As a big Nelson DeMille fan, I was happy when I finally snagged this library ebook, but I have to say it was a big disappointment. Excruciatingly slow at points, the basic plot is a Navy violation of an arms treaty causes a missle to inadvertently transect a supersonic jet at 62,000 feet, causing death or brain damage to all but five people, who are either in the lavatories or sub-deck flight attendant station. Meanwhile, nobody seems to want the jet to return safely as the Navy seeks to cover its mistake and the airline and insurance carrier fear for their respective futures. Simply ludicrous. ( )

This book should be named "Zombies on the plane".

Zombies meets power hungry evil bureaucrats meets super hero and it's just as unlikely as it sounds. Yet the book tries to convey the impression that this could happen. Well, it could not. The chain of circumstances is just too long and contains too many unlikely events and persons that make unexpected (and immoral) choices.

The big mystery for me is how it ended up on my "to-read" list. I must have mixed it up with some better book with a similar name. Anyone has any idea which one that might have been? I have a weak memory it might have been something related to a true story in World War 2. ( )

Confusing as more and more characters are brought into the story. However most play a part in the scenarios that follow. Although a bit technical at times it held my interest. Raises several questions: how often has mistakes been covered up by higher ups interested more in their careers or the publicity; when is it more humanitarian to play God and save people future suffering; could an average human being do so many heroic things with minimal knowledge. John Berry as an casual pilot is almost too perfect, the few survivors were more truly believable. Ending stressful yet predictable. ( )

Well, you can't quite put this down, but no real reason to start. De Mille and high school (?) friend Block (a pilot) wanted to write a story about passenger planes designed to fly at some 60,000 feet, twice what they do now. Well, it's pretty horrific if something goes wrong, as their story shows. They also take the time to show what evil lurks in the US Navy, large insurance companies, airline companies, etc. ( )

the general premise of this is interesting and should make a good thriller, and i guess it mostly does. i think reading about corruption and how people don't do the right thing if it in any way can harm themselves can be interesting. but i didn't care about any of these people and i wasn't really interested in what was happening most of the time. the oxygen deprived people in the airplane read like zombies to me, and i truly hate zombie stories. i don't know if it was an accurate depiction of how that kind of brain damage would manifest in people and in their behavior, but it didn't feel right to me for them to be so inclined to violence. it also didn't feel right that the mentally capable didn't try anything with those people - like telling them to stay seated and buckled or in a certain part of the aircraft. maybe it wouldn't have worked, but it seemed odd that they just went right to being scared of them and violent toward them. it just didn't read as realistic at all to me. also, i know this was first written in the 70's, but they updated it in the late 90's and i'm sure that by that time it wasn't acceptable to call people "oriental" like they do a few times in this book.

i don't know. it wasn't as annoying or macho as i sometimes find his books, so that's a positive. but it also wasn't anything particularly good or well done either. i mean, i was glad that it was more than just a plane-going-down-thriller - adding in the corruption and conniving of the military and airline executives was a good move. but it wasn't enough for me.

this was my first audiobook so i don't know how to evaluate that part of the experience, but i think it was generally well done. the reader communicated different emotions and characters with small changes in his voice. i really didn't like the fadeout music that played at the end as it was wrapped up all happily (way too wrapped up) and don't know if that's typical or not. it was a good first audiobook experience and i will try others. ( )