Using multiple points of view, a countdown clock, and the “locked room” element of an airplane, Clare Mackintosh fits the puzzle pieces of this mystery thriller together with incredible skill. In Hostage, she lays the groundwork of the story just right so that the answers are never obvious, but the reader can just begin to see where some of the pieces might start to fit, resulting in that blessed “A-Ha!” feeling that thriller readers crave.
The characters we meet first, who form the core of the story are Mina and Adam, whose marriage has been disintegrating in recent months. They have a five-year-old daughter who is very bright, but has some issues that require effort from Mina and Adam that they both sometimes doubt that they have.
Adam is a detective, and Mina is a flight attendant who is working a high-publicity flight from London to Sydney. The plane has not been in the air very long before Mina starts getting clues that something is afoot. She soon receives a terrifying note from someone on the flight who has figured out exactly what it would take to force Mina to comply with their plan.
Mackintosh allows Adam and Mina to alternate narrating what is happening in their part of the story, which allows us to see inside each of their thoughts. We know from this that they are each keeping secrets from the other, as well as from co-workers and others in their lives, but even we don’t know what those secrets are…at first.
Chapters each begin with whose point of view we are following as well as the time. We know the flight is 20 hours, so the reader can practically hear the ticking clock as the story twists again and again. As time ticks down, the plane starts to feel more and more frightening and claustrophobic—to the characters and to the reader as well.
Mackintosh has filled Hostage with fear, panic, and excitement, and jam-packed it with action. In addition, she has included bits of smart social commentary on prejudice and discrimination, extremism, and the assumptions we make about those around us. This is a true edge-of-your-seat suspense thriller that is not to be missed!
Hostage is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of June 22nd 2021.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
You can save hundreds of lives. Or the one that matters most.
A claustrophobic thriller set over twenty hours on one airplane flight, with the heart-stopping tension of The Last Flight and the wrenching emotional intensity of Room, Hostage takes us on board the inaugural nonstop flight from London to Sydney.
Mina is trying to focus on her job as a flight attendant, not the problems of her five-year-old daughter back home, or the fissures in her marriage. But the plane has barely taken off when Mina receives a chilling note from an anonymous passenger, someone intent on ensuring the plane never reaches its destination. Someone who needs Mina’s assistance and who knows exactly how to make her comply.
It’s twenty hours to landing. A lot can happen in twenty hours.
