(Rounded up from 3.5 stars)

For some reason, this felt as though it was part of a series just because it seemed as though Christian's character had already been explained. Nevertheless, I admired his determination in finding out about the body, later identified as an employee, in the water. Having said that, there were some things that he did that I questioned whether or not the average restauranteur would be capable of. He is much more of an amateur sleuth with a strong sense of empathy. The final twist really shocked me, which I appreciated.

"Seat 3A" is an exciting read for any crime fiction lover. Its blend of personal vendetta and high-stakes intrigue makes it a standout novel. While some plot points could have been explored further, it remains a great read and engaging book.

Thank you, NetGalley and Greenleaf Book Group | Greenleaf Book Group Press books for this free e-book for review. This was a fun debut Christian Stone thriller. Christian Stone is a Delaware restaurateur and a super nervous flyer. He ALWAYS books seat 3A. On his flight from Philadelphia to Miami to see his brother, he thinks he sees a dead body lying face down on the banks of the Schuylkill River. Christian is kinda hungover though, so did he really see it?? But after Christian's best friend was murdered when was he was 11 years old, he didn't stand up and do anything and the killers were never brought to justice. Christian can't get the body out of his mind and hops on a flight straight back to Philadelphia to investigate. As he investigates more into who the dead body was and what really happened, Christian gets himself catch in the crosshairs. This was a fast and fun thriller that kept me entertained until the end and having lived in Philadelphia and now live in DC, I liked reading about familiar spots. I will be interested to read more Stone adventures.

Thanks for my e-ARC of Seat 3A by Eric Sugrue as from Greenleaf Book Group and NetGalley. The opinions here are my own. This book was published on June 25, 2024.

Summary:
Seat 3A is a fast-paced crime thriller following the courageous crime-fighting restraunteur, Christian Stone. After taking off in seat 3A on a flight from Philadelphia to Miami, Christian sees out the window what he is SURE is a dead body laying in a watery swamp area in a Philadelphia Eagles jersey. In a quest to find justice for the deceased, he goes on a vigilante wild goose chase crime investigation to find the victim and the circumstances that brought him to his death.

His investigation of one brings him back to Philly, digging into the town council and higher-ups, and into a gambling and black-mailing scandal that hits close to home. Christian Stone will stop at nothing to see that justice is served... but he is a definite underdog as he has zero police assistance or training that is necessary to size up against some very influential people...

Opinion:
I really loved Christian Stone as the MC in this thriller. He was so determined and willing to go to crazy lengths to see this case through, and it was awesome seeing how to almost accidentally figured his way out of dangerous and sketchy situations. This was the author's first Christian Stone novel and he hopes to continue writing more adventures in the future. Make sure to read the acknowledgments to see the author's inspiration for this book! Can't wait to read his next installment! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Just finished reading “Seat 3A” by Eric Sugrue.

While on a flight Christian Stone looks out the window to see a body lying on a riverbank. What follows is a quest to find the truth and it becomes an obsession. Many years ago he couldn’t help when his best friend is murdered so he believes this is redemption.

A fast paced thriller that had me engaged from the first page. I recommend this book.

WHEW! This was a great one. This book had great suspense, intrigue, action packed, murder, mystery, a great who done it and some crazy twists and turns! The storyline was very interesting and kept me glued to my kindle! Thank you for the copy of this thriller.

Seat 3A" by Eric Sugrue is a crime thriller that had me hooked from the very first page. Delaware restaurateur Christian Stone, who is an avid crime fiction fan, embarks on a quest for justice after witnessing a chilling sight from his airplane seat— 3A. This discovery brings back memories of his best friend's unsolved murder from childhood. Determined to uncover the truth, Christian dives deep into a world of gambling rings, hidden fortunes, and mob ties, risking everything in his search.
Sugrue weaves a tale filled with suspense and unexpected twists. Christian's character is compelling, and his relentless drive for justice keeps the reader on edge. The narrative is well-paced, with each revelation adding layers to the mystery.
Overall, "Seat 3A" is an exciting read for any crime fiction lover. Its blend of personal vendetta and high-stakes intrigue makes it a standout novel. While some plot points could have been explored further, it remains a great read and engaging book.

Christian Sloan if lying to Miami to visit his brother. He has a superstition about flying. He must be in seat 3A. As the plane takes off from Philadelphia, he spots what he is sure is a dead body on the banks of the Schuylkill River. The more he thinks about it, the surer he is of what he saw. Christian decides he needs to fly back to Philadelphia to find out if what he saw is accurate. When he books a ticket, Seat 3A is available. Christian feels this is a sign that he is supposed to go back. When he gets to the spot the body was at, there is no body. As he digs around in the garbage at the site, he discovers a ticket stub from an Eagle game. The body was wearing an Eagle jersey. As Christian digs into the investigation, he finds connections he never expected, nearly losing his life also. I enjoyed the book. I found it fast paced and engaging. Yes, portions were farfetched but, come on guys, this is fiction. A good read.

Firstly a big thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the advance copy of this book in return for my honest opinion.

I did enjoy the book - it was quite fast paced and the action never stopped throughout. However what I did not really understand from a character standpoint was why a restaurateur suddenly became a private detective. It was a bit of a jump in believability even though I understand the main character had suffered loss/ guilt himself . Aside from that I would be interested to see where the series goes.

An enjoyable read with some questions .

This is a fast paced mystery that keeps you turning the pages. A good one to read in one or two sitting and thoroughly enjoy.

What a great concept for a book. I throughly enjoyed this one. It was like an armchair detective trying to solve a crime

This was a story about a guy who while flying out sees what looks like a dead guy wearing an Eagles jersey. His conscious gets to him and he immediately flies back and starts to check around though the body is gone. So like any other sane person he decides instead of calling the cops he’s going to investigate it on his own. While doing just that he realizes that he actually employed the possible deceased person which then makes him want to find out what happened and catch the killer so much more.

I feel like this was so well written and had me on the edge of my sit throughout, I also hope the ending is the beginning of the next book because that sounded like a great story.

📚 Book Review 📚

Title: Seat 3A
Author: Eric Sugrue
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5 stars)

Stressed out restaurant owner Christian Stone is flying to Miami for a much needed vacation after a breakup. He’s superstitious and only sits in seat 3A on planes. During takeoff he looks out the window and sees what looks like a dead body sprawled out on the ground. He can’t let this go, and decides to head straight back home to investigate it upon landing in Miami.

Is this a very unlikely premise? Yes.
Would/could someone do this in real life? No.
Does it even matter? No. Because this is a well-written propulsive debut thriller that moves at a great pace. Sure, parts are unrealistic, but it’s such an absorbing plot that you find yourself just going along for the ride anyway. There’s a side plot that explains Christian’s personal motivation in figuring out who this body belongs to and what exactly happened to him. I don’t want to say too much for fear of spoilers, but trust me, this is a page turner! Its got some clever twists and turns that loosely connect Christian to his investigation. This book definitely keeps you guessing!

*Thank you @netgalley and @greenleafbookgr for this advanced copy. This book just came out on 6/25.

#read #reader #reading #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookreview #bookcommunity #readersofinstagram #goodreads #bookrecommendations #seat3A #netgalley #debutnovel #greenleafbookgroup

Great read! Just the right amount of twists, turns, whodunits, as well as murders and mystery! Edge of my seat thrilling and lots of "I didn't see that one coming"

Seat 3A is a novel which has a restaurant owner getting involved in a murder investigation because he saw a body on the ground while flying out in that seat. So when he gets to his destination, he turns right around to follow u on what he saw. He ignores family and business and spends loads of money on an investigation into this dead body.Author Eric Sugrue proceeds to put one preposterous situation after another. I was able to finish the novel more because I wanted to see how silly the lengths that the author/main character would go. The conclusion is hardly credible. What's worse, we learn that the author wants to make a series out of this!
It's a debut novel and there is the possibility that having this behind him, the author might focus on a more credible approach to his worl.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley and Greenleaf Book Group for the advanced reader copy.

With the success of books like Drowning and Falling, I was all set to enjoy Seat 3A. But, the opening pages already lost me. The main character wasn't immediately interesting except that he saw a dead body from his seat on a plane. I didn't buy that he would then immediately book a flight back to that city to look into the death of this stranger.

Let me start by saying this book was genuinely really entertaining. But I felt that it was a bit unbelievable and unrealistic and I found myself extremely anxious regarding the main character. Maybe that was Surgue’s goal and if so he definitely nailed it. But I felt his behaviors were erratic and honestly stressful. All that to say the ending really did shock me, and although I didn’t relate to the main character I would still recommend to a friend.

This was a great debut. The story was inspired by a real experience. Mr. Sugrue is a restauranteur in the same setting as the story and once thought he saw a dead body outside of an airplane window during takeoff. His seat was 3A.
Christian is a relatable main character who is going through a rough patch in his life. On a forced vacation from work, he does indeed believe there to be a dead body in the river below, while on his way to visit his brother in Miami. He quickly returns back to Delaware to see if that was in fact what he saw from his seat. Given recent events in his life, he is unsure if it's his imagination from stress, or if there was a real person. The story chronicles Christian's need to find justice for the person who died while reliving the death of his best friend during childhood. Jon had never received justice for a life ended way too soon.
This book kept me guessing throughout and moved at a great pace. It seemed well researched and the writing was fantastic for a new author. I look forward to reading more from him in the future. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Eric Sugure, and Greenleaf Book Group for the ARC in exchange for my review.

I will say that for a first crime thriller from this author it was decent. Nothing overly memorable but I think there’s good potential for this author.

For a book that’s titled after a seat on an airplane, it’s only the first like 10 pages that has anything to do with it. The title and cover really don’t go with the plot of the book in my opinion.

This was such an unbelievable storyline. So much of it was so far fetched and not likely to happen. It started off very promising and then tapered off. A man who owns restaurants isn’t going to have back stage passes to the morgue. There were too many events that would likely never actually happen for me to enjoy this book as much as someone else might.

The main character wasn’t likeable at all. Christian was annoying and reckless. Not once do you think to contact authorities? Again, not believable at all. The supporting characters were ok. There wasn’t much character development to really become attached to any of them.

The writing was just ok, not good, not awful but mediocre. There’s plenty of grammar and spelling mistakes that hopefully get caught before publication. The formatting of this ARC was poor as well. In my opinion it wasn’t quite ready to go out and the publication date should be pushed back a smidge.

This was a classic who did it kind of book. There wasn’t much for originality. There were plot holes and missing details everywhere. Seemed like the author was on a role and then lost their train of thought and it never came back. As for Jon, what was the purpose of his story? He died when he and Christian were children, and the police fabricated the whole story. It would have been nice for some justice there but his storyline dropped out of nowhere.

I’d say it’s good first go at writing a crime thriller. Definitely room for improvements. I would read more from the author and look forward to seeing this book become a series as intended. Hopefully some plot lines can be straightened out in the next one.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved reading this book. I particularly was glued to the storyline and Christians character. The great mix of mystery and suspense helped keep this book going. Some parts were humours and the perfect balance of chapters and seriousness in the storyline. The side storyline featuring Christians best friend and his murder I found myself really eager to find out how he died and why.