Whoop, Whoop!
Review time!
SPOILERS AHEAD!
I have just finished reading Claire Mackintosh’s book Hostage. As a much more recent fan of thriller/mystery books this is one of the best I have read!
Although, to be fair I did not like it as much as I like Megan Miranda’s books. Her twists and turns are never boring, nor do they ever have the feeling of being endlessly drawn out. Not that this book was endlessly drawn out or boring. Megan Miranda just holds a special place in my heart.
With Hostage I found myself wondering as I entered into this book if I would find the plot unable to move around in such a small space. Would being trapped on a plane be too difficult to make a novel out of?
I was pleasantly surprised by Mackintosh’s ability to make the world feel larger than one single plane and I appreciated that we weren’t stuck inside the plane the entire novel. Switching back and forth between the husband and wife was an excellent choice as far as I’m concerned.
Honestly, one of my favorite pieces of this novel was listening to both sides of the story. As I have come to learn when reading first person pieces – thanks to Megan Miranda mostly – the narrator is not always a trustworthy source of information. In this novel Mackintosh switches back and forth between husband and wife.
It allows the characters to be bias while letting the reader see the whole picture and decide for themselves what information to take in.
That choice was a favorite of mine because within the first chapter I found myself hating the cheating Adam or to discover I adored him later. He’s a character riddled with faults and so is Mina.
These two are placed in impossible positions – some of their own making – and are left dealing with the very real and dangerous consequences.
The alternating points of view allowed me to love Adam as much as Mina and feel for them both as they struggled with not only their relationship but their relationship to their daughter.
One the book it poses the question what would you do in this situation?
I felt for all the characters involved.
Mina’s fear and lack of remorse for doing what she had to, to protect her daughter was understandably justifiable.
As is the anger and grief with everyone on the plane.
Their questions of how are our lives any less important than your daughter’s is heart wrenching.
Mina’s understanding that they are not but this is her daughter is amazing. Rationally, she understands she has made a choice to condemn the lives of many people to save her daughter. She understands it’s not fair. But wouldn’t you throw those lives away to save your child? Wouldn’t you do whatever you had to consequences be damned?
I loved it.
Both sides bring up very good points.
And it was delicious to witness events unfold as Mina desperately tried to undo her mistake.
As for the downside to the book the alternating points of when it came to Mina and Adam was one of my favorite aspects of the book. The alternating points of view with everyone else without names, made for a bit of a confusing read.
There may have been one too many points of view so as a reader you’re left trying to connect the dots as to who is who from Mina’s point of view and the passengers. My goodness, the number of times I had to flip back to try and remember who was who was a little annoying.
Part way through the novel I did quickly come to the understanding that all the passengers’ who points of view we were seeing through were hijackers. As the novel went on, I managed to narrow it down to Derek or Rowan as the mastermind of the hijacking.
For me, personally I love when an author leaves enough breadcrumbs you can go back and see how the dots come together to create the story. That if you are paying close enough attention as you read, you can see it.
So, overall, I give kudos to Claire Mackintosh and will absolutely be on the lookout for her next book!
And for one last sidenote, I had to reread her ending a few times but I could not believe what I was seeing. She had me on the edge of my seat until the very end!
I will also note on behalf of an environmentalist friend of mine who also read this book, she firmly believes hijacking a plane was the most unbelievable part of this novel. As an environmentalist herself she found it somewhat illogical, they would choose a plane to make their stand. It was her one compliant that I would agree with. It is a poor choice to use environmentalist as plane hijackers, but I could also understand her fear of stereotyping.
Either way, despite those few details. I liked the novel overall.
4 out of 5 stars!
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