T.J. NEWMAN is a former bookseller and flight attendant whose first novel, Falling, became a publishing sensation and debuted at number two on the New York Times bestseller list. Her second novel, Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421 was a an instant New York Times bestseller.

Her third and most recent novel is Worst Case Scenario.

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.

This book had me engrossed from the very beginning. Immediate danger and panic was delivered like a shot to the face. This book doesn’t just pull you in, it drags you under. And you will love every second. Newman adeptly covered the panic and chaos that ensues when a plane goes down.

But this book wasn’t just a book about a panicked survival situation. Newman wove in a compelling backstory for the main protagonists. It was a story of a family separated by a painful loss in the past, yet struggling in the present to not suffer the same fate again. It gave the characters depth and had me rooting for them all the more.

Other themes were also at play. Survival vs. sacrifice – who do you save and who do you leave behind? Do you fight for every last second, or do you accept fate? Through a multitude of other characters this was explored. This ensemble of passengers made this story multi-dimensional.

I will certainly be picking up Newman’s other books.