... [a] mind-rattling debut mystery ... Page after page, Farrell builds confusion and frustration into an incendiary debate between belief in the miraculous and the basic laws of physics ... When he finally discovers the truth, what Charlie does with it will make for an explosive discussion long after the final chapter.
Former pilot Farrell's skillfully written story of hope, love, and regret contemplated amid a fast-paced, high-pressure major airline accident investigation will appeal to readers who enjoyed Michael Crichton's Airframe, Gregg Hurwitz's The Survivor, and Noah Hawley's Before the Fall.
... [a] solid debut ... Charlie and Erin’s stories ultimately converge to provide an emotionally satisfying climax. Charlie and Erin are vivid characters, even as the author saddles them with stock domestic problems such as a tepid sex life. Still, Farrell’s thoughtful novel calls to mind the heights of Rafael Yglesias’s Fearless.
The author is good at building suspense around the cause of the air disaster as well as the fate of its unlikely survivor ... He’s also good at describing the politics surrounding the investigation and the personalities of the NTSB team. A former pilot himself, he writes vividly, at times rhapsodically, about flying. Not so persuasive are his domestic scenes ... Sole survivors of commercial plane crashes are not unheard of ... Yet a number of plot points here strain credulity. And the musings on bravery, betrayal, the randomness of fate and the extraordinariness of the ordinary feel prosaic. Despite a promising premise, the book tries to do too much and never quite gets off the ground.
