This was ok, I’ve definitely read better. Not horrible but okay read. It was an easy read for the most part.

Talk about a locked-room mystery!💁🏻‍♀️
Can you get more locked in than on an airplane 35000 feet above the ground?

Makayla is flying home to New York from Alaska with her three month old baby. A non-descript flight… quiet, with a nearly empty airplane. (Ahhh, remember those days?)

Against her better judgement Makayla leaves her sleeping son alone in his bassinet as she quickly makes her way to the bathroom. She’ll only be gone for a couple minutes and the girl across the aisle agreed to keep an eye on the bassinet. (Well, sort of).
When Makayla returns to her seat her son is gone and the bassinet is empty.😱

Now the million-dollar question. How can a baby vanish while a plane is in flight?

Extremely unique and intriguing premise right?

But….You’ll need to suspend your believability, and I mean ALL of it! It does go a bit bonkers by the end! But if you’re looking for something different that you want to lose yourself in over the weekend this will be the perfect read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and or the author for giving me the opportunity to read and review Missing in Flight.

I liked the plot and the characters.

I was totally hooked from the first chapter. The thought that someone could lose a baby in an airplane is insane! But the author pulled it off. I was frantic to know not just who did it, but how something like that could happen. Every time I thought I knew, the author injected another suspect. A thrilling read from a talented author!

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy

eARC provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This one is rough. I will say I was very sleep deprived while reading the first half of the book so I’m going to give the book the benefit of the doubt.

But. I felt that the first half of the book is off. In multiple ways. There are four POV characters with Makayla being the ‘main’ character. Every single scene with her feels incomplete. Part of it is her repetitive thoughts but it’s also the setting in general. She’s on a flight but the way her scenes are written it feels like there are only a dozen people on this entire airplane. Every time she starts moving around the plane or engaging with the flight attendants it all seems so … untrue (I am writing this before I’ve finished the book so there may be a reason I feel like things don’t make sense… We’ll see.) That being said. I’ve been on fully booked flights and on a flight that had only a dozen people and there is no way someone at some point didn’t actually see or hear a baby. There’s just no way. Again, I haven’t finished the book so I can only speculate about what’s going on.

I have a general pet peeve about thrillers and that is the pointless side plots. There are ALWAYS multiple side plots going on so that you’re suspicious of everyone and so everyone has a motive to do the bad thing. And they are always so convoluted. I read a non-spoiler review that said that the twists got a bit too unbelievable at the end and I have to admit that this always seems to happen. And I can only imagine how this one is going to get jumbled up. But again, I haven’t gotten there yet.

I’ll also say I’m not a huge fan of the writing style. It’s very repetitive. The number of times the same phrases have been used is annoying. The number of times the same backstory plots have been brought up makes the book read like a first draft where the author/editor wasn’t quite sure where to reveal information so they dropped it anywhere it sounded logical and then never went back and made things flow better. I also never want to read the word lavatory in a book ever again.

Anyway. I should critique the actual plot. It’s… bad. Makayla is flying back from Alaska to New York. She leaves her baby unattended to use the lavatory (I seriously hate this word now) and when she comes back her baby is missing. Right away we have a twist on the locked room mystery. How can a baby just disappear from an airplane in flight? The problem is the way this is written is very detached (maybe due to the third person POV?) I never felt like Makalya had a true fear of losing her son. She’s belligerent and demanding but she never has a moment of fear. My three-year-old niece got lost in a supermarket a while ago and I felt that fear and dread and she’s not even my kid, so I don’t know why we didn’t get the emotional and physical response from Makayla. It came across as ‘oh no, my baby isn’t here. Where could he be? Hmm. I guess I’ll look under the seat.’ But then later she’s demanding that people open their suitcases and that she be allowed to go into the cargo hold. But it didn’t feel like she was desperate, just that she deserved to be allowed to do these things.

Thrillers are always so difficult to critique because the things you want to discuss and analyze are almost always spoilers. So. I’ll keep things vague…

Jack (Makayla’s husband) is a workaholic who has gotten mixed up in something he should have known better than to get mixed up in. Knowing how these types of books go this is either the reason the kid is missing or has absolutely nothing to do with anything and just unnecessarily pads out the book as a red herring. I’m going with padding out the book. Because no one can be ‘good’ in a thriller. Everyone has to have some ulterior motive, or are keeping some stupid secret (which is ALWAYS a red herring). The thing is these characters aren’t interesting. They’re either good people who did a bad thing or people who are doing bad things because the plot needs them to.

I will say that if the ‘big bad’ in this book ends up being some random person I’m going to be really upset.


Okay. I’ve finished the book. It was worse than I expected. I had theories about a few things that ended up being mostly right. But the twists at the end? Wow. They were so far-fetched. I’m honestly upset.

I was also SHOCKED to see that the author has written eleven books (according to her bio). This read like a rough debut where the author hadn’t quite figured out their voice. There were also a lot of editing choices that I wouldn’t have made (I’m not an editor - so this is only my opinion). This is an advanced reader copy so there is the possibility things might be changed. Some of my complaints with the writing style: repeated words in the same sentence and paragraph, the repetition of ideas, the constant reference to the same things.

Anyway, now that I’m done I can tell you the word lavatory/lavatories was used 73 times in this book. It’s about 63 times too many.

Other things to follow up on from my first half reading:

The plane felt empty because it was. So I guess that tracked.

The repetition continued throughout the entire book.

Makayla continued to be unemotional about almost everything. Then became belligerent and aggressive.

I can’t fully speak about the ‘big bad’ because it’s a spoiler but I’m annoyed about how it all played out regardless.

And, like a lot of thriller books the twists were silly and nonsensical. Things just happened to work out because the plot needed them to, not because there was a plan, or methodology, or even a thought, as to what logically made sense.


There are other things I want to discuss that were so aggravating but I can’t because they’re spoilers. I may revisit these concerns after publication, but there were factual things about the book that didn’t make sense (nothing about the wild twists or the plot but the way planes work and how the human body moves).

There was a lot of technical flight jargon throughout the book and it really served no purpose. In fact I’d be willing to say that the entire POV from the co-pilot was just fluff and filler. What was happening in the cockpit had pretty much nothing to do with the actual plot line.

I do want to circle back to the repetition. It was prevalent throughout the book but I found it the most annoying from Makayla’s POV. I won’t give away actual plot or spoilers but this was basically what would happen in a lot of her chapters: 1) Wonder where someone on the plane went and immediately assume they’re guilty of taking her baby. 2) Get out of her seat to track this person down or look through their stuff. 3) Wonder where the baby might be. Assume that something bad has happened. 4) Be told to go back to her seat by a flight attendant. 5) Yell at the flight attendant because they’re not doing anything to find her baby. 6) Sit back down and be angry for a few minutes. 7) Repeat.
As an added bonus sometimes there was a step 3a) Assault someone.

I found the timeline incredibly frustrating to read. We’d jump around to get the same scene from another person’s POV and it was always jarring. Especially when on the plane. Towards the end of the book they’re flying over a lake and it’s pointed out in Makayla’s POV. More stuff happens in her POV before we jump over to the co-pilot. I thought the scene was a continuation but then the co-pilot points out that they’re crossing over the same river. This also happened once when Makayla texted her husband and then more things would happen and then she sent another text. We jump to the husbands POV and he’s thinking about her text but it’s the first text Makayla sent. But you didn’t know it was the first text until the next text came through. I felt like I was constantly unsettled by what was going on in the book. If that was what the author was going for then I guess she did a good job.


I just found my draft of this review and LITERALLY FORGOT I even read this book. That’s how much impact this book had on me.

Missing in Flight was my first read by this author but definitely not my last! It was such a quick read that left me on the edge of my seat! Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

I always reach for a plane-related thriller when I travel!

Missing in Flight is a kidnapping thriller set on an airplane--the ultimate locked-room setting. I was certainly intrigued by the premise and eager to find out what happened to Liam. A lot of suspension of belief is required, but it's an entertaining read. A bit slow at first, it picks up in the second half with nonstop action. While this book does fall into the trap of "no one believes the woman with questionable mental health history", Makayla is adamant about standing up for herself and what she knows is true.

This is my first book by this author, and I'm interested to see what else she has on her backlist.

A baby goes missing on a flight. It has to be on the plane somewhere - right? RIGHT? Or was there never really a baby at all.

Woah-what did I just read???? I chose to read this book on a PLANE coming home from vacation! I love Audrey Cole’s writing style and the6 are always fast paced and engrossing, so I figured it would be a win. I was on the edge of my seat, heart pounding and starting to look at the crew and passengers with suspicion! Had to keep reminding myself it was just a book! Truly gripping story with a great plot and great characters. The only criticism I have is knowing the Syracuse area well- there is not a hospital called Syracuse General! Crouse, Upstate or St. Joes are the hospitals. Otherwise- job well done- my flight went by super fast while reading this! Thank you to NetGalley, Audrey Cole and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read and review this ARC- it was a pleasure!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What a gripping story! I plowed through this book in a day and was kept guessing throughout. While the story is out of the realm of real life (hopefully!) you can’t help but get sucked in. This reminded me of TJ Newmans books split between action on plane and land. From the original description I was reminded of the movie Flightplan but this was very much its own story and totally different.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This was quite the ride! It had a lot happen in a pretty short book! I definitely didn't see the ending coming at all. Parts of it felt a little unrealistic and unreliable narrators are sometimes hard for me to get into. It felt a little like the book jumped around too much, but I did like the "have to keep reading to figure out what happened" feeling. Overall, a solid 4 star read for me.

This mystery had me on the edge of my seat many times. I loved all of the doubt the author created with the main character! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for access to this ARC.

Unrealistic ending, the baby surviving a jump, ridiculous. Not all books need happy endings. While it was suspenseful, it was predictable.

An on the edge of your seat novel, Missing in Flight follows a long trip from Anchorage to La Guardia Airport. Makayla has spent a pleasant holiday with her dad and baby son Liam and is on her way home to husband Jack. She asks a fellow passenger to watch over Liam while she goes to the bathroom but on her return Liam is no longer in his crib. What follows is a nightmare for her, the plane is searched to no avail, the FBI are involved on the ground and are questioning her husband due to his work on Wall Street.
This novel has a panic room ideology, you'd imagine that Liam is on the plane but taking in Makayla's family potential health concerns you also wonder if it is all in her imagination, and of course where could he be on a plane. It is very easy to imagine that this
would be a great movie or TV show.
I'm grateful to Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer for the opportunity to read this advanced copy. I will leave my review on Goodreads, Bookmory and Storygraph now and Amazon on publication day

I definitely did not see that coming, nice twist. Not going to spoil it, so I will leave it at that. I enjoyed it

This story took a long time to get no where. The storyline was predictable however I did finish it and it did keep me entertained.

MISSING IN FLIGHT is a heart-pounding ride, and will make you reconsider all of your upcoming holiday travel plans. Great for fans of TJ Newman and thrillers that are doing something new and different.

3.5 stars

Audrey J. Cole’s MISSING IN FLIGHT brings the heart palpitations that come with a mom’s worst nightmare! Makayla boarded a plane in Anchorage with her 3 month old son Liam on her way home to New York City, and he is taken from his bassinet when she goes to the bathroom a few hours into the flight. This novel is extremely propulsive, and if you like TJ Newman’s novels, this one will make you turn the pages from the first chapter.

I really enjoyed the author’s writing. It was very accessible with incredible tension. There is a familiar trope of “Is the woman crazy, or is she speaking the truth?” Makayla’s mother had transient global amnesia before she died, and one theory is that maybe it’s inherited or more likely to happen because Makayla hit her head in Anchorage. Because the baby was so wrapped up, it is difficult to determine whether a live baby got into the plane. The co-captain on the plane desperately wants a child, so maybe she’s involved. Or the kidnapping could be due to her husband managing almost a billion dollars. There are a few theories at play, but I’d say the author leaned hard on one theory in particular.

There were many, many times that I had to suspend my disbelief. Most had to do with the crazy timeline of the narrative, and another had to do with the exit from the airplane (trying to be vague for fear of spoilers). In the novel, 2 hours into a roughly 7-8 hour flight, Makayla realizes her baby is missing. A whole cabin search takes place, and the FBI from NYC is pulled in, resulting in airport security footage analyzed and an in-person interview with each the baby’s father and the baby’s father’s employer by the time the airplane is over Minnesota! Oh, and search warrants in two different states are put in place after business hours with the searches commenced. Does the FBI really get involved and move that fast based on a missing baby on an airplane? And the investigator on the case had time to look up the history on every passenger on the plane too.

I really enjoyed the reading experience of this novel. It was an easy, light read as long as you don’t think too hard about the timeline and individual plot pieces. This novel publishes January 7, 2025.

At first glance, this book reminded me of the Jodie Foster film, Flightplan, where Foster’s character, flying home with the body of her husband who was killed in combat, wakes up from a short nap only to find that her daughter has disappeared from the plane, mid-flight, and no one has even seen her. But this book wasn’t a novelization, so I was curious to see how this one would turn out.

Makayla Rossi is flying from Hawaii, where her father lives, to New York, her home, when an hour or so into the flight, she returns from a trip to the bathroom to find her baby, Liam, missing from his crib.

Because Makayla’s mom, famous actor of the yesteryears, Lydia Banks, died in an accident caused after the sudden onset of Transient Global Amnesia, the FBI investigators, the crew and other passengers believe that Makayla is confused and that she might have contracted the same disease. Also, no one has seen her board with the infant. Nor has anyone seen or heard the infant.

The only person who believes Makayla is her brand-new best friend who is providing her support via text from New York.

Meanwhile, back in New York, Jack’s boss, Lionel, has trapped him into taking the fall for a lot of fraudulent activity on his own part. Lionel’s daughter, Sabrina, who is Jack’s childhood friend, is threatening to tell Makayla about a one-night-stand that never happened.



The book was written in the 1st person present tense PoV of Makayla, Anna, the co-pilot, Tina, the FBI officer, and Jack. Anna's story is completely unconnected with that of Makayla, and was unnecessary. Instead the PoV of another passenger on the flight might have been more helpful. Most of the action takes place aboard a flight from Hawaii to New York, and simultaneously at other locations during the same period.

The premise, a missing infant on a flight, is strong and tugs at our emotions, and the image on the cover, a frayed seat beat, is a nice touch, but the pace in this book flags with the many flashbacks and the constant repetition. For a large part of the book, not much seems to be happening. Some of the flashbacks, as when Makayla’s mother, Lydia, teaches her how to ski, were completely unnecessary. The fact that Lydia loved her daughter was completely irrelevant to the story of Liam’s disappearance.

Once the baby is taken, there is no escalation in the conflict, no call for ransom, nothing. The stakes just don’t get higher.

This was more women’s fiction than thriller. A big part of whatever thrill there was came from the weather conditions and the turbulence.

The resolution raised a number of questions and wasn’t properly explained.

The investigation lacked lustre.

Ultimately, this one didn’t hit the right spot for me.