Chris Bohjalian | THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT

Plot (via Goodreads):

Cassandra Bowden is no stranger to hungover mornings. She's a binge drinker, her job with the airline making it easy to find adventure, and the occasional blackouts seem to be inevitable. She lives with them, and the accompanying self-loathing. When she awakes in a Dubai hotel room, she tries to piece the previous night back together, already counting the minutes until she has to catch her crew shuttle to the airport. She quietly slides out of bed, careful not to aggravate her already pounding head, and looks at the man she spent the night with. She sees his dark hair. His utter stillness. And blood, a slick, still wet pool on the crisp white sheets. Afraid to call the police--she's a single woman alone in a hotel room far from home--Cassie begins to lie. She lies as she joins the other flight attendants and pilots in the van. She lies on the way to Paris as she works the first class cabin. She lies to the FBI agents in New York who meet her at the gate. Soon it's too late to come clean-or face the truth about what really happened back in Dubai. Could she have killed him? If not, who did?

Review:

I'll admit it, this is my first book by Chris Bohjalian and I had no clue what I was in for. Being a huge fan of crime fiction, suspense, and thrillers this novel just spoke to me in a way that none others did. The plot is so intriguing and multi-layered, I was quickly drawn into a novel unlike anything I've ever read before. 

Bohjalian does a fantastic job with his writing. Not one word goes to waste and not one character is manageable, especially Cassandra. I absolutely loved reading about her...especially with the way this novel opens. The plot to THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT is adhesive, deceptive, and dangerously anxious. I myself have awoken to the brutality of a hangover and the anxiety that floods your body wondering if I had said or did anything wrong, so I can kind of relate to Cassandra's viewpoints. Granted, I've never woken up to a dead body before...just wondered if I took it too far discussing The Real Housewives or if I really needed that slice of pizza at 3AM. 

I not only enjoyed the plot to this novel, but I loved the adventures we went on along with Cassandra. Bohjalian does a phenomenal job of making you feel like you're running along with her on all of her flights to different parts of the world that I've never visited before. His way with words are not only intriguing, but exceptionally brilliant in its prose. The characters in this novel sparkle with all intrigue as you wonder who is out for themselves and who is really just trying to help guide our protagonist through this dark journey she found herself embarking on. I especially enjoyed the multitude of police reports and how they at time counteracted with what the characters actions or words were narrated throughout Cassandra's viewpoint. 

That being said, and to not spoil too much; this novel kind of has another layer on top of Cassie's world that I was not expecting, nor did I know about diving into this one. Sure, the opening and the few chapters that follow really dragged me into this novel and I was quite enjoying it. However, there is another viewpoint throughout that brings this from not only your ordinary thriller, but kind of delves into a world that I'm so unfamiliar with that at times I was confused and just longing for the opposite viewpoint to get back to what Cassie was going through. That being said, Bohjalian again sparkles in his writing with explaining the details of this one and ultimately gave me enough of an inkling that I was semi-familiar with what was really going on behind the scenes. 

The ending to this novel was shocking enough to enjoy and feel satisfied, but the epilogue kind of confused me with what exactly had been going on this entire time. I kind of feel as though this novel may have been more effective if the entire alternate viewpoints of the secondary character were shortened to a few less confusing chapters in the end and it might have been more effective for me. Bottom line, did I enjoy this as much as I thought I would? No. But, Bohjalian is a phenomenal writer who can build one hell of a novel and for that, I am definitely willing to check out more of his work. 

Special thanks to Doubleday for providing me with this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 3/5