Skyfall

by Thomas Block

This is the original version of Skyfall; see the Kindle or current paperback version for the edited and updated version!
When flight 42 takes off from Los Angeles, the senior flight attendant is shocked to see on board Ron Jennings, ex-airline pilot and her former lover. Soon after take-off, a bomb is discovered, shots are fired, Jennings has to take the controls and a cover-up of the crime is planned. The author has written "Mayday", "Orbit", "Forced Landing" and "Airship Nine".

Genres: Thriller, Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Thomas Block has written a number of aviation-oriented novels, many which have gone on to acquire best-seller status in numerous countries. His novel writing began with the publication of "Mayday" in 1979. That novel was rewritten with his boyhood friend, novelist Nelson DeMille in 1998 and remains on DeMille's extensive backlist. "Mayday" became a CBS Movie of the Week in October, 2005.

Several of the other novels by Block include "Orbit" (a top bestseller in Germany, among other nations), "Airship Nine", "Forced Landing" (also done as a radio serialization drama in Japan), "Skyfall", "Open Skies" and "Captain". Thomas Block is still writing both fiction and non-fiction, and has edited and updated his earlier novels into ebooks in all the major formats and also into new full-sized (trade soft cover) printed versions.

Block's magazine writing began in 1968 and over the next five decades his work has appeared in numerous publications. He worked 20 years at FLYING Magazine as Contributing Editor, and as Contributing Editor to Plane & Pilot Magazine for 11 years. Block became Editor-at-Large for Piper Flyer Magazine and Cessna Flyer Magazine in 2001. During his long career as an aviation writer he has written on a wide array of subjects that range from involvement with government officials to evaluation reports on most everything that flies.

An airline pilot for US Airways for over 36 years before his retirement in April, 2000, Captain Thomas Block has been a pilot since 1959. Since 2002, he has lived on a ranch in Florida with his wife Sharon where they board, compete and train horses. Complete information (including direct links to booksellers) is available at http://www.ThomasBlockNovels.com or through the author’s additional website at http://www.FlyingB-Ranch.com. For Facebook users, complete information about Thomas Block Novels can also be found at two interlinked Facebook sites:
http://www.Facebook.com/Captain.by.Th...
http://www.Facebook.com/ThomasBlockNo....

Reviews

[Alice · Rating 2 out of 5]

For the avoidance of doubt: not the book of the film.

This was absolute trash and obviously I couldn't put it down. Everything you want in a hijack thriller: two-dimensional characters and the kind of gory carnage Calvin dreams up in his sandbox, seasoned with occasional casual racism.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won't get all snobby and give this book one or two stars. It is hardly great literature, not even a "good" novel, but it is not intended as such...it is a wannabe screenplay. The inane, implausible plot and cardboard characters lend themselves to a second feature at a drive-in or nowadays I guess, a straight to cable B movie. But it's entertaining and you won't be bored, and sometimes that is all you want.

[Nancy Younghans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting adventure

This book kept me riveted to my chair. It is fast paced and exciting. Recommended to anyone who likes aviation thrillers.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although dated in terms of technology the story is exciting and gripping. A real page turner.

[Jerry B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good guys vs. bad in complex aviation thriller !

Thomas Block had a huge hit with his best seller "Mayday" co-authored with his (more famous) friend Nelson DeMille. Block, an long-time pilot by profession, then cranked out five more books of varying success on his own. We just completed the reading of his bibliography and were quite disappointed with his 1990 swan song "Open Skies", a weak detective story that only came alive toward the end when the principals are fighting head to head inside an airplane! "Skyfall" was his next to last effort published a few years earlier, but is a much better, exciting novel! An attempted hijacking of a jumbo jet flying from the U.S. to Japan goes really bad: a lot of people are killed by an onboard explosion -- but not everybody. A "nice guy" ex-pilot traveling with his wife and daughter, who happens to be the ex-flame of the first class flight attendant (for added sexual tension), winds up flying the disabled craft at low altitude. Trouble is, he has heart problems and the stresses are starting to render him helpless! Meanwhile, we readers get to enjoy the background of the disaster as the scenes alternate between the plane and the Chinese Embassy villains who are monitoring what is happening via computer link. Whether a second bomb on board will finish the job, and whether the bad guys will achieve a clever attempt to recoup their losses and twist the whole caper to a different political front, sustains suspense till right near the end.
Block is always most effective when writing about action in the cockpit and "Skyfall" is no exception. The intrigue created by what we learn as readers about the whole plot versus what the people on board are trying to figure out, plus belated efforts by airline HQ control room efforts to help, combine to create a first-rate thriller that entertains throughout. Following a poignant conclusion, a movie-style capsule summary of what happened to all the leading characters about a year after the incident was a neat way to tie up the whole story with ribbons. We commend this niche effort, but enjoyable novel, to your attention!

[Paulien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leuk boek voor tussendoor. De vlotte schrijfstijl en het afsluiten van ieder hoofdstuk met een cliffhanger nodigt je uit om verder te lezen. Ik vond de buitenlKandse namen in het begin een beetje verwarrend, maar het verhaal maakt iedere keer goed duidelijk om wie het gaat.

Dat het boek door een piloot is geschreven maken de handelingen in de cockpit en de reactie van het vliegtuig daarop ook nog eens geloofwaardig.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent thriller with both in the air intrigue as well as political wheeling and dealing, both of which could get the remaining passengers on a hijacked intercontinental jet killed.