Rating: Summary: One Of Crichton's best books Review: A terrible accident has occurred on a transpacific N-22 flight. The plane is able to land but the interior cabin has been torn to shreds. Casey Singleton, the public relations and quality assurance for Norton is assigned to find out what happened on flight 545. This is a very untimely accident when the company has a multi-billion dollar deal going down with China. The N-22 is one of the best planes in the business, but this doesn't make it look good when there seems to be an error with the slats in the wings. Things only get worse when Casey views video footage of what happened in the cabin. But as things look their grimmest, stress and tensions rise as Jennifer Malone, a producer from Nightline finds out about this horrible occurrence. Now Malone is producing a story that could and will jeopardize the big China deal, and possibly put Norton under for good. Casey is the only one who can save the company, but when the workers start putting force on her, can she manage to do it?
This book has vivid, life like descriptions that make you never want to travel in an airplane ever again. It is a brilliant thriller that truly will make you view aviation in a whole new light. A "cat and mouse" strategy leaves you guessing what will happen next and who might slip up causing their empire to fall. It turns out to be either Norton goes under or Malone's producing career is terminated. This is one of Crichton's best books.
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.
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.
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: Airframe Review Review: I have just finished reading Airframe by Micheal Crichton. I have read several of his other books and I think this is one of his best yet. The way he keeps you guessing and makes you want to keep reading is awesome. Crichton develops the main character, Casey Singleton, in a way that is absolutely stunning. He leads you to believe that the predicament is simple and easy to solve but then he throws a wrench in the works and gives you new information, characters, and a whole other side of the story. Instantly you believe that Casey and her team at Norton Aircraft will quickly figure out why the accident that they are investigating in the book, took place. However he throws in a couple twists and turns and you can hardly guess how everything will be solved. In the end, the truth is finally revealed and everything snaps together. Airframe is and amazing jumble of twists and turns that will keep you guessing till the very end. I highly recommend Airframe to all readers.
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: The Jurrasic craze killed Crichton's literary style. Review: Okay, now I have read 10 Crichton novels, Andromeda Strain and Jurrasic Park are his best. But since JP, his novels are nothing more than movie scripts (well, JP was too, but it at least had a lot to chew on, no pun intended). I saw Disclosure, and then read the book, and they are exactly the same, IT WAS A SCRIPT, NOT A NOVEL! But Airframe is more on the line of Rising Sun. Rising Sun had a lot to say about Japanese business, and I must say that I learned from it, but it made the characters secondary, they're cardboard cutouts. And the same goes for Airframe. (Don't get me started on The Lost World.) I guess one of Crichton's trademarks has to be shallow chracters that are just talking heads, along with his fast pace reading. The hardcover looks to be about 350 pages, but that is decieving. This could have easily been 250 or 225 because there are so many blank or half-filled pages. And that reminds me, what is with the line breaks in the middle of a scene? At least in other novels I have read, authors use those as a means to change scenes or locations, but in Airframe they are put right in the middle of a conversation! Actually I think they might be there so readers can have permission to take a potty break as maby times as possible. However,I will admit that I am glad I learned some stuff about how the airframe industry works, but does it have to be so shallow? Do we really have to have the work stoop so low so more people will read it and Crichton will get more royalties? I am sad because this book and all but 3 written by Michael will be forgotten in 50 years time because of their slipshod need to be in the here and now. He does have a talent, but I think it was lost in the ER.
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: You'll never want to put this book down. Review: This book is Michael Crichton at his best. The entire book is so suspenseful and gripping that you won't want to put it down until you're finished... I read it in three days because I couldn't put it down. Like his other books, it's backed up with scientific information on the subject, but unlike some of his other books, he keeps it to a comfortable level to keep it interesting without disrupting the plot. This is a must-read, but set aside some time to read it as there are few good stopping points. The book is that good!
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.
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