Mainliner Denver

by Andrew J. Field

Mainliner The Bombing of Flight 629 by Andrew J. Field [3D Press, 200...

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, History, Adult, Mystery

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2005

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was immediately drawn to the book as someone who was born and raised in the county where this crash happened, but became even more fascinated as I read through. The research that went into the back stories was incredibly thorough and very fascinating, and I have recommended this book to several friends and family members before I even finished it. Great insight into what happened with the flight and the subsequent trial, with fantastic detail. If you grew up in northern Colorado, or are even just interested in historical legal cases, this is a great read.

[Robert Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story, very briefly, is that in 1955, a man named John Gilbert Graham, partly in revenge for what he considered to be mistreatment in his childhood and partly to claim insurance money, decided to kill his mother, Daisie King. He did so by planting a dynamite bomb in her suitcase before her flight and the result was that he killed 44 people ranging in age from 13 months to 81 years. There were no survivors.

The book begins as the passengers boarded their ill-fated flight and traces the entire saga through Graham’s eventual capture, trial, and execution. And it’s quite an achievement because it renders a decades-old case almost as exciting as if it were a current event. The book pays the most attention, I think, to Graham’s trial, which makes a certain degree of sense as the author is a lawyer. But it does so in such a way that it walks the reader through the details of a lengthy legal procedure without losing sight of the humanity of the players involved. The result is a book that reads as much like a thriller as a history book, and easily belongs in the library of anyone interested in criminal law, aviation history, or Colorado history.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My grandmother was one of the witnesses of the explosion. It was very interesting learning about this piece of history, especially having a connection to the event.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story itself is a little interesting, but it's a great snapshot of 1950s Denver.