Airframe

Rating:
Summary: Mixed Feelings about Airframe!
Review: I just finished reading Michael Crichton's `Airframe', and found it a little above average. I have never read any of Crichton's books, but I had read a lot of rave reviews on this works such as `Jurassic Park', `Congo' and `Andromeda Strain', a decided I would give the author a try by reading this book as my first.

The story starts off with TransPacific Airlines 545, a commercial airplane, which undergoes some catastrophe in the air, leaving 3 people dead and around 50 people badly injured. It is now up to Casey Singleton to find out the consequences that led to the disaster. However, while she and her research crew start working on the flight, Casey discovers other events that are happening in the background of company, and realizes that someone does not want her to succeed in her mission on the TPA 545. Meanwhile, a news agency starts writing a story on the flight, their main aim to bring down the company, adding to Casey's problems. Will she be able to solve the mystery of the flight and save the company from closing down?

While the story starts off fast paced and exciting, it slows down towards the middle, building up again towards the end and resulting in an anticlimax, leaving the reader a little disappointed. What made me give this book a 4-star rating was mainly due to the explicit information that Crichton provides about the Aircrafts and their manufacturing industries. It is obvious that Crichton has done a thorough research on the background and the workings of an aircraft, and for this reason I gave this book as 4 star rating. Now I have a better understanding of how the flight works, and have learnt some technical terms and their functions as well.

This book has its moments, and provides a lot of information, but I wouldn't put it as a very suspenseful thriller.


Rating:
Summary: An eye-opening look into the world of crash investigations
Review: The incident in the book is fictitious (as is Norton Aircraft), but the possibility is not. While not as compelling as some of Crichton's other novels, Airframe is an eye-opening look into the world of the National Transportation Safety Board and aircraft manufacturers. High profile crashes like the Columbia breakup, TWA Flight 800 and United Flight 232 have made the public more aware of what can go wrong on an aircraft -- and how hard it can be to find the true cause because the wreckage does not always make the root cause of the accident clear. Airframe proves this point as investigators pore through physical evidence, video and audio records from flight voice/data recorders and passenger video cameras, and the "black box" (they are actually bright orange for visibility reasons) that records the status of major systems on an aircraft on a looping tape or on a digital recorder. The true root cause of the accident is uncovered at last -- and it's something that one would never expect to happen with the long hours pilots put into their training and with the extensive simulations and testing carried out by aircraft manufacturers -- but is something that is quite capable of bringing down a modern airliner. It's worth reading, especially to any fellow aerospace buffs out there.

Rating:
Summary: I loved it
Review: When I started reading, I really didnt have such high expectations for this book. I had liked Crichton for the Jurassica Park BOOKS(and books only) and Sphere, etc. This seemed a stretch for me but it ended up being my favorite of his books.

This story is another Crichton thriller--so you know what you're getting going in and you know how he's gonna move the story--but in this book there is something much more inviting and familiar. It is because he spends alot more time making you care about the main character(s). Though you can probably see the end coming(if you know his writings well enough), the characters and the path they use to get to that ending is what really makes this book.

Rating:
Summary: Stellar Mystery
Review: This book was one of my favorite suspense novels. The author did an excellent job paint the scenery of the large areas where the planes are built. He definitely puts you in the eyes of the character. Great book.

Rating:
Summary: Not really about airline safety
Review: Another thrilling Crichton page turner! I was expecting this to be about the dangers of flying, but in the end it left me feeling rather reassured about the safety of air travel. The real suspense in this book arise from the tensions created by the internal company politics in the airplane manufacturer, as well as from the aggressive "reporting" of the tabloid television crew. As usual, Crichton's characters aren't as well developed as I might like, but he knows how to pace a story and sustain interest. Definitely an entertaining read.



Rating:
Summary: MOVING THE CHESS PIECES
Review: AIRFRAME is another mystery on Crichton's growing list. The daughter in this tale shouts, "Oh, Mom, I missed you!" Which is what the reader will also echo in his or her search for character in this novel. When you write film scripts, which this essentially is, you leave it up to Sharon Stone to provide the elements of character. The heroine, Casey, in this story is one of the author's chess pieces, a woman who dumps her daughter off on her ex husband and engages in zipless sex while she stumbles her way to solving the mystery of the why an airplane dove out of control.

Crichton does put some nice messages out there. He shows how TV news show producers and anchormen become prostitutes to their own stories. He displays the infighting that goes on between corporate bosses and their wannabe underlings. He demonstrates how corporations play footsie with their big customers. So what if he does pass off film scripts as novels, Hollywood is where the money is. The reader can't have everything.