Dear Edward

Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano is the story of a plane crash with one survivor - a twelve-year-old boy.

Eddie is moving from New York City to California with his mom, dad, and older brother. They are all packed and about to take off on Flight 2977.  Jane Adler is a writer who is moving to Los Angeles to write for a television show. Bruce Adler is a mathematician and homeschool teacher to his two sons.

Told in snippets alternating between the flight and after, Napolitano introduces a cast of characters who are all on the flight for different reasons. After the crash, Eddie goes to live with his aunt and uncle in New Jersey, trying to make sense of his new life.

This is great book. It is both suspenseful because readers know something bad is about to happen and the coming of age story of a boy growing into a man.

Napolitano, Ann. (2020). Dear Edward. New York: The Dial Press.

Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II

Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff is the tale of a series of plane crashes in Greenland near the end of WWII. As well as the current day plan to recover a Grumman Duck amphibious airplane lost on the ice with three Coast Guard men.

In WWII the United States had bases in Greenland, both to keep the Atlantic free of German boats and U-boats and used as a stop while ferrying planes to England. When a cargo plane goes down on the Ice Cap, a few search planes are sent to look for it. These planes include a B-17 bomber with 9 on board. Instead of finding sign of the cargo plane, the B-17 crashes. What follows is a series of rescue attempts in a climate not made for man or machine.

The B-17 will not be the last plane to crash in the Winter of 1942-1943. An amphibious plane called the Grumman Duck will also become lost – after one successful rescue of part of the crew of the B-17.

In 2012 an expedition back to Greenland was approved by the Coast Guard to find the Duck and bring back the missing men – the only MIA Coast Guardsmen unaccounted for. Zuckoff attaches himself to the expedition, becoming a subject in his own book.

The tale of the men trapped on the Ice Cap is one with the suspense of how and if they will survive. Zuckoff’s nonfiction tale flows with the narration of a good novel. If you are a fan of WWII, planes, extreme lands or daring rescues, this is the book for you!

Zuckoff, Mitchell (2014). Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II. New York: Harper.

Before the Fall

After the Fall by Noah Hawley is a great book that tells the tale of a plane crash - and all of the people on the plane.

A small, private plane is flying from Martha's Vineyard to New York. Aboard the plane are two very wealthy couples, the crew, and a painter. Once the plane crashes, with only a two survivors, the story looks at each person and their lives leading up to that day mixed with the current day National Transportation Safety Board investigation, the news stations speculating on why and how, and the altered lives of the two survivors.

Hawley is a great writer. His book is a well crafted story of disaster, mystery and human interest. I cannot recommend it enough. Buy a copy today.

Hawley, Noah. (2016). Before the Fall. New York: Grand Central Publishing.

Flight of the Intruder (Jake Grafton #1)

Flight of the Intruder by Stephen Coonts is the first book in his Jake Grafton series. Grafton is a US Navy pilot - a character so loved he is in a second series after he retires from the Navy.

At the opening of the series Jake Grafton is a US Navy Lieutenant pilot assigned to the Shiloh aircraft carrier stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam war. He flies the A6-A Intruder. He and his bombardier are sent on many bombing raids into North Vietnam.

While on leave in Hong Kong, Jake meets Callie who works for the State Department. On top of meeting the woman we will spend the rest of his life with, Callie provides Jake with a sounding board for his concerns about the war. The idea that he and his fellow pilots are often risking their lives for patches of jungle that look just like other patches of jungle and the need to find meaning in the death of friends during such flights, causes Jake to circumvent the chain of command - an act that could ultimately put him in military prison.-, if he lives through it.
 
Coonts captures the feel and excitement of flying, the terror of flying in combat and the horror and boredom of war. Fans of airplane fiction like John J Nance will love this series. Grafton is a compelling character. Fans of the new Grafton and Carmellini series will enjoy a look back at Grafton's rise through the ranks of US Navy.

Coonts, Stephen. (1986). Flight of the Intruder. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Total Control

Total Control by David Baldacci is a thrill ride from the get go.

Jason Archer is an executive at Triton Global, the world's leading technology company. He is also copying documents in the warehouse and delivering them to someone. For the final transfer his contact changes things. He is to buy a plane ticket to L.A., but at the last minute trade tickets with someone else who will be dressed and made up to look just like him. When he gets to Seattle to make the document exchange, he is shocked to see that the plane to L.A. has crashed.

Sydney Archer, Jason's wife, is a high powered attorney working for a firm that represents Triton Global in their bid to buy a small company that will change the way information is exchanged on the Internet. She thinks Jason is on his way to a job interview with a different tech company while she away in New York to work on the CyberCom deal. She is interrupted during the meeting by the airline calling to inform her of husband's plane crash.

FBI Special Agent Lee Sawyer quickly takes over the plane crash investigation from the NTSB when sabotage is discovered. He will have to find the motivation behind the crash to follow the vague trail of clues to find out who caused it. The only passenger who looks like he could be the target is the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank.

Baldacci has written a great thriller with elements to technology (circa 1997), finance, mystery and more. Total Control is a fun, tense ride from beginning to end. Great read on the beach or when you are hiding from the winter.

Baldacci, David. (1997). Total Control. New York: Warner Books.

Breaking Point (Crashers #2)

Breaking Point by Dana Haynes is the second book in his Crashers series about a group of National Transportation Safety Board - people who investigate airplane crashes.

Tommy Tomzak, Kiki Duval and Isaiah Grey are about to board a flight to Seattle. But that flight will crash in Colorado.

Another team of Crasher will be sent to Twin Pines, Colorado to investigate before they even realize that their coworkers were on the flight. What they do not know is that a man - who is responsible for the downing of the aircraft - walked among the survivors to ask if they knew why the plane crashed. And anyone who had even a clue that all of the power went out, was killed by that man. A man who will do anything to make sure no one finds out what brought down Flight 78.

Haynes is a brilliant writer who knows the ins and outs of the NTSB. His books are thrilling from beginning to end. And this book has ever thing that can go wrong happen to the main characters. This is a great read.

Haynes, Dana. (2011). Breaking Point. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Orbit

Orbit by Thomas Block is the intense story of an airplane mishap - one that sends a Concorde-like jet into low Earth orbit.

The Star Streak Superliner flies faster than the speed of sound due to two rocket engines in addition to the regular jet engines. The idea being that when the plane reaches its normal flying height the rocket engines take over and take the plane along at hypersonic speeds. However, on this particular flight something goes wrong with the rocket engines and they will not shut off. In order to save the plane from overheating (in spite of the extra cooling science used in the wings) the pilot pulls them up higher to try and reduce speed.

Soon the plane is trapped in a low Earth orbit. The regular jet engines are no use because they need oxygen to function. And the rocket engines are out of fuel. The plane will loop the planet every 94 minutes until it is rescued or falls out of the sky. But the people only have a limited supply of oxygen.

Will NASA be able to launch a shuttle to resupply oxygen while passengers can be ferried back to Earth or will one hundred six people suffocate?

Block, Thomas. (1982). Orbit. New York: Coward, McCann and Geoghegan. 

Beauty Queens

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray is about what could happen if a plane of 50 teen beauty contestants crashes on a tropical island. Also, the best book cover ever!

The annual Miss Teen Dream Pageant is flying all 50 contestants to a tropical beach to practice the dance routines, film back stories, and work on their tans. But the plane goes down on the way - and the survivors are trapped on a desert island with little food, little drinkable water, and little hope for survival.

When times get tough, some beauty queens stick to the script their managers helped them create, some find their true selves, and some flip out.

Touching on the use of advertising and media to control our sense of self, Bray winds our truths into an outrageous story of self-discovery and girl power. Bray is obviously mad and brilliant! Read it!

(Also, loved the shout out to friends in the character names - Jennifer Hubert Swan of Reading Rants and author David Levithan were two I spotted.)

Bray, Libba. (2011). Beauty Queens. New York: Scholastic.

Fly by Wire

Fly by Wire by Ward Larsen is about a plane crash investigation and the secrets it may uncover.

Following the crash of a new C-500 (a flying wing cargo plane) Frank "Jammer" Davis is sent to France for the National Transportation Safety Board. Though Jammer is not in charge of the crash investigation, he is not subtle about saying what he thinks.

A fellow member of the investigation, Anna Sorenson, is not the Honeywell representative she appears to be. She is, in fact, a CIA agent whose job it is to recruit Jammer into helping look for connections between the crash of the AirCargo plane and a notorious Middle Eastern terrorist known as Caliph.

Caliph is thought to be behind the recent attacks at oil refineries around the United States. Over night the United States lost two-thirds of its oil processing ability. Without careful handling, the country will be in the midst of another fuel shortage.

As Jammer and Sorenson get closer to uncovering important clues about the crash, others begin trying harder to make sure they do not find the truth. What follows is a high tension race against the clock.

Larsen has created a fast-paced novel that will pull reader into the story. Fans of John J Nance's airplane related thrillers will be pleased with this exciting book.

Larsen, Ward. (2010). Fly by Wire. Longboat Key, Florida: Oceanview Publishing.

Mayday

In the style of a John J Nance novel, Nelson DeMille and Thomas Block joined forces to write Mayday. Originally published in 1979, an updated version was released in 1998.

Trans-United flight 52 from San Fransisco to Tokyo is in a Concorde-like plane, a Straton 979. Capable of flying at 930 miles per hour, or Mach 1.8, the supersonic jet flies higher in the sky than the average passenger plane. In fact, other than the space shuttle, the only other planes that fly at 62,000 feet are military jets and spy planes.

Today flight 52 left the gate 30 minutes late due to a maintenance issue.

At the same time, aboard the USS Nimitz, the Navy is conducting a secret test of a new missile. The missile will be shot at a drone to test its ability to find a target 500 miles away. This test will be done high in the atmosphere where few other things can fly.

When the missile hits flight 52, the jet loses cabin pressure. Anything not tied down is pulled out the hole in the fuselage by the pressure differential. Oxygen masks drop from the ceiling but are useless because they require pressure to work.

After a highly intense few pages, only a few people on flight 52 are conscious. None of them are part of the team that was flying the plane. But one man is a weekend pilot - of planes that could practically fit into the Straton 979's cargo area.

Do not read this book right before you fly! DeMille and Block packed more adrenaline into this book than some readers can handle. But adventure readers will be sucked into this book like a flying projectile.

DeMille, Nelson and Thomas Block. (1998). Mayday. New York: Warner Brothers.

Crashers (Crashers #1)

Crashers by Dana Haynes is the most exciting airplane related thriller since the last John J. Nance novel.

When a plane goes down just south of Portland, Oregon the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) sends a team to investigate. Dr. Tommy Tomzak is the first on the scene since he was in Portland for a conference at the time of the crash.

Other team members and rescue personnel join him at the crash site as they try to piece together the cause. The new version of the black box will give the team a full breakdown of all electrical and computer-related functions at the time of the crash.

With many branches of the story coming flawlessly together, Haynes weaves a seamless thriller that will have readers gripping the edge of their seats. I highly recommend this novel!

Haynes, Dana. (2010). Crashers. New York: Minotaur Books.