Book review: “Drowning,” by T.J. Newman

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Happily, Newman’s second thriller, “Drowning,” serves as proof that the expertise displayed in her first book was no fluke. Her story about a plane that crashes in the Pacific Ocean a mere six minutes after its departure from Hawaii is ruthlessly suspenseful, guaranteed to remain in a reader’s mind long after the last page is turned. Newman — a former flight attendant — tells her story through a multitude of perspectives, ranging from the crew to the passengers to the mix of Navy personnel and civilians determined to rescue them, and seemingly every sentence intensifies the dire predicament her characters face.

The chief protagonists of the story are Will Kent and his wife, Chris. An earlier tragedy has strained their marriage to the point of separation and likely divorce, and Will is escorting their 11-year-old daughter to summer camp in California. An engine failure forces the flight to crash in the water, and only Will’s quick-thinking decision to remain in the plane keeps a small group of passengers alive. Unfortunately — but rivetingly — the plane sinks into the ocean. A series of life-threatening and realistic obstacles emerge for the passengers trapped in the cabin. Their only hope for survival rests on Will’s knowledge of engineering. Chris, who owns a business in industrial diving and marine-related construction, has a rescue plan of her own.

Readers will discover early on that no one in this book is safe. The passengers’ experiences come to life with visceral intensity: The impact of the crash is vividly described as “mechanical entrails” pouring out of the plane. In another passage, a helpless passenger wearing a life vest while floating on the burning water “realized the heat was melting the plastic. Everyone watched as the vest popped and the rush of air acted as a bellows. The man went up in a blaze.” As the novel progresses and the tension tightens, the danger spreads to Newman’s small group of survivors.

The conceit of a story like this, one found in movies like “Apollo 13” or “127 Hours” or “Open Water,” can be difficult to pull off: How do you keep a narrative lively in such a claustrophobic setting? Part of the creative challenge for Newman is to keep the story moving when her characters have no place to go. She succeeds by taking readers outside the sunken plane’s cabin through brief, illuminating flashbacks and tense moments from the rescue team; it’s a credit to her abilities that those departures don’t slow down the story. This is a thriller to the core, one that readers will want to finish in a single sitting.

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That said, there are moments when the prose falters — occasionally a sentence is serviceable rather than inspired. A tender moment between two characters feels wooden: “She hugged him in such a way that he knew true healing had broken through.” Lines like “they were parents fighting to save their child” lack gravitas. And as compelling as Newman’s main characters can be, the side performers are often clichés: a loving, elderly couple; an aggressive, problematic young man; and a determined first officer are just some of the characters who have more to offer than they are given.

But those are quibbles, and they shouldn’t detract from what Newman has achieved in her second book. The readers who took a chance on her debut will find much of what they loved in this follow-up — brisk storytelling, masterful suspense and the chance to vicariously peer into a nightmarish situation from which heroes emerge.

E.A. Aymar’s most recent thriller is “No Home for Killers.”

The Rescue of Flight 1421

Avid Reader/Simon & Schuster. 304 pp. $28