists.” Once she had finished her writing and turned it into a novel, she tried FORTY different times to get interest from an agent or publisher. Finally, a smart agent liked it and now it is a BFD thriller and publishing phenomenon, it should make an EXCELLENT movie, and she will make lots of well-earned $$$.

The situation is that 140+ passengers are on a flight from LA to New York. Their pilot had gotten a call shortly before the flight was due to take off about an urgent pilot staffing situation, so he volunteered to step in and take the flight. Just as he was leaving the house, a “Cable repairman” showed up and as the pilot left, the “repairman” took the family hostage. The pilot is contacted and told that he has a choice: the plane or his family. For the family to survive, he has to crash the plane, killing everyone on board.

The premise is fairly straightforward, and part of me expected that it would be resolved neatly. It’s called “JAWS at 35,000 feet,” so I was prepared for tension and suspense. But what sets this one apart is the author’s depth of knowledge about airline procedures and flight operations (including the primary role of flight attendants being the safety of the passengers). She also does a great job developing characters that the reader both knows and cares about. The “bad guys” have an interesting and thought-provoking backstory and although there were a couple of things about the ending that I might quibble with, overall it was a fun read and well done. With thanks to Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster and NetGalley, who provided a copy in exchange for this honest review, T.J. Newman’s Falling gets four solid stars.

This was a really solid suspense novel, and I powered through it in two days. I love it when authors write from their own knowledge and here the author gives us a really interesting insight into the inner workings of a plane and cabin crew. Twisty, interesting, and characters that you actually care about. . Really enjoyed it, easy reading. It hooked me in and I needed to know how it would end. Also love that it makes you empathise with all characters, including the “enemy”.
It is a little predictable in places hence not five stars, however still a good read.

A really excellent book. Keeps the reader in suspense all the way through. I am very glad to have received an advanced copy to review. I can't recommend this book any higher. Best book I have read in a long time. Very well done!! The only thing I can say outside of high praise is that there needs to be better delineation when another character is switched too. I found myself doubling back to see who again I was reading about. This book is so exciting you really don't want to have to do that - you just want to forge ahead! Very well done Ms. Newman. What a movie this would make!!!!!!!

Falling by T.J. Newman
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
If you had to choose between your family being killed or crashing the plane your piloting with 149 souls, what would you choose?
If you thought it was down to the last five minutes of your life, how would you spend it? What kind of human would you be?

Those are the things I wondered as I read this book.

It’s been a while since I read a whole book in under 24 hours, I’m normally a slow reader, but I couldn’t put this book down. It completely captured my attention. From the very first sentence this book pulls you into the fast paced journey from 35,000 feet in the air and will leave you holding your breath. I love that this full throttle thriller also touched on current world events that is so important to talk about.

Publication date is July 6th

Thank you so much to @NetGalley @simonandschuster @tj_author for the advanced copy.

What an intense read! I love thrillers like this that are nonstop action and you can't wait to read what happens next. I put myself in the pilots' shoes and couldn't fathom the dilemma he faced. I really don't know what I would do and I am still thinking about this a day after I have finished the book. It was refreshing to read about strong female characters that can think on their feet and take action. They kicked butt and took names!! I also enjoyed the insight into airline procedures and protocol. What a great debut author. I would love to read her next book.

This was a thrilling book from start to finish. Crash the plane you're flying or I'll kill your family. The captain of a large commercial jet filled with people says, "neither one of those things is going to happen."

A lot of the twists I didn't see coming. The characters were believable. The plot seemed, unfortunately, like something that could happen.

It is incomprehensible to me why so many passed on this manuscript! It's so well-written and nearly impossible to put down.

I highly recommend "Falling." In fact, I've already recommended it to my husband because I'm sure he would thoroughly enjoy it as well.

So glad after 40 rejections T. J. Newman got her book published!! Buckle your seatbelt tight and hang on for dear life as this flight to takes off! A heart pounding and page turning book you won’t put down until your flight has landed - or does it?

The author of this book was rejected 41 times by publishers. All I can say to that is this : either publishers really are ignorant or the author had a really horrid first draft!

You have read the blurb about the plane and the kidnapping and the choices the pilot must make, so no need to go into that.
What you don't know yet is how rich the characters are..(not going to share them with you here--you should find them as you come upon them in the book)
sure, this is not a perfect novel, but it is pretty darn good. Just enough information to make the story plausible and the actions probable.
I suspect it may sell a million copies.

The publisher needs to give a big raise to whoever managed to collect all those excited blurbs from big-time writers. I don't know how they talked those folks into letting them use their names since this simply isn't a very good book. It's all plot and no novel, of course, but you know going in that it's a comic book, not a real book. What you don't know going in is that it's just not a well-written comic book. It's junior high school plotting and high school prose, and not even very good high school prose.

If you're okay with simplistic writing and a comic book plot, you might enjoy this. But if you have anything more than a high school education, I doubt you would.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advanced reader copy of this thriller, which I've been hearing about for months. FALLING is one thriller that lives up to the hype! Bill, a seasoned pilot from CA, discovers after his plane departs from LAX, that his family has been kidnapped by a man who is demanding that he crash the plane or his family will die. Very fast paced thriller with lots of twists and turns I never saw coming! Highly recommend.

A rollicking, exciting ride, and perfect as an exciting beach read. Happy to chat this one up! The characters are human, and the writing crisp, vivid and action-packed.

What a dynamic debut!!! If you listen, you can hear the thunderous applause coming from the homes of every person who reads this terrific thriller. I feel sorry for every first-time novelist who has to follow in the wake of this riveting read. The plot is engrossing and the action is perfectly paced. I'll be honest, there's a point where you'll find yourself jumping up and cheering. Newman's narrative will captivate you from beginning to end. Her experiences in the air envelope 'Falling' with a degree of realism that cannot be matched. It increases the "wow" factor a hundredfold. You can reserve a place on 2021 Top 10 lists for this brilliant work of fiction. Thank you to Avid Reader Press, Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for making this advanced reading copy available!

Just a word of warning - do not start reading this book if you have anything that you need to be doing, should be doing, or want to be doing instead of reading this book. What a wild roller coaster ride. The adrenaline was constantly pumping and the twists and turns were unbelievable.  Definitely a new twist on the thriller and a great one to put on your summer travel reading lists.  Must-read for frequent travelers and nervous flyers!   Character development was keen and the shifting POVs flowed near-perfectly.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.