A private jet leaves Martha’s Vineyard, bound for New York. On board are a three-person crew, a media mogul and his family, a Wall Street tycoon and his wife, and a down on his luck painter. Sixteen minutes later, the plane crashes into the ocean killing everyone but the painter – Scott Burroughs, and JJ – the four-year-old son of the media mogul.
This was an interesting mystery/thriller that delves into the puzzle of the plane crash. The book alternates between the crash as it occurs from Scott’s perspective and the resulting investigation, to flashbacks of each passenger’s and crew member’s life leading up to and including the day of the crash.
A lot of theories emerge about the crash and its cause. Was it pilot error? Was it one of the media mogul’s many enemies looking for revenge? Could it have something to do with the news of the Wall Street tycoon’s impending arrest due to money laundering? And who is Scott and how did a previously unsuccessful painter integrate himself with these people?
Noah Hawley writes some intriguing characters. Each POV from the different characters led to more questions. Just when you think you knew what happened, a new character perspective would emerge that would make me rethink everything.
Scott is an antihero. Sometimes I liked him and sometimes I didn’t. Yes, he did the right thing in saving JJ after the crash, but that’s kind of it. His motivations are not clear and sometimes it seemed like he was only doing things because it was what was expected of him. He and JJ are definitely suffering from PTSD and most likely survivor’s guilt. Still, I felt like everyone was trying to make the best of out a horrible situation.
Additionally, there was one character that I absolutely hated. I thought he was super slimy and I would just have this feeling of dread when he appeared on the page. I thought he was a horrible person with zero redeeming qualities.
There were a couple of other parts in this book that I didn’t really like. At times the author would go on for pages about some random thing or idea that didn’t really add anything to the story and I found myself skimming some parts. I also didn’t like the end of the book. As soon as we find out the cause of the crash and why it happened, the book just ends. I wanted to know what happens to Scott and what happens to JJ and just what happened next.
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You review feels like mine, I was so disappointed with this book. I was excited to read this with how much I loved Fargo the series where he wrote the entire 1st and 2nd seasons.
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who was disappointed!
Not read this book. But just read the Good Father sounds similar in taken a complex scenario and explored from different points of view which is interesting compact but in it like you found I did find there were parts did not enjoy as it went on about something for too many pages. In the case of the good father about the various historical assassination
attempts in too much detail!
Thanks for commenting! I’ll have to check out The Good Father.