An Airplane Disaster!

I usually don't like books that take place in the matter of a few days, since often times the plot is very weak. However, that was not the case with this book by John J. Nance. From beginning to end, the plot moved crisply along, with very little pause to catch my breath.

An airplane disaster in Cuba has led FBI agent Kat Bronsky to do some investigating. Washington Post reporter Robert McCabe comes to her with some incriminating information that may lead to uncovering the crime. The two board a jet from Hong Kong, where they have each been performing their respective duties. But as their plane is boarding, Kat is called off by some diplomatic problem.

It is a fortuitous phone call that calls her away, as upon leaving the Hong Kong airport, the plane is struck with disaster. A mid-air explosion knocks out and kills the captain and blinds the co-pilot. There is suddenly no one to fly the plane. The co-pilot can only do so much without being able to see. Finally a British man who flew Korean war vintage prop planes, a women who writes mechanic's manuals for airplane instrumentation, and a teenager who has logged many hours on flight simulator are the only ones aiding in the attempt to fly the plane.

The adventure continues as these people bound with each other and try to get out of disaster. Kat Bronsky reappears also, to try to find out who or what caused the death of the captain and injury to the co-pilot, and who wants the rest of them dead to keep them from talking about it.

Other than Kat and Robert trying to fall in love with each other two-thirds of the way through the book (yuck!) and the somewhat too complicated explanation for the events that transpired, I really liked this book. It was fast-paced and suspenseful. I was never bored. The book is probably three-fourths dialogue, which is skillfully used to advance the plot without sounding silly or stilted.

Another reviewer commented on the fact that the characters are not fleshed out--I would have to agree with that. However, I didn't feel that it was necessarily important--this was a emergency situation. It was not necessary to know anything about the characters except that which was necessary to know how their skills or interests could help each other out of the situation they were in.

One aspect that I liked is that the bad guys were somebody not easily predicted or even really hinted at until near the end. I like it when the author uses his imagination. The methods used to terrorize the airplane and the motivation behind it were also unique, using some very interesting technology, if such a thing truly exists.

As far as teen readers go, the book is relatively free of profanity. Though there were many deaths when a plane crashes, there is no description of direct violence or bloody scenes. Other than one scene with Kat and Robert, in which there is implied sex, the book is free of sexual references.

In light of the 9/11 disaster, this is probably not the most popular type of book to be reading--though it was published a year and a half before that tragic event. It WAS a bit weird to read a sentence on page 360: "So who's next? Are we going to get a seven-forty-seven impacting the World Trade Center in New York because the two pilots were neutralized on takeoff from Newark or Kennedy?" Just too weird. Do terrorists read popular fiction? Fortunately, the events that unfold this book have no similarity at all to what really happened, so you may be able to detach yourself from reality for awhile and just enjoy a well written tale.