Not long after takeoff, Flight 1421 crashes into the Pacific Ocean. The plane is soon flooded and sinks to the bottom of the ocean, with a dozen passengers who have survived trapped inside. A major rescue operation is launched. One of the key leaders is professional diver Chris Kent who has a personal connection to the mission: her daughter Shannon and soon-to-be ex-husband Will are 12 of the survivors. As precious time ticks away, and the rescue mission faces various setbacks, Chris fights to reach Shannon and Will, just as they, and their fellow passengers, fight to survive.

This is a terrific book. It is both a great thriller and a powerful story about family and connection. It kept me fully engaged from the first page to the last.

Highly recommended!

"The Drowning" is an absolutely gripping and stress-inducing read. This intense thriller dives deep into suspense, keeping readers hooked with its heart-pounding narrative. The author weaves a masterful tale, skillfully crafting a story that captivates from start to finish. With every twist and turn, "The Drowning" delivers a relentless rollercoaster of emotions, making it an amazing and unforgettable literary experience for those who thrive on edge-of-the-seat storytelling.

Another incredible story from TJ Newman. Drowning gripped me from page, keeping me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Between this and Falling, I might be a little nervous next time I board a plane.

A wild ride from start to finish! In addition to keeping my heart besting, I learned so much about the science of the possibilities laid out in the plot. Great story about human behavior in the face of life or death decisions.

This book definitely keep me on the edge of my seat. It started off with a bang and did not let up until near the end. I really had a good time reading this and trying to guess what would happen next.

This was excellent! A plane goes down and mayhem ensues, but when some people
Stay onboard, this novel takes a twist from other similar plots. Great character development and unique angle as a rescue plays out with no time to spare.

After reading and loving Falling back in 2021, Drowning was one of my most anticipated reads of this year. Did I enjoy it? Yes… did I love it as much as Falling? Unfortunately not. Falling was a five star read for me, whereas Drowning didn’t quite make the same impact.  
 
As with Newman’s debut, she knows exactly how to grab the readers attention with the very first sentence. I was instantly hooked and had no trouble turning the pages throughout the whole book. Her writing is fast paced, and the story is centred around an aircraft which crash lands in to the sea. Most people’s worst nightmare right? There’s so much suspense and drama, a lot of the book was spent on the edge of my seat!  
 
From a flight attendant’s perspective, it was an interesting read to see how the crew dealt with the terrifying situation. I did however find a lot of the navy jargon unnecessary, there’s A LOT of it and I found myself skimming over the majority of it. I definitely enjoyed the chapters in the aircraft more as opposed to the rescue operation chapters for this reason. We get to know the trapped passengers well, and you’re rooting for them the whole way through to make it out alive.  
 
I’m intrigued to see what the author comes up with next and I’ll definitely be reading whatever she publishes in the future.

Definitely don't plan to read this if you're traveling anytime in the near future...
Holy moly, this was quite the thriller. I found myself holding my breath on multiple occasions, praying for the passengers. You can tell that the author did her research (and used her experience) when writing this. 10/10 would recommend.

**I received this advance copy free from Simon & Schuster via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

Not as good as the first but I enjoyed this fast paced thriller. I’m not sure where else the author can go, however. It’s kind of done now.

How could anyone not give this book 5 stars? I need to go back and read some reviews because I don’t get it. This book was AMAZING! I was on the edge of my seat literally the whole time. I read this book -in.one.sitting- that’s how good it was!

This book was amazing. I love T.J. Newman. I was captivated and quickly sucked in. The characters were likeable and the book was fantastic.

An action pack thriller story. The story grabs your attention from the start and doesn’t let you go or catch your breath until the very end. The author does a fantastic job with the plot and character building. Quite the page turner. I enjoyed the roller coaster ride of excitement.

Disclaimer: Thank you NetGalley and Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster for this review copy and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This new book by Newman is about another plane disaster, but one where a plane crashes into the ocean. It centers around a few central core characters including passengers, crew, and a pilot, plus the efforts made outside of the plane to save them. Much like her first book, I read this in one sitting. Newman's own career as a flight attendant lends a very knowledgable and believable amount of details regarding airplane features and functions. She put in a vast amount of research regarding methods for how to save people underwater and the involvement of the military. Whether this is something that could have been pulled off in real life was not something I continually questioned while reading, With the detail and writing style, it was just a given in my opinion. I recommend this book for those who enjoy tense thrillers and books about how others react when lives are in danger.

Six minutes after takeoff, Flight 1421 crashes into the Pacific Ocean. During the evacuation, an engine explodes and the plane is flooded. Those still alive are forced to close the doors—but it’s too late. The plane sinks to the bottom with twelve passengers trapped inside.
More than two hundred feet below the surface, engineer Will Kent and his eleven-year-old daughter Shannon are waist-deep in water and fighting for their lives.
Their only chance at survival is an elite rescue team on the surface led by professional diver Chris Kent—Shannon’s mother and Will’s soon-to-be ex-wife—who must work together with Will to find a way to save their daughter and rescue the passengers from the sealed airplane, which is now teetering on the edge of an undersea cliff.
There’s not much time. There’s even less air.
With devastating emotional power and heart-stopping suspense, Drowning is an unforgettable thriller about a family’s desperate fight to save themselves and the people trapped with them—against impossible odds.

Sold! I love T.J. Newman and this book was no exception! Heart pounding, completely engaged from page 1 until the end. It is literally like watching an action drama through the written word. I gasped, I creied, and I cheered.

Bravo T.J Newman! Thank you NetGalley and the author for the Advanced Digital Copy and forgive me for my late review!!

What a plot! The visuals are stunning, the pacing breathless, the complications... complicated. The amount of research Newman performed for this book is obvious. But the characters are paper-thin and the prose weak. She's a born screenwriter; her next project should be a script.

It was really hard not to compare this to Falling because I read that earlier in 2023. I like that the book took place just off of the coast of Hawaii since that is where my family is from and that is where I frequently travel to and from. I was hoping that would make it more realistic and creepier for me, but it didn't. It was a little hard for me to understand how and where the crash happened and what the passengers were really going through. It was also a little hard for me to follow what was going on with the dive and rescue mission. I did appreciate that there definitely was an emotional battle going on between the main characters (Will and Chris) and I did feel sad for them, their relationship and Shannon. I just didn't feel that sense of OMG or freaking out component, like I did in Falling.

I really enjoyed this book by T.J. Newman, as I enjoyed Falling, I wasn't surprised. It did seem a little bit far-fetched at one point, a little bit too unrealistic for me, personally, but it was gripping and engaging in every single page.

I was afraid I wouldn't enjoy this as much as the other, but I think I might like this one even more. Thank you @netgalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this ebook!

Only minutes after takeoff, Flight 1421 loses all control and is forced to ditch in the ocean. During the evacuation, an engine explodes spreading fuel and flames across the water surface and forcing the remaining passengers to close the doors right before the plane sinks to the bottom. With only about six hours of oxygen, it's a scramble for the coast guard and a nearby naval vessel to come up with a plan of rescue. At the center of the story are Will Kent, an engineer, and his young daughter Shannon trapped in the plane, and Chris Kent, Will's ex and owner of a marine related construction and diving company on contract with the navy.
While parts of the story seemed too convenient or consequential, the fact that Chris is a desperate mother trying to save her child, and their past tragedy, make the story more relatable and personal. This was a pulse pounding, action packed, and emotional thrill ride. Once I started I couldn't put it down.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I followed the hype surrounding TJ Newman's debut novel Falling, and whilst enjoyable enough, didn't think it was worth the noise around it... Drowning on the other hand is a much better effort, the story of an airplane ditching into sea and the consequent efforts to save the surviving passengers. Thrilling and engaging, and whilst some elements will exceed what you imagine as feasible, well worth a go. 4 out of 5 for me.