Hostage
The emotional 'what would you do?' thriller from the Sunday Times bestseller
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4.3 • 149 Ratings
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
THE EMOTIONAL, JAW-DROPPING SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING THRILLER.
AND DON'T MISS CLARE'S NEW BOOK OTHER PEOPLE'S HOUSES - OUT NOW.
'Hypnotically good' LEE CHILD
'Jaw-dropping twists' LUCY FOLEY
'The book of the summer' SUN
It's twenty hours to landing. A lot can happen in twenty hours . . .
You're on board the first non-stop flight from London to Sydney. It's a landmark journey, and the world is watching.
Shortly after take-off, you receive a chilling anonymous note.
There are people on this plane intent on bringing it down - and you're the key to their plan.
You'd never help them, even if your life depended on it.
But they have your daughter . . . So now you have to choose.
DO YOU SAVE HUNDREDS OF LIVES? OR THE ONE THAT MATTERS MOST?
'Feels like a blockbuster movie' LISA JEWELL
'The queen of nail-biting suspense' IRISH INDEPENDENT
'A nail-biter of a thriller' SHARI LAPENA
'A rip-roaring finale' GUARDIAN
'Propulsive - will have you questioning "what would you do?" at every turn' KARIN SLAUGHTER
'Mackintosh is a pro' NEW YORK TIMES
'Taking the locked room mystery to a new, white-knuckle extreme, this is electrifying' HEAT
'When Clare Mackintosh goes high concept, she doesn't mess around' LINWOOD BARCLAY
'An incredibly tense read that has a satisfyingly clever ending' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
'A thrilling rollercoaster of a story. It'll leave you breathless' JANE FALLON
'A smart pay-off' THE TIMES, THE BEST THRILLERS FOR JUNE
'A tense, convincing, nail-biter of a thriller' ADELE PARKS, PLATINUM MAGAZINE
'A banger of a book with a truly agonising "what would you do?"' RUTH WARE
'A thrilling, chilling gut-punch of a book' RED
'Why did no one warn me how bloody addictive it is?' TAMMY COHEN
'I dare anyone to read this high-octane, tense thriller on a flight' PRIMA
'I got wrong-footed, then I got whiplash! Mind-blowing' SANDIE JONES
'The year's most intriguing high-concept plot' DAILY EXPRESS
'Full of mystery, tension and emotion. An incredible thriller' ALLIE REYNOLDS
'Buckle up for some edge-of-your-plane-seat action' FABULOUS
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A 20-hour, nonstop plane flight from London to Sydney provides the claustrophobic backdrop for this terrifying thriller from bestseller Mackintosh (Let Me Lie). Flight attendant Mina Holbrook trades shifts to join the crew of World Airways Flight 79, preferring to contend with sometimes demanding business class passengers than to face her rapidly deteriorating marriage to police detective Adam Holbrook. Mina is sure Adam has been sleeping with their Ukrainian au pair, who recently quit her job caring for their five-year-old daughter, Sophia. A few hours into the flight, Mina receives a note demanding she help an unknown terrorist group divert the plane. If Mina refuses, Sophia will die. What starts as a domestic drama focused on the Holbrooks' marital problems becomes the airborne equivalent of a classic country house mystery. The suspense builds as Mina, whose co-workers think she's shirking her duties, tries to determine who among the 353 passengers are part of the terrorist plot. Surprising twists propel the story to an unexpected finale. Mackintosh has raised her game with this one.
Customer Reviews
Enjoyable but confusing
I really enjoyed this but had to make a list of who was sitting in each seat as all the skipping around was doing my head in - clever idea though.
Compelling
Despite being a nervous flyer I wanted to read this book as it got excellent reviews and I’d read previous books by the same author. Very pleased I did. Great characters, strong relationships, twisty, turny, satisfying ending when you thought the story had finished. And a few thoughts to take away after the end. Read it!
An enjoyable read!
Oh, I so wanted to love this book, but I think there was just too much hype about it which had me going in with huge expectations! Don’t get me wrong I did enjoy it and I read it super quick as it was a gripping read, but sadly I just didn’t rate it quite as highly as so many have. (Sorry to all Clare’s fans, please don’t come at me with pitchforks 😂)
Mina is part of the flight crew on the worlds first non-stop flight from London to Sydney. It is not long after take-off that strange things start to happen. Mina’s feeling of unease is fully justified when the plane is taken over by hijackers who hold the crew and passenger’s hostage.
To make matters worse a threat has been made against Mina’s daughter Sophia, so not only is she fearing for her own life, but she also has no idea if her husband and daughter are safe at home! The chapters alternate between Mina and other passengers on the plane and Mina’s husband Adam back at home.
What I loved about this story is that blood was shed, not everybody survives the flight, which helped to keep the story more interesting and hold my attention. I can’t fault the writing, Clare is hugely talented and clearly does her research as there was so much detail in this book about planes that you couldn’t know unless you worked on them yourself or had done extensive research.
The pace initially was slower than I’d have liked, and I think I’d have liked a bit more action. The reason for the hijack I was a bit disappointed with and sadly the twists at the end I didn’t like, and one was quite predictable. I feel like it is the kind of story that has been written to become a movie, it could work well on screen, but I think a few changes and a bit more action would be needed.
Although this book wasn’t a five-star read for me, it doesn’t mean it won’t be for you. This book has been very highly rated by many people, so I think I’m definitely in the minority. If you like the sound of the blurb then do give it a go.
I’m a huge fan of Clare’s first two books I Let You Go and I See You, if you’ve not read these then you must. I also have her other two books Let Me Lie and After the End still to read which I am very much looking forward to.