Flight Risk
by
Michael McGuire
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Publication Date: 1st January 2019
RRP: $29.99 AUD
Pages: 304
Format Read: Uncorrected proof paperback
Source: Courtesy of the publisher
Disgraced former pilot
Ted Anderson works for a top-secret government organisation set up to
investigate terror-related incidents. Sent to Jakarta to find out as
much as he can about the pilot of a vanished Garuda flight, he discovers
a flight simulator in the pilot's apartment.
When the investigation turns sour, Ted escapes to New York as further disaster strikes.
Another
plane disappears from the sky. Then another. Three planes and hundreds
of passengers and crew, vanished, without a trace. Panic is widespread
and the world is teetering on the brink.
Still no one has come forward to claim responsibility.
At
an eerily deserted JFK airport trying to get a flight back home, Ted
witnesses a suspicious exchange between an airport cleaner and a
nonchalant airline pilot. He follows the pilot to his destination: a
Ukraine International Airlines flight, due to leave in an hour.
All
his instincts tell Ted that this is the next plane to go down. But what
on earth can he do? Take the flight and face almost certain death? Or
fly back home and wait for the news headlines?
He does the unthinkable and gets on the plane.
Flight Risk is an
action packed and thought provoking thriller.
Ted
Anderson had all the makings of the perfect Secret Service Agent; self
loathing, dead wife, estranged child, inflated ego, ex alcoholic, disregard for
authority and breaker of rules. I knew straight away this guy was going to make
dangerous decisions and put his life on the line.
A
plane travelling from Sydney to Jakarta goes missing, disappears off the face
of the Earth as far as satellite and radar reading are concerned.
Ted
is sent to Western Australia to investigate but not happy with waiting around
while official channels are searching for crash refuse he heads to Jakarta to
search the home of the pilot.
This
triggers a roller coaster of events that see Ted in life or death situations on
more than one occasion.
The
danger and the tempo heats up as Ted fights for his life and the lives of
thousands of people around the world.
I
really enjoyed this novel from the building of the mystery to the adrenaline
filled suspense and danger to the laugh out loud humour.
The
character of Ted Anderson was wonderfully drawn from his dry sense of humour
and disrespect for everything and everyone to his emotional remorse over his
wife’s death and the estrangement of his daughter.
I
had some of the best quotes pulled from the book but as I read an uncorrected
proof copy these quotes are unquotable. :( So I
recommend you buy a copy and have a laugh, hold your breath, close your eyes
and be amazed by the sheer courage and endurance of Aussie spy Ted Anderson.
Flight Risk is a riveting read! I’m looking forward to more adrenaline filled reading from Michael McGuire
and hope to see Ted Anderson back on the page again.
🌟🌟🌟🌟
My rating 4/5
*this review is part of the Book Lover Book Review Aussie author challenge
and Letter 'F' in the 2019 A-Z challenge
Born in Glasgow in 1971, Michael McGuire moved to South Australia with his family at the age of 10.
Michael
has worked as a journalist in Sydney and Adelaide for The Australian,
The Sunday Mail and The Advertiser, with a couple of forays into the
state and federal politics as an advisor.
Michael is married to Rachel and they have two children, Tom and Ruby. Never a True Word, his first novel, is a satire about politics and was published in March 2017 by Wakefield Press.
