The Last Flight
A Novel
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4.2 • 5.2K Ratings
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY BESTSELLER, & INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER!
"The Last Flight is thoroughly absorbing—not only because of its tantalizing plot and deft pacing, but also because of its unexpected poignancy and its satisfying, if bittersweet, resolution. The characters get under your skin."—The New York Times Book Review
Two women. Two flights. One last chance to disappear.
Claire Cook has a perfect life. Married to the scion of a political dynasty, with a Manhattan townhouse and a staff of ten, her surroundings are elegant, her days flawlessly choreographed, and her future auspicious. But behind closed doors, nothing is quite as it seems. That perfect husband has a temper that burns bright and he's not above using his staff to track Claire's every move.
What he doesn't know is that Claire has worked for months on a plan to vanish. A plan that takes her to the airport, poised to run from it all. But a chance meeting in the airport bar brings her together with a woman whose circumstances seem equally dire. Together they make a last-minute decision.
The two women switch tickets, with Claire taking Eva's flight to Oakland, and Eva traveling to Puerto Rico as Claire. They believe the swap will give each of them the head start they need to begin again somewhere far away. But when the flight to Puerto Rico crashes, Claire realizes it's no longer a head start but a new life. Cut off, out of options, with the news of her death about to explode in the media, Claire will assume Eva's identity, and along with it, the secrets Eva fought so hard to keep hidden.
For fans of Lisa Jewell and Liv Constantine, The Last Flight is the story of two women—both alone, both scared—and one agonizing decision that will change the trajectory of both of their lives.
Praise for The Last Flight:
"The Last Flight is a wild ride: One part Strangers on a Train, one part Breaking Bad, with more twists than an amusement park roller coaster! Julie Clark is a devilishly inventive storyteller."
—Janelle Brown, New York Times bestselling author of Watch Me Disappear and Pretty Things
"The Last Flight is everything you want in a book: a gripping story of suspense; haunting, vulnerable characters; and a chilling and surprising ending that stays with you long after the last page."
—Aimee Molloy, New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Mother
"The perfect combination of beautiful prose and high suspense, and an ending that I guarantee will catch you off guard."
—Kimberly Belle, internationally bestselling author of Dear Wife and The Marriage Lie
"The Last Flight sweeps you into a thrilling story of two desperate women who will do anything to escape their lives. Both poignant and addictive, you'll race through the pages to the novel's chilling end. A must read of the summer!"
—Kaira Rouda, internationally bestselling author of Best Day Ever and The Favorite
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
For two women on the run, a split-second decision offers a chance at a new life…or a whole new set of dangers. At the beginning of Julie Clark’s fiercely feminist psychological thriller, Claire—the wife of a beloved philanthropist whose hideous true nature is a well-kept secret—is at the airport, about to launch into her carefully constructed escape plan. But then Claire makes an impulsive decision to switch passports and plane tickets with Eva, a streetwise survivor on the run from her drug-kingpin former boss. And we can’t say much more than that because, seriously, things get really crazy from that point on. Alternating between Claire’s and Eva’s viewpoints, Clark’s book feels like a mix of Gone Girl and The Bourne Identity. It’s that fast-paced and that good. Order takeout, because you won’t be leaving the couch until you turn the last page.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this outstanding thriller from Clark (The Ones We Choose), New York socialite Clair Cook, who has a plan to run away from her emotionally and physically abusive husband, and Eva James, a woman heading home to Berkeley, Calif., who says she's mourning her late husband, meet by chance at an airport bar at JFK before their flights. Claire tells Eva that she would do anything not to go to Puerto Rico, where her husband is expecting her. Eva agrees to fly to Puerto Rico in Claire's place, and the two swap e-tickets and phones. On arrival at Oakland's airport, Claire learns that the Puerto Rico flight has crashed, killing everyone aboard. Though she's devastated that Eva has died in the crash, Claire takes the opportunity to assume the life Eva left behind only to discover that Eva was not who she said she was and was fleeing her own dangerous past. The moral dilemmas that the multifaceted, realistic characters face in their quest for survival lend weight to this pulse-pounding tale of suspense. Clark is definitely a writer to watch.
Customer Reviews
A page turner
I couldn’t put it down. I highly recommend it.
Character Development & Relationships
⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Last Flight had an intriguing premise and enough suspense to keep me reading, but ultimately I found the character development and relationships lacking.
My biggest issue was the isolation of both Claire and Eva. I understand the circumstances that could make it difficult for them to trust people, but the book never quite convinced me that they could have lived for so many years with so few meaningful personal connections. Claire, in particular, exists within a large social circle, yet the absence of any genuinely close friendships felt unrealistic.
I also found some of the relationships—including Danielle’s—to be underdeveloped. There were connections that seemed important to the story, but I didn’t feel that emotional history behind them.
I enjoyed the suspense and the overall concept, but I kept wanting more psychological depth and more believable relationships between the characters.
An entertaining thriller, but ultimately not a particularly memorable one for me.
Perfect beach read or, dare I say, a long flight to the tropics.
This thrilling novel moves quickly with empathetic, yet flawed female protagonists. The pace is perfect and the storytelling is well constructed, revealing just the right amount of information at the right time. The twists aren’t entirely predictable, but completely believable, authentic to the characters and their journey. Fun read. Fast read. I’ll look forward to more by this author.