”A wild ride through the night sky …”–Capt. “Sully” Sullenberger, author of #1 New York Times bestseller (and film) “SULLY”
Over the Atlantic in the dark of night, the electronic brain of Pangia Airlines Flight 10 quietly and without warning disconnects all the cockpit controls and reverses course on its own.
The crew of the huge Airbus 330 at first sense nothing, the flight displays still … sense nothing, the flight displays still showing them on course to New York. But with puzzled passengers reporting stars on the wrong side and growing alarm over the sudden failure of all their radios – and when armed fighters pull alongside to force them to land – the confused pilots discover that Flight 10 is streaking back toward the hyper-volatile Middle East and there is nothing they can do about it.
With an alphabet soup of federal agencies struggling for answers and messages flying between Washington, and Tel Aviv where the flight began, the growing supposition that Flight 10 may be hijacked is fueled by the presence of a feared and hated former head of state sitting in first class, a man with an extreme Mid East agenda who may somehow be responsible for the Airbus A-330’s loss of control. As frantic speculation spreads, the possibility that the unresponsive airliner could be the leading edge of a sophisticated attack on Iran designed to provoke a nuclear response drives increasingly desperate decisions.
As time and fuel runs low, flying at full throttle toward a hostile border ahead, Captain Jerry Tollefson and First Officer Dan Horneman have to put their personal animosities aside and risk everything to wrest control from the electronic ghost holding them – and perhaps the world – on a course to certain disaster.
And in the “Hole” – as the war room in Tel Aviv is called – the interim Prime Minister of Israel grapples with a horrifying choice in the balance between 300 airborne lives and the probability of nuclear war.
Praise for Nance’s previous books
”A uniquely suspenseful and terrifying story.”–Booklist (Pandora’s Clock)
”A combination of ‘The Hot Zone’ and ‘Speed.’”–USA Today (Pandora’s Clock)
”Nance delivers in a subgenre he has established almost singlehandedly, the aviation thriller.”–Publisher’s Weekly (Skyhook)
”Mistrust, deceit, and spine-chilling action flow from every page of this story.”–Library Journal (Medusa’s Child)
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If you like aviation based fiction, you’ll enjoy this. Yes, I’m sure there are multiple instances of “Aww… THAT could never happen!” but just relax, let it go, and let the story carry you along; it’s a great yarn.
The plot of “Lockout” thickened and then thickened again! It was highly developed, full of surprises and thought-provoking.
A flight from Tel Aviv to the U. S. was mysteriously taken over by an unknown entity. The A337 reversed its path and was returning to Israel. Pilots were helpless to control the aircraft, which had limited fuel and seemed programmed to crash land in Iraq.
In fact, the turns taken by the story had a slightly humorous aspect–although the topic was deadly serious. The author illustrated the way that deep government secrets can fail because of “too many cooks” involved in solving the problem!
Great book if you are interested in aviation. So realistic it is somewhat scary as the possibility of something like this happening could actually occur.
A real page turner, if there were actual pages
Fun airplane action novel with good character conflict. I’m not reading any more Nance books because he can’t leave the propaganda hype he’s swallowed that Iran has nucs and that Ed Snowden is a traitor. However, if you’re in the same matrix and OK with that, he’s a super writer. Enjoy.
Nobody writes better books about airplane disasters, John Nance has been both a military and commercial airline pilot. This gives his books tremendous realism. I enjoy the way his characters develop, the interplay of emotions among the characters are central to the excitement of the novels.
I really enjoyed the concept and the action packed story. There were a lot of characters to keep track of in many locations.
The story captures you from page 1. Great read
This was definitely an above-average adventure in airline flying. Good writing and realistic theme. Enjoyable. Will look for more from this author.
This book Is suspenseful, well written and great mystery. It is a real page turner. Hard to put down. Would make a great movie.
Chose not to finish the book…two grown men in the cockpit of a plane full of passengers and all they seemed to do was constantly bicker back and forth like two little children. Not enough action for too many chapters !
Love all of John J. Nance’s aviation thrillers.
Great especially for aviation buffs.
Love to read Nance. Always so thrilling.
This was a very good piece of fiction, possible but not plausible.
Love all John J. Nance books. Need more of them.
great knowledge of airplanes and how they work. read on a flight–a lot scary
This book was an action packed thriller. He is an excellent writer and if you like aviation thrillers he should definitely be on your list. The plot was excellent and you find yourself wondering about whether this could ever actually happen. Its a scary thought!
Great book, as always from this author!
Interesting story and how they came up with the idea of a lockout. Do not think any one would enjoy the feeling of an uncontrollable long distance flight. Fast reading with a lot of plausible ideas.