Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421 by T. J. Newman (2023)

 

If you’re looking for an adventure to keeps you on the edge of your seat, this is the book for you. T. J. Newman, a former flight attendant, proves she knows her stuff by writing a fast-paced novel about doomed commercial flight 1421 and the desperate efforts of the various rescue teams up top to save the passengers.

Soon after takeoff from Hawaii, flight 1421 loses an engine and all power, crashing into the ocean, and sinking to the bottom with 12 passengers aboard. They find themselves 200 feet below the surface, waist-deep in water, and with 6.5 hours of air remaining. Two of the trapped passengers, Shannon and Will Kent, are the daughter and soon to be ex-husband of the head of one of the aforementioned dive teams.

Up on the surface, Chris Kent is desperate to save her family. There is no procedure for a rescue like this; there has never been a need for one. There is however a proven method for rescuing sailors from a sunken submarine, but the one-of-a-kind vessel used for the rescue is waiting for a replacement part. Chris, the leader of an elite dive team and a civilian has a plan to adapt the vessel to use with the plane, but the Navy and the Coast Guard will only agree to her plan as a last-ditch effort.

Will, an engineer by trade and first officer, now caption, Kit Callahan work together to keep the passengers safe while waiting for their rescue. Will knows that Chris’ plan will work and all three must work together to bring Chris’ plan to reality.

The book is emotional and tense from the beginning but Newman ups the ante in the last couple of chapters. For those of you of a certain age, the story is reminiscent of 1970’s disaster movies. I felt like I was right there with all the characters both on the plane and above. I highly recommend the read.

Warner Brothers has purchased the movie rights to Drowning and release is planned for 2024. The movie adaptation of Newman’s first novel, Falling, was released in 2021.

4.2 stars on Goodreads, 4.5 on Amazon

These Still Black Waters by Christina McDonald (Jess Lambert #1) (2023)

 

Neve Maguire and her 16-year-old daughter Ash have moved to Black Lake where Neve had spent her summers as a child but never returned after a traumatic incident occurred there 20-years before. Neve appears to have everything, but a violent home invasion has left her wanting a fresh start. On their first night at the house, Neve spots her childhood friend, Bailey Nelson standing in the rain starring in the window. The next day Bailey’s body is discovered in the lake, killed much earlier the previous day.

Jess Lambert is the detective assigned to the case and she's desperate to prove to her male collegiates she can still do the job. A tragic car accident in which Jess’s daughter Isla lost her life, has left Jess in constant pain, walking with a limp, and requiring the assistance of a cane to get around. What no one knows is that Jess sees and talks to Isla’s ghost. Neve sees her too.

When Jess interviews Neve, every instinct tells her Neve is hiding something. The discovery of the body links the two women together as secrets from the past and present are revealed through the alternating narratives of Neve, Jess and “the killer”.

3.91 stars on Goodreads, 4.0 on Amazon

This book is not available at EPL. Ask any of the reference librarians to get it for you from an area library.