Drowning by T.J. Newman #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio for the ALC of Drowning in exchange for my honest review.

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Published: May 30, 2o23

 

Summary:

Flight attendant turned New York Times bestselling author T. J. Newman returns with an edge-of-your-seat thriller about a commercial jetliner that crashes into the ocean and sinks to the bottom with passengers trapped inside—and the extraordinary rescue operation to save them.

Six minutes after takeoff, Flight 1421 crashes into the Pacific Ocean. During the evacuation, an engine explodes and the plane is flooded. Those still alive are forced to close the doors—but it’s too late. The plane sinks to the bottom with twelve passengers trapped inside.

More than two hundred feet below the surface, engineer Will Kent and his eleven-year-old daughter Shannon are waist-deep in water and fighting for their lives.

Their only chance at survival is an elite rescue team on the surface led by professional diver Chris Kent—Shannon’s mother and Will’s soon-to-be ex-wife—who must work together with Will to find a way to save their daughter and rescue the passengers from the sealed airplane, which is now teetering on the edge of an undersea cliff.

There’s not much time.

There’s even less air.

With devastating emotional power and heart-stopping suspense, Drowning is an unforgettable thriller about a family’s desperate fight to save themselves and the people trapped with them—against impossible odds.

 

My thoughts:

After absolutely loving T.J. Newman’s debut novel, Falling, I knew I would be picking up anything she wrote. So when I had the opportunity to grab the ALC of her sophomore novel, Drowning, I didn’t hesitate…and this one is just as intense and pulse-pounding as the first one. The hype is real for this one and it might even be better than the first book.

This book is one intense, action-packed ride that keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time. But what I loved about this one is that there is also so much character development here – you really become invested in the characters we meet. I found myself really caring for Will and Shannon more so than I ever have in any thriller I have read before. I loved how the story was told from multiple perspectives – it really allowed us to feel everyone’s anxiety and fear, make it that much more palpable.

This story is about a plane crash into the ocean, but it is so much more than that. It’s about the complexities of human relationships and how far we are willing to go for those we love. This one captivated me from start to finish and I love that because of the author’s background as a former flight-attendant, she was able to use that knowledge to really add authenticity to this book.

This is one not to miss…add it to your summer reading list, it’s an addictive, adrenaline-fueled read you won’t be able to put down. I highly recommend!

 

Audio thoughts:

Just like her last book, this newest one also translates very well to audio – and the narrators, Steven Weber and Laura Benanti, did a fantastic job bringing the book to life. Their pacing and intonation were spot on and they infused just the right amount of tension and emotion into their voices as needed. This was one audiobook that I just could not put down and I loved every tense minute of it!