Rating: 
Summary: Another editorial disguised as a novel
Review: What first starts as a Bentley-Little-type novel turns out to be a hidden editorial about airline regulations and accountability. Meridian Airlines is the worst airline in the world. The author amalgamates airplane passenger's worst nightmares into this fictional airline making them glad that they are not on this flight. The ticket counter people are poorly trained, the airline stewardesses are rude, and the pilots are so inexperienced they should not even be flying yet.On Meridian Flight 6, everything that can go wrong goes wrong and most of the crew could care less. There are only two sympathetic people on this flight. Co-pilot Garth Abbott is trying to make sense of Captain Phil Knight's erratic behavior and stewardess Janie Bretsen is trying to control head stewardess, Judy Jackson who is acting very rude and almost injured a child. Ms. Jackson hides in the cockpit in order to avoid an assault by outraged riders. Dr. Brian Logan is one of the passengers on this flight. He is on this flight as a last resort because no other flights were available to take him to his destination. Several months ago, Logan's wife was on a Meridian flight and she was having complications with her pregnancy. She begged for the plane to land in order to go to a hospital but the crew refused. She died during the flight and now Logan is involved in a multimillion lawsuit against the airline. The events on this particular flight will force him to lead a mutiny against the captain in order for them to reach their destination safely. The problems on this flight are numerous to mention. Nance uses his novel as a forum to regulate airlines by offering comments and suggestions throughout his characters. Some of the passengers on this flight have a unique story or reasons to be on this flight. The author does not develop them at all deciding to mash everything at the end of the book. Mr. Nance does know how to write an airplane thriller but it is very hard to relax with this novel. The outrageousness of this flight was a bit too much and can easily rise anyone's blood pressure with this airline's negligence. Do not give up with this author; try any of his previous novels like HEADWIND and BLACKOUT. They are better novels.
Rating: 
Summary: Credible thriller set in the world of air travel
Review: While there are some excesses in this novel (half the passengers and crew seem to have taken a course in sadomasochism, they are THAT hellish and over the top), I still couldn't put this one down. Author John Nance clearly knows the world of aviation inside out, plus he has a knack for creating full-throttle suspense. The situation: a plane full of disgruntled passengers, mistreated by airline personnel and pushed to the brink. Combine this with a forced emergency landing in Nigeria and airline mutiny is all but certain. This scenario makes for a riveting tale but Nance doesn't stop there...the rest I won't reveal but I urge you to read this one, far superior to most thrillers out there.
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