From the Stacks
By Carol Ann Robb, PPL Reference Librarian
If you plan to board a plane anytime in the near future, walk away from this and the other books by T.J. Newman. But if you want a thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat, then you can’t do much better than grabbing one of her three novels.
I spent last weekend whipping through “Worst Case Scenario,” stopping only to deal with laundry, meal prep, a few outdoor chores, and just plain needing to catch my breath. Newman, a former airline flight attendant, knows all the possible situations a large plane and its crew might find themselves in (hence my warning not to read this before you fly anywhere) and she has a compelling writing style that conveys the urgency of the plight that the crew and passengers find themselves in.
In her latest offering, a crash landing takes place on the grounds of a nuclear power plant, the epitome of a worst-case scenario. The entire book takes place in a 24-hour period, other than the epilogue, and if you have nothing else on your agenda for the day, you could get it read in that same amount of time, even with breaks.
Rather than risk spoiling the book for those who want to read it, I’m not revealing much of the book (I really had no idea what it was about before I started it—just knew from “Falling” and “Drowning” that I was going on a roller coaster ride of a read).
But I will share the most surprising part of the book for me. As two women—Carla and Joss—drive through their hometown of Waketa, MN, they pass the high school football field which opens the floodgates of memories for Joss as she recalls her years in the marching band. Rare is the book that mentions a high school marching band and the camaraderie between those young musicians. Even if I disliked the rest of the book (I didn’t!), I’d give it two thumbs up just for that page and a half sequence.
The book also portrays how those living in a dying, small Midwestern town unite in the worst possible situation to help their neighbors. Race, religion, and politics are forgotten in the quest to save each other. That even tops the band mention and is a lesson we should hold on to during the next couple of months.
Reading TJ Newman will certainly get your adrenalin flowing—but don’t take her books on your next flight. Trust me on this.