Author: T.J. Newman

Publisher: Avid Reader Press

ISBN: 9781982177911

When a flight crashes into the ocean and sinks with passengers still inside, the rescue team above water and those in the plane will have to work together to save everyone. With time and oxygen running out, all involved will find their relationships and willpower tested beyond their personal breaking points. Author T.J. Newman comes back with her second thriller that outdoes her first book for a summer blockbuster in Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421.

Engineer Will Kent is boarding a flight in Hawaii with a heavy heart. He’s taking his 11-year-old daughter, Shannon, to camp on the U.S. mainland., but he and his wife, Chris, have separated and it’s tearing Will apart. A tragedy years earlier left them shattered, and the Kents haven’t been able to figure out how to put their family back together again.

The smallest things make fights erupt between Will and Chris. Like this flight. Chris insisted Shannon could travel with a flight attendant watching her. Will fought for the right to go with Shannon and eventually won, but he knows Chris wasn’t happy with the situation. For now, he’ll settle for spending time with Shannon on the long flight from Hawaii to the mainland. Chris is the love of his life; he knew that from their first date. Somewhere along the way, though, they’ve lost sight of each other, as all their hurts and faults have dominated one another’s view.

He and Shannon board the flight and get settled in. Then the unthinkable happens: shortly after takeoff, before they can even leave the islands behind, the plane malfunctions. The plane heads right back down into the water, and one engine catches fire. 

Flight crew members prepare their passengers for evacuation, but Will’s training as an engineer makes him speak up and fight to stay on the plane. He and Shannon end up with ten other passengers sinking in the damaged aircraft 200 feet below the surface. Their time, and their usable air, are limited, but panic is in unlimited supply.

As soon as word comes of Flight 1421’s dramatic accident, Chris races to help. Her company comprises the best welders and crew. It’s literally their job to fix large metallic vessels so they can continue to float safely. Nothing in the world is going to stop her from rescuing her daughter; not government officials, not airline higher-ups, and not even her ongoing feud with Will.

Author T.J. Newman returns with an arms-wide-open thriller in the grand tradition of American classics like Die Hard, Top Gun, and, yes, Apollo 13. Newman gives readers the novel version of those types of stories, and every page will keep her audience flipping or swiping pages as fast as possible to find out what happens next. While some comparable books struggle to balance various elements along with the thriller elements of the plot, Newman handles everything like a pro. 

There’s a little something for everyone in this book. Readers will get glimpses of Will and Chris’s love story and the heart-wrenching tragedy that pulled them apart. Gearheads will enjoy the technical aspects of the plane crash and the MacGyver-style rescue efforts. Fans of ensemble casts can pick their favorite character to cheer on inside the plane. Audience members who want a sweeping epic that emphasizes the best of the human spirit and our ability to work with one another in the worst of circumstances will come away believing once again in humanity.

Newman’s experience as a flight attendant offers an underlying authenticity to the book that makes it ring true on every page. Even if an idea for part of the rescue feels a little farfetched, Newman offers just enough detail to make readers more than willing to suspend their disbelief. Those who want a grand story to kick off their summer should definitely check this out. I recommend readers Binge Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421 by T.J. Newman.