Book Review: The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian
The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian
Publisher: Doubleday
Release Date: March 13, 2018
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
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, 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?
Set amid the captivating world of those whose lives unfold at forty thousand feet, The Flight Attendant unveils a spellbinding story of memory, of the giddy pleasures of alcohol and the devastating consequences of addiction, and of murder far from home.
Cassie is a flight attendant who also happens to be an alcoholic – severe alcoholic to the extent that she gets black-out drunk on a regular basis. On a flight to Dubai, she hits it off with Alex, a handsome first class passenger. After Alex takes her to dinner, she spends the night in his hotel room instead of the room provided by the airline. They have one drink, then another, then another…Then Alex’s friend Miranda stops by with a full bottle of vodka and they drink even more.
In the morning, Cassie wakes up in bed next to Alex. There’s a problem – Alex is dead. His throat has been slit and there is blood everywhere. Unfortunately, Cassie drank so much that she can’t remember a thing after Miranda left. What happened? Did she do it? Could she really have killed a man and not remember it? And why would she do that in the first place? She and Alex had a great time. Just in case, she wipes down the hotel room and destroys as much of the evidence as she can.
As you can probably tell from my summary, Cassie is a VERY frustrating character who makes VERY bad choices. She fully admits she has a drinking problem but even waking up beside a dead man isn’t enough to make her quit. She continually ignores the advice of the lawyer she retains just in case she’s charged with Alex’s murder to the point that I wanted to shake her silly.
Obviously, whether or not Cassie or someone else killed Alex is a mystery but there are other mysteries (that I can’t tell you about because they would be spoilers) on top of mysteries. And I was continually surprised by the many twists and turns the story took. I truly did not see them coming, especially the ending. Which, by the way, ties everything up in a neat little bow, which I loved! All mysteries are solved.
I recommend The Flight Attendant to everyone but especially to fans of crime novels and thrillers. You will not be disappointed. Also, Kaley Cuoco, of The Big Bang Theory, has optioned The Flight Attendant and will produce and star in a limited series based on the book.
As a side note, the only other book of Bohjalian’s I’ve read is The Sandcastle Girls, which was also great but could not have been more different from this book. I’m impressed with Bohjalian’s range and will definitely be reading more by him.
(I received a complimentary copy of this book for review.)
