TL;DR: sadly this one lived up its title. I’m generally a huge fan of Newman’s: I loved her debut FALLING, and her 2023 book DROWNING was one of my favorites of last year. Which is why I’m so bummed to tell you that this…reads like an okay episode of 9-1-1. As terrifying as nuclear war is, reading about people being exposed to radiation and patching up a pool full of fuel rods is just…not thaaaaat exciting. Bummer. Still, Newman is an auto-buy author at this point, and I'll read whatever she writes next.

Wow, such a fascinating topic. I read this during my downtime at work, thinking it'd be a thrilling read with suspenseful moments. However, I cried twice. Twice. While. Working. Lol. So take that for what it's worth. It's definitely moving at parts that touched me so deeply. I was so intrigued and loved watching the courage from all of the characters. It was a beautiful but deeply moving thing to watch unfold. Truly kept me on the edge of my seat, hoping that everything would turn out okay but fearing the worst possible thing. Loved this!

I received this book from NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company to read/review. All of the statements above are my true opinions after fully reading this book.

A plane crashes into a nuclear power plant, creating a world threatening emergency. I enjoyed the author’s previous books more than this one. The nonfiction books that I’ve read about Chernobyl were actually more exciting than this fiction. This book veered too far into maudlin soap opera territory. The outcome was never in doubt. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Absolutely wonderful! TJ Newman is an autoread for me and this might be her best book yet! I loved the plot and how high-action it was. It also is a surprisingly emotional story.

OMG! What an action filled thriller it was!! Non stop, fast moving!
Another fun summer read! TJ Newman created a masterpiece

✨BOOK REVIEW✨

Worst Case Scenario by TJ Newman

This one started out STRONG. Like Steph hitting three 3’s at the end of the championship game, strong. And then….it kinda fizzled. WAY too much technical jargon.

If you’re not familiar with this author, plane thrillers are her mojo. Honestly, the author’s note at the beginning really got me excited (SWIPE TO READ). She explains while doing research for her first book, she asked pilots one question and then recorded the answers she got. Most were similar, but there was one that stood out, and that’s how this book was born. A large plane goes down on a nuclear power plant 😳😱

First, I could’ve lovedddd this book! It’s unique and it starts off fast & furious. My hang ups were with the pacing mostly & I felt she went too hard on the technicalities and the science of it all. I needed to learn less about nuclear power plants and more about these characters. About 70% through I realized that I felt nothing for these people. I mean, tragic, really sad things are happening and I wasn’t getting emotional.

I think if you’ve enjoyed her other books, def still give this one a shot, but it’s not one I’ll be screaming about for people to abandon their tbr and read immediately.

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

This one published Aug 13th - thank you to @netgalley & the publisher for the eARC. All thoughts are my own ✈️

Many thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown & Co for this advance copy of Worst Case Scenario, TJ Newman’s new 2024 release!

The one thing that TJ Newman does that I haven’t found with any other author I’ve read is really keep the story moving and gives the reader this never ending sense of dread with her plots. I know that sounds crazy, but I think it’s because there’s a sense of real-ness to it - if you’ve flown commercially, any of these instances could happen in real life, which makes it almost scary. This was probably my least favorite of the three I’ve read, but that in no way means you should skip it - the only reason this wasn’t a 5-star for me is because of the technicalities surrounding the science of the power plant, it went over my head a little bit because I don’t work in this field (this was also one of my critiques of Drowning with the diving, but as someone who has more knowledge in that field, it didn’t affect my reading experience as much as this one). Overall, I think this book is a fast paced read that will get your heart rate up worrying about these characters - TJ Newman is definitely an autobuy author for me.

Thank you again to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for this honest review. This one released last week and is available for purchase now!

Let me preface this by saying I really liked this author's two previous novels and had very high hopes for this new aviation thriller. But the deeper into the story I got the more issues I had with it.

Maybe because I work at an agency that does training exercises with nearby chemical plants on a regular basis for extreme scenarios such as the one that occurs in this book that I just can't believe these employees were so ill prepared. Like what do you mean you don't have the essential diving gear in the event the radioactive pool requires repairs and you have to go bum it off an old employee halfway across town? What do you mean an employee is exposed to extreme amounts of radiation and 1: diagnoses they will only have a short amount of time to live after that and 2: they were back to working within hours with the amount of skin abnormalities from the exposure and not laying down or going to the hospital?! And how did we have this much time to work with after a plane literally crashes into a nuclear power plant... the amount of downtime after the crash felt way too unrealistic.

And what do you mean the local fire department does not have the essential resources to assist in rescue missions? And what do you mean you have firefighters who do not know how to swim and are afraid of heights?! It grew to be way too preposterous for me to even care about these characters by the end. For one thing there were too many people/POVs to keep track of and we really do not get acquainted with them enough to feel empathy for them.

It just felt like the author threw every bad scenario into the plot that they could, which in the end fell very flat for me.

Like most of the bookstagram community, I’ve been a huge fan of TJ Newman since Fallen came out just a couple years ago, but this? This might just be my favorite she’s written.

As someone with a massive fear of flying, all her books have basically been horror stories to me, but this one is a legitimate nightmare scenario. A plane crashes, killing everyone on board. Already a tragedy, right? Except it just happened to crash into a nuclear power plant. I lost track of how many times my pulse spiked while reading this one!

But Worst Case Scenario isn’t just a disaster story, it’s also about a small town pulling together in the face of tragedy and destruction, and by the coda I was fully sobbing.

Let me start by saying that I loved T.J. Newman’s first two books, Falling and Drowning. These two books had me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading, I couldn’t put them down and couldn’t wait to finish them. Unfortunately, I did not have the same experience reading the Worst Case Scenario. The beginning part of the book did grab my attention, a pilot has a heart attack while flying and crashes a commercial plane. Each chapter began with an hour countdown until Zero Hour, I was unclear what it was counting down to. I had a hard time keeping track of all the characters and their relationships with each other. I found the President of the United States interesting since he was unmarried and did not have any children. I was trying to imagine that scenario and if it would impact how a President would run a country. I also had some difficulty visualizing some of the crash locations, specifically how the plane’s wing was situated on the bridge and also the trapped minivan. Lastly, there were plenty of details about the nuclear plant and how the plane crash affected its operation. It seemed like the author did a lot of research about nuclear plants, but I did get a bit lost in all the details. The story seemed a little slow for me and honestly did not pick up until about the 80% mark, that’s when the story seemed to get a bit exciting. I wanted to love this book, it fell a little flat for me, but I did like it. Maybe I just had high expectations after loving her previous books, Falling and Drowning. I would be up for reading another T.J. Newman’s book, curious to see what the next commercial plane tragedy she comes up with next.

Synopsis: When a pilot suffers a heart attack at 35,000 feet, a commercial airliner filled with passengers crashes into a nuclear power plant in the small town of Waketa, Minnesota, which becomes ground zero for a catastrophic national crisis with global implications.

The International Nuclear Event Scale tracks nuclear disasters. It has seven levels. Level 7 is a Major Accident, with only two on record: Fukushima and Chernobyl. There has never been a Level 8. Until now.

In this heart-stopping thriller, ordinary people—power plant employees, firefighters, teachers, families, neighbors, and friends— are thrust into an extraordinary situation as they face the ultimate test of their lives. It will take the combined courage, ingenuity, and determination of a brave few to save not only their community and loved ones, but the fate of humanity at large.

I struggled to get into this one, but I’ve seen great reviews for it so definitely check those out! I felt like the writing included way too many unnecessary details, including some gory ones. I LOVED Falling and Drowning so I’ll definitely keep reading Newman’s books, but I didn’t connect with these characters at all, making it my least favorite of her books so far.

One Flight attendant is in with the pilot while his co-pilot is using the rest room. Not a major issue under normal circumstances, but when the pilot has a major medical emergency, (Heart attack?) the Flight attendant can't move him and the plane is in a nose dive. To make matters worse, the FA's were just bringing out the carts to pass out snacks, but they can't hold them at the angle the plane is going, and that leads to the carts to block the bathroom door and the cockpit door!

Due to the circumstances the plane is going to crash! And to make it worse is the location where some of the parts of the plane are creating havoc near a nuclear plant! This is all new territory, and there are very few people who may be able to help before things get even worse!

I want to thank NetGalley for the chance to read this book! It kept my attention from start to finish, wondering what would happen next! It truly held my attention from beginning to end!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

This is my second T.J. Newman novel, (I've already read Falling), and I've had a fun time with both of them. This is a perfect beach or plane book (haha) that feels like a Roland Emmerich disaster movie. That comparison is especially apt in this book where a small town has to come together to deal with a plane that has struck a nuclear plant. If they don't work together they won't be able to stop a nuclear disaster. There are some things that are so unrealistic or aren't perfectly explained but I'd argue that's not the purpose of this book. The stakes are so high and how people act is sometimes cartoonishly one dimensional, but it's still a really fun time.

Maybe don't read this on a plane? Or do, that's totally your choice if you want to freak yourself out.

Another action packed read from T.J. Newman! The action started from the beginning and kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end! The writing style makes you feel like you are right there experiencing it all!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wow! What a ride!

Worst Case Scenario kicks off with a shocking disaster—a commercial airliner crashes into a nuclear power plant in the quiet town of Waketa, Minnesota, after the pilot suffers a heart attack mid flight. The result is a national crisis that spirals into more than we could ever imagine in every day life, keeping you on the edge of your seat as you turn the pages.

T.J. Newman intertwines the fates of multiple characters, each impacted by the disaster, but all uniquely connected to each other.

One of the novel’s strengths is its exploration of how a single event can unleash a chain reaction with far-reaching consequences.

A must-read for thriller lovers! Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown for the ARC.

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This book was so intense! I could not put it down! The descriptions and details were so vivid, I could almost imagine myself in that situation. There were times that I had to fight back tears because of what was going on. This was a very well written book.

TJ Newman has crafted another edge-of-your-seat adventure as this time Coastal Airlines has had a plane crash into a nuclear plant in a small Minnesota town. Worst Case Scenario follows the townspeople, firefighters, and nuclear plant workers as they try to avert a major disaster. I really loved the characters in this book as we watch Dani trying to save one small boy left alone in the accident, Joss who warned everyone that an accident like this was possible, and Steve and Ethan as they butt heads and try to keep the plant from melting down. While Drowning is my all time favorite Newman title, Worst Case Scenario keep the action intense, and the emotions are real. Thank you to Little Brown & Co, and NetGalley for the early listen in exchange for my honest opinion.

Good god T.J…. Always making me sweat when I’m reading her books! Drink this with a glass of wine! I devoured it- I’ll buy anything she writes. Such a great book!

First, may I say how talented I think this author is?!

She does a fantastic job of creating suspense and terror in the various scenes, creating tremendous emotional impact with a single sentence. And she does this super well! Also, she explains the more technical aspects of the story so they are easy to understand for the reader. The characters are easily related to and it is easy to get invested in the characters lives. This is an adrenaline pounding, sad. uplifting, emotional story that touches that special spot in your heart.

If you haven't read anything by this author, I hightly recommend giving her books a try, especially if you like suspenseful contemporary fiction. This is one author who is on my auto read list anytime she releases a new book!

**Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher Little Brown and Co, and the author for providing an advanced DRC in exchange for my honest review**

I have thoroughly enjoyed TJ Newman’s other airplane thrillers, and this was no exception! From the onset, the story had me gripped and held fast to the great pacing right till the very end.