2018 Book Review #24: The Flight Attendant

He's a fave author of mine. I've read 5 of his 20 novels.  All of the ones I've read were very good, some more than others.  This one is excellent and quite intriguing.

STORY SUMMARY

Cassandra Bowden is a flight attendant with her homebase in NYC.  She is also an alcoholic....a binge drinker.  Because of her job, it is easy to find adventure around the world even though sometimes she suffers from alcohol-induced blackouts.  These blackouts usually result in very bad hangovers and a feeling of shame for having casual sex with strangers.  She is single and has a younger sister named Rosemary.  Rosemary is married to Dennis who works for the federal government in Washington, D.C. involving chemical weapons. They live in Kentucky and have two young children.  Cassandra tries to stay in touch with them and invites them to Manhattan when she is home from flights.

One morning, Cassie wakes up in a hotel in Dubai, rolls over to see if her partner from the night before is awake, only to discover that his throat has been slit!  He is dead, lying in bed right next to her and she has no memory of the evening before, other than a few fleeting glimpses.  She remembers a woman named Miranda coming to the hotel room and bringing a bottle of Stoli (Russian vodka).  She remembers that Alex, the dead man, was gentle and loving and a great drinking partner.  She remembers meeting him on the flight from JFK to Dubai and serving him in first class.  She remembers that he works as a hedge fund employee for a company called Unisphere based in Manhattan.  Or so he says.

Cassie is afraid. Did she kill him??  or did someone else?  She thinks she remembers going back to her own hotel where the rest of the flight crew was staying but then how did she end up in Alex's bed??

Cassie is afraid to call the local police so she begins to lie.  She lies to her fellow employees on the flight and to the pilot.  She lies on the way to Paris and she lies to the FBI agents who are waiting for her in NY.

Did she kill Alex Sokolov and if not, who did??

MY THOUGHTS

This is a wonderful "who done it" kind of thriller except you as the reader do know who killed Alex....you just don't really know why right away and the twist is that it has some surprises at the end. And Cassie is never really sure until the very end.

The story touches on just how screwed up the political world is currently, especially in this great nation of ours.  It is very subtle but the author definitely makes several digs into our current "leadership".  I loved it!

The story also revolves around self-loathing, the scourge of alcoholism and what it does to families as well as to individuals.  

The plot thickens when some characters from Cassie's NY life enter it and it quickly becomes a "what's going to happen to Cassie now" kind of plot.

You will either love or hate Cassie.  I ended up rooting for her and was so happy that the author ended the book the way he did.  I don't want to give it away because I don't want to ruin it for you.

There was very minimal swearing and sex although casual sex is implied. (Mainly to set Cassie's character/personality).

I was shocked to learn about her flight attendant friend and thought what a brilliant twist!

Although this isn't my fave book by this author, it was a very good, fast-paced summer read.

Two quotes jumped out at me:

"Supposedly, whatever we do that's selfish goes with us to the grave; whatever we do that's selfless lives on." (pg 333, The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian, c.2018)

"Remember that person you wanted to be?  There's still time." (pg.354, The Flight Attendant, c. 2018) 

In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older (due to some mature subject matter).

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this an 8.