THRILLING! Sometimes you want something, as the saying goes, that will make you look good if you die while reading it. Other times you just want something that is rip-roaring GOOD (why don’t we use “rip-roaring” anymore? That’s a real shame.). This book is the second type, and it’s a really, really good example of that one. I would say to get it for your next plane ride somewhere but, um, maybe not….

….because here a pilot suffers a fatal heart attack while flying a 757 (don’t worry, the co-pilot situation is explained) and it crashes into Waketa, Minnesota, home of a nuclear power plant. Chernobyl was a level 7 nuclear incident. This may be a level 8. There has never been a level 8. There will be global implications.

This was exciting. There is a large cast of characters, with some of the things you might expect going on (children in peril, etc.). That is to say, maybe some of it is a little far-fetched, but, c’mon…it’s well done and sometimes it’s fun just to roll with it (although if you run a nuclear power plant you may roll your eyes…but how many people is that?). I’ve read one other book by this author. This one is better. I predict big sales for this.

A million thank yous to NetGalley and Little Brown and Company for an advanced reader copy of Worst Case Scenario!!!

T.J. Newman quickly became one of my top favorite authors after reading Falling, and she just keeps getting better!

SO many tense moments where I literally cried out. I can't even imagine a situation like this becoming a reality. People think of supernatural horror stories as being scary reads, but this book sets the bar on scare factor.

I'm so excited I was able to read this book prior to publication, but I'm sad it's over. Hoping for a 4th book in 2025!

4.5 stars
First off, I’m glad that I’m not flying in a plane for a while. The beginning of the book is terrifying… and then it just gets worse! We start out with a plane crash that causes damage to a nuclear power plant. Everyone is scrambling to stop the worst case scenario from happening (hence the title! 😂). It is the stuff of nightmares. TJ Newman pushes the boundaries with each book. She needs to stop with this third one because I don’t think any of us can handle what she’ll write next! 😱
*Thanks to Little, Brown & Company, Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the audiobook copy

as a flight attendant myself, I always gravitate towards Newman’s books which so far have focused on plane-based catastrophes (yes they give me anxiety but thrilling nonetheless). and although ironically this is also the book which focuses the LEAST on the plane, <i>Worst Case Scenario</i> is definitely her strongest book so far.

going back to that statement, we know right off the bat that the plane crashes with no survivors (Newman’s other two books mainly focus on the disasters occurring inside the plane), so the actual story focuses more on all the characters involved with trying to prevent a national disaster, when the plane crashes into a nuclear power plant. the book feels very large in scope and reads like an action thriller movie, we follow everyone from the residents of the town affected to the plant workers to the firefighters to the US president. the pace is kept up throughout the whole book and is easily bingeable. a pretty unique story that I’m sure took a lot of research from Newman as it includes a lot of scientific stuff.

This is my first book by this author and WOW, what a wild ride! I finished this in less than 24 hours. Action packed and emotional story about what would happen if a plane crashed into a nuclear plant. Terrifying!

When a pilot suffers a heart attack mid-flight, the plane crashes into a nuclear power plant in Minnesota.

This was my first TJ Newman book and I have to say I really enjoyed it! Here's what I liked:

The multi-layers: This book has so much going on, BUT it was still very easy to follow. You get to be on the ground for all of the action at the plant and the town surrounding it. I liked how Newman put characters throughout this that served as a way to explain things that needed to be explained to the reader without info dumping.

The characters: I liked all of the characters in this as well. Everyone wants to help which was so nice to see. Jos and Ethan were top for me though. I liked their backstory and how passionate they both were.


All in all, this was a good action-packed book!

Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted copy!

T.J. Newman's third novel, Worst Case Scenario, is a fast-paced thriller that will have you rooting for its diverse cast of characters - ordinary people thrown into an unfathomable situation. A quick summer read that would easily translate to a Hollywood blockbuster movie. I admittedly had a little trouble keeping the numerous characters straight initially, but I quickly found myself rooting for them (and mourning with them). If you enjoyed Newman's first two novels (Falling and Drowning), you will certainly enjoy Worst Case Scenario.

When a pilot has a heart attack mid flight, with his co-pilot in the restroom, the plan quickly plummets from the sky. Unfortunately, its target is the local nuclear power plant. Suddenly the local fire department, and plant employees must find a way to save the town from a nuclear explosion.

WHEW. TJ Newman knows how to write a book that keeps you on the edge of your seat in fear. Also, holy crap the amount of research that must have gone into this book! I admittedly know very little about nuclear power plants, but this book was filled so much detail and information! I seriously could not put this book down, and was blown away as I have been with each book Newman writes! I love that even though the story is always insanely traumatic, Newman finds a way to insert jokes here or there that find you laughing while reading about a plane crash. So if you enjoyed Falling, or Drowning, pick this up asap!

Thank you to @littlebrownandco for my gifted copy of this book!

This book was an amazing cinematic thriller and an easy 5 star rating. I've now read all three of Newman's books, and they just keep getting better.

This high-octane novel plunges us into a catastrophe right from the start, and thanks to @littlebrownandcompany I enjoyed reading along with the audiobook.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗶𝗼'𝘀 focus is the crisis on the ground after the plane's debris caused damage of catastrophic proportions in a small Minnesota town.

It's a story about everyday heroes in Waketa, Minnesota. The emergency response teams, the community, and the families. How in the midst of terror, the town pulls together in the face of a possible global crisis.

I rooted for those making the heart-wrenching decisions and wept for the victims
I couldn't stop listening and finished it in one evening. I highly recommend you pick this one up when it hits the shelves next month.

I have no doubt Worst Case Scenario will also be made into a movie along with Newman's other two books.


Thank you to Netgally, TJ Newman, and Little, Brown and Company for my gifted copy. My review and opinions are my own and are free.

TJ Newman has written another tense, bingeable thriller with loveable and oh-so-human characters. Her books appeal to such a broad range of readers, and I think almost anyone would love reading this one.

At 35,000 feet, the inconceivable happens. The Captain of Coastal Airways Flight 235 has a massive heart attack and dies mid-flight. Commencing are the heart-pounding minutes of trying to keep the aircraft in the sky, and the ensuing chaos of those final moments.

A plane crash that claims the lives of 295 souls would be a horrific event, but where it crashes sets the scene for this anxiety-inducing thriller. 55 miles south of Minneapolis, in a far less densely populated area, seems like it would present less risk of injury to those on the ground. That is, unless it is the town of Waketa, Minnesota, the site of a nuclear power plant. Where the tail section of the plane hit the R2 reactor building. The countdown to prevent a nuclear meltdown has begun. Time is ticking. Can the town stop a catastrophe that will have much further reaching effects than just the local region?

This thriller doesn’t follow one main protagonist or hero. After all, what massive disaster has only one hero?  Instead, the reader gets snippets from an ensemble cast of characters. All with the single goal of stopping mass destruction and saving as many lives as possible.  Newman does a fantastic job of flashing fragments of the unfolding drama, while keeping the reader invested in the outcome. If we followed fewer characters, Newman could have easily lost the audience’s emotional investment, but she brought me to tears several times during the last quarter of this nail-biting thriller.

Newman has a way of bringing a reader’s worst fears to life and her latest thriller hits a little too close to home for me. If you change the name of the town, this book could be set in my backyard. I’ve spent my entire life in a small town living down the road from a nuclear plant that deals with post-ROD care. Many of my family members have at one point or another worked for this plant. This set me up to understand a lot of the terms and procedures mentioned. Newman does a good job explaining how the reactors work and how the plant functions, but I can see a few portions being hard to grasp.

This is my third book by T. J. Newman and my third 5-star review. Each thriller just keeps getting better. Her time as a flight attendant shines through in each of her novels. Although this one is slightly different from her previous two reads, as this book takes place predominantly on the ground, it still showcases her knowledge of the airline industry.

I listened to the audiobook while also reading the digital arc of this novel. Once again, TJ Newman has delivered an incredibly intense, nail-biting thriller with exceptional ease. The level of tension that she can invoke in a reader is just amazing. While I loved 'Falling' and 'Drowning', this one is surely my favorite. I swear I was holding my breath the entire time, and finished it in two sittings. I would highly recomme nd the audiobook, as the CB radio broadcasts were a nice addition, as well as a terrific narrator.

Well, as predicted T.J. Newman once again threw me into the middle of an aviation nightmare with hopes that I could hang on for dear life, praying that strength in humanity would prevail in preventing an even bigger catastrophic disaster.

In this novel, a large passenger plane meets its unexpected and unfortunate demise with a crash into a small Minnesota nuclear power plant. What transpires from there is not only a fast-paced suspense filled journey into a potential nuclear meltdown, but more importantly a discovery of what someone can find within themselves when faced with an impossible decision.

The level of research and detail that went into to the portrayal of the highly regulated industry of nuclear power was in and of itself incredible, but that was not the most amazing thing about this book. While you followed along with the thrilling and anxiety ridden portions of the story, the author also masterfully crafted relationships and character traits that drew you in and actually made you care about the people involved. These characters felt like anyone you would meet in any local midwestern town, and being from the Midwest myself, I really appreciated the portrayal of the people, their values and their willingness to stick up for others at all costs.

The audiobook format was great as well. Joe Morton was the perfect narrator with the best calm but commanding voice for the story. The interjections of walkie talkie type announcements throughout just amplified the ambiance of the situation even more. Great production value.

I expected this book to be great and it was indeed phenomenal. Highly recommend.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for gifting me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

TJ Newman is back and better than ever (in my opinion) with the third "installment" of her series of air travel gone badly awry. I've read the previous two books, and this was far and away the best of the three. It is obvious that she's grown as both a writer and reader throughout the writing and publication of her first two works, and those lessons shine throughout in "Worst Case Scenario." I felt like I was on the edge of my seat for 340 pages and enjoyed every second. There really was no lull and you cannot help but root for the best and worth of these characters she has created. I would love to see her branch out into something else in the future. Four solid stars.

When I saw T.J. Newman had yet another airplane disaster book coming out, I was admittedly a bit skeptical. Just how many scares in the air can one take?!

Within the first chapter it became clear that the plane was most certainly going down and was the catalyst for THE WORST CASE SCENARIO. This high-octane thriller is heavy on plot as a small town is tasked with saving the future of mankind from a nuclear meltdown.

T.J. Newman zooms into a personal disaster while also zooming out on the broader catastrophe of a plane crashing into a nuclear power plant. Sensitive readers should take care with the first portion of the book as depictions of the tragedy are gory and matter of fact. As the story progressed I became more emotionally invested in the characters and the grittiness eased up. While DROWNING remains my favorite book from Newman this was a wild ride that held my attention from beginning to end.

RATING: 4/5
PUB DATE: August 13, 2024

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An absolutely fabulous thriller. I was on the edge of my seat. I didn't think this author could top Drowning, and then she did with this one. Newman's books read like a summer blockbuster. Loved it!

A disaster procedural that is impossible to put down -- so clear the calendar because you will want to read this in a single sitting.

The pilot of a large commercial aircraft has a medical emergency and dies instantly while at the controls in the cockpit. Unfortunately, the first officer is in the lavatory and can't get back in time to save the nearly 300 people on board. The plane nosedives into a nuclear power plant in the small town of Waketa, Minnesota. Soon this town will become the epicenter of a crisis on par with an extinction event.

I think this is the author's best work yet and I was glued to my chair until I turned the last page. I have always enjoyed a disaster novel because it gives the opportunity for such great character development and this one shines in that department. The courage and determination of the plant management, engineers, and scientists are on full display as are the heroics of the local fire department and all of the National Guardsmen called in to do whatever they can. The community rallies and provides for its own at the local church. Fires rage out of control, there's no power, the cooling pool level is falling, the gas is building up, and the pump room is flooded. Doom is imminent.

Now, I know next to nothing about nuclear power plants and how they function, but the author's research makes it understandable. Complex technology is broken down into bits that explain the dangers and hazards. But in this book, it's the characters that really inhabit the narrative and the drama. The lengths that some went through were inspiring and yes, I shed a few tears. I don't want to imagine this scenario further but I'm glad I read this.

I was able to listen to the audiobook while following along with the e-book ARC (both provided by the publisher) and that really enhanced the experience. The production was great, even down to having the voices come out garbled over the radios. Sound effects really can make an audiobook more amazing. My only complaint about Joe Morton's narration was that he often mispronounces the word nuclear as nucular. But his inflection and expressiveness were very well done.

Enjoy! Now this is a movie I would love to see.

I rate books based on how they make me feel, on how wrapped up I get into the story, by how angry I get at being interrupted when I'm reading. This was a 5-star read from the first sentence. I could not read this fast enough, I felt almost breathless at points and was so mad when being a wife/mother/adult interrupted my reading. It's not necessarily "literature" - you're not going to find a bunch of poetic prose (although I DID highlight a few particularly beautiful sentences about time and grief and death). But hot damn, this is a THRILLER.

I LOVED this. I've enjoyed this author's previous works, and plane crashes always fascinate me. But the nuclear aspect? Incredible. I loved the characters and the scenarios had me on the edge of my seat. I highly recommend.

Worst Case Scenario ☢️

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Genre: Thriller
Pub Date: August 13, 2024

Flight attendant turned writer, TJ Newman is back to give us new fears to have nightmares over. In her latest novel she explores what would happen if an airplane crashed into a nuclear power plant.

I went into this one blind, I saw Newman had a new book and immediately requested it on Netgalley after really enjoying her previous two novels. I was surprised that this one didn’t involve as much about the actual events and disasters on the airplane itself, but its effect on land. While it didn’t have the same claustrophobic setting as her previous works, she still delivered on the intensity and fast paced plot. I am officially glad I live no where near a nuclear power plant.

At first I had a hard time connecting with so many characters and so many stories, but thankfully I was able to catch on and really root for these people. I did struggle a bit with a lot of the technical and scientific jargon of nuclear power, and found those parts were a little too dense for me. While this wasn’t my favorite of Newman’s, I still did enjoy the ride and was very satisfied with the climatic yet heartfelt ending. Don’t worry, if you’re anything like me you’ll finish this book with plenty of new fears to think over 🫣