The Last Flight in Bound Together

May 02, 2020 PattyMacDotComma rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arc-netgalley-done, fiction, kindle, mystery-crime-thriller, aa

4★
“She’d been told that life was a single track, carrying you forward. If you worked hard, good things happened. But she’d always known it was more like a pinball, careening and racing. The thrill was in the unexpected.”

The publisher’s blurb about the book sets the scene: two women choose to escape trouble by swapping identities. Yes, it sounds improbable, but I have to say, the author has done a good job of taking me along for the ride.

One is the wife of a high-profile, would-be US senate candi 4★
“She’d been told that life was a single track, carrying you forward. If you worked hard, good things happened. But she’d always known it was more like a pinball, careening and racing. The thrill was in the unexpected.”

The publisher’s blurb about the book sets the scene: two women choose to escape trouble by swapping identities. Yes, it sounds improbable, but I have to say, the author has done a good job of taking me along for the ride.

One is the wife of a high-profile, would-be US senate candidate who's also the son of a very popular former senator. Think Kennedy-type fame. Claire’s husband is a classic good guy on the outside (handsome, charming, attentive) but brutal control freak in private. Not always. Only when he disapproves of her smile, her manner, her lack of obedience. So, yeah, we'd dump him for sure.

Eva, on the other hand, was an abandoned kid, raised in a home, could never catch a break but was academically smart. Especially in chemistry. Cue – shades of Breaking Bad! But she’s bright enough to want more from life, to be free to study, love, breathe. So, yeah, we'd opt to drop out.

Okay - one wants to escape a husband, one wants to escape a drug ring. Fair enough. But how the plans of each are figured out and then foiled and then adapted are revealed slowly, in alternating, chapters, designed to make us nervous.

“The level of detail needed to eliminate even the tiniest trace. Because there’s always something. A small thread, a seed of truth, a mistake. It only takes a tiny pinprick of circumstance to unravel it all.”

The famous wife Claire’s story is told in the present, while Eva’s story (the struggling “chemist”) is told in the months preceding the swap. The whole time, we just know they are bound to be discovered and want to say “SHUT UP! Don’t trust him, for crying out loud. CLOSE THE DOOR, avoid her – she might be a spy.”

Ah, that’s the fun! Good story, good characters, enjoyable read. It is due for release in June, but I’m posting this now because it’s still available for NetGalley reviewers until 28 June. It is also known as The Flight: Two passengers. Two tickets. One chance to escape.

Thanks to NetGalley and Source Books Landmark for the preview copy from which I’ve quoted. ...more

63 likes · Like · see review

Dec 06, 2020 ☮Karen rated it liked it

Shelves: read-in-2020, cindy-owns, mystery-suspense-thriller

This was an addictive read that I could not put down or read fast enough. Sadly when I finished and gave it some thought, I felt it too full of unlikely coincidences. The drug story really bothered me too. But most readers seem to have given this 4 or 5 stars so pay no attention to me!

17 likes · Like · see review

Oct 18, 2020 Meera rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: book-of-the-month, bookbrowse

This was such a fast read! It was also nice to have perspectives from sympathetic female characters, unlike the unreliable and messy narrators that are the current usual in thrillers. I was fully invested in how things were going to turn out for both of the characters and had trouble putting it down.

5 likes · Like · see review

Nov 05, 2020 Glenda rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-read-in-2020

Claire Cook has a perfect life. Married to the scion of a political dynasty, with a Manhattan townhouse and a staff of ten, her surroundings are elegant, her days flawlessly choreographed, and her future auspicious. But behind closed doors, nothing is quite as it seems. That perfect husband has a temper that burns as bright as his promising political career, and he's not above using his staff to track Claire's every move, making sure she's living up to his impossible standards. But what he doesn ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 29, 2021 Paula Hess rated it really liked it

Good suspense read with an ending that surprised me.

2 likes · Like · see review

Jul 28, 2020 Amanda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This book was very enjoyable with a slightly suspenseful, fast paced story line. The chapters bounce back and forth in both time and the two main characters, Claire and Eva. Claire is in a volatile, abusive marriage with a man that is abusive both verbally and physically. Eva is a lonely ex-college student that becomes a street-drug maker to survive and feel wanted. Both women collide in an effort to escape their current situations at the airport and exchange boarding passes on a quest to start ...more

Like · see review

May 12, 2022 Susan rated it liked it

I enjoy reading thrillers, page-turners, etc. From the first page, it was engaging. I thought I would enjoy the novel. I had heard such good reviews. Our book club met before I actually finished the novel

If you read, Last Flight for face value and do not question the actions you will be ok, and possibly enjoy reading for the fast-paced novel it is. But for me, so many things didn't add up. For example, if you are switching identities wouldn't your best friend or employer know by your voice, beha I enjoy reading thrillers, page-turners, etc. From the first page, it was engaging. I thought I would enjoy the novel. I had heard such good reviews. Our book club met before I actually finished the novel

If you read, Last Flight for face value and do not question the actions you will be ok, and possibly enjoy reading for the fast-paced novel it is. But for me, so many things didn't add up. For example, if you are switching identities wouldn't your best friend or employer know by your voice, behavior, your character. In so many ways you are different. Don't you think someone would take notice? There were too many scenes in the story that didn't add up to me. More questions than answers. I can't say anymore in case you decide to read. I don't want to ruin it for anyone. You may enjoy it.

There was one point in the book I wanted to throw the book against the wall. I was upset with the author to make us think it was believable. Sorry, but most of us are not stupid. And getting invested in the story, more and more, and then whamo, what,! really!. Give me a break. That would never happen. You will understand what I am talking about when you get to the part.

I give the author credit for the plot and the themes, and the times we are in now. It has themes of strong women, abuse, harassment, wealthy, powerful men, #MeToo movement, etc.

The novel is about a wealthy congressman's wife, Claire, and their marriage, the abuse, and secrets from the present and past he wants to keep hidden. Claire has a plan. For months she has been planning her escape. But, her plan becomes complicated. She has a backup plan. She leaves for the airport. At the airport, another woman, Evie wants to escape her life as well. She has a hidden past too. Their lives collide and have a plan to switch identities. They switch their belonging with switched identities. Evie goes to Puerto Rico, and Claire goes to California.

I would have given the novel more stars if the situations and actions of the characters were believable. ...more

Like · see review