What do you think?
Rate this book
Sky Heist
When NTSB agent John Tubman is called to investigate the downing of a commercial airliner, he knows it won't be a routine case. He rushes to the crash site only to find the area crawling with FBI agents. He soon finds that what transpired was no accident, and the story is far from over.
Agent Tubman solves one layer of the mystery of Flight 227 only to be confounded by more questions. He is told to close the case but knows in his gut that there is more under the surface. He keeps digging and picks up the trail of an unlikely band of criminals who planned and executed the most ambitious theft in the history of mankind.
Can Tubman bring the murderous thieves to justice? Will he recover the stolen merchandise? He knows he can't save the people of flight 227 but he can still bring closure to a nation in mourning.
The conclusion of Sky Heist isn't the explosive ending one might expect.
The explosion is only the beginning.
Agent Tubman solves one layer of the mystery of Flight 227 only to be confounded by more questions. He is told to close the case but knows in his gut that there is more under the surface. He keeps digging and picks up the trail of an unlikely band of criminals who planned and executed the most ambitious theft in the history of mankind.
Can Tubman bring the murderous thieves to justice? Will he recover the stolen merchandise? He knows he can't save the people of flight 227 but he can still bring closure to a nation in mourning.
The conclusion of Sky Heist isn't the explosive ending one might expect.
The explosion is only the beginning.
236 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 1, 2023
563 people are currently reading
231 people want to read
About the author
Raymond Finkle
8 books13 followersRaymond Finkle is a physician who lives in New England. He wrote The Mendelian Protocol in 2005 during medical school. He decided to revive his writing career in 2020 because it was such a great year, all around, that it just seemed like the thing to do.
He released the Insanity Criterion, also a sci-fi medical thriller, in October 2020.
His third book The Armageddon Prophecy should be out before the end of 2020. It is not sci-fi.
He is currently working on his fourth book, a mystery set on Nantucket Island in the 1980s.
His short story collection Three Stories is available on Amazon.
He can be reached at rayfinkleauthor@gmail.com
He released the Insanity Criterion, also a sci-fi medical thriller, in October 2020.
His third book The Armageddon Prophecy should be out before the end of 2020. It is not sci-fi.
He is currently working on his fourth book, a mystery set on Nantucket Island in the 1980s.
His short story collection Three Stories is available on Amazon.
He can be reached at rayfinkleauthor@gmail.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
March 8, 2023
I liked this book, especially the second half.
The first half was bloated with too many citings of past plane crash details.
Though repititious, it turned out to be an interesting story.
The first half was bloated with too many citings of past plane crash details.
Though repititious, it turned out to be an interesting story.
August 31, 2023
Raymond Finkle is a physician living in New England who writes what he wants his readers to believe are mystery and suspense thrillers. Supposedly Sky Heist is one of them.
He joins a list of physicians who were also writers of fiction. The great A.J. Cronin comes to mind as does the famous Michael Crichton. But if Sky Heist is a fair sample of his writing skills, Dr. Finkle should stick to medicine. I can only hope for the sake of his patients that he is better at doctoring than he is at writing. His book is virtually devoid of dialogue. I wonder if in his medical practice Dr. Finkle treats his patients without talking to them.
I chose to read this book for all the wrong reasons. It was free, so if it was bad then at least I wouldn’t have wasted my money. It was short, so at least I wouldn’t have wasted much time. And ignoring the time-tested wisdom that you literally can’t tell a book by its cover, I liked the cover art showing a passenger jet with one of its engines ablaze about to crash with a person suspended from its wing. As a kid I used to pick my comic books using that same technique.
As a kid, it’s excusable.
Dr. Finkle’s main character is John Tubman, known as “Tubs” to everyone except his boss. Tubs is a former collegiate football star, age 41, divorced, has a daughter age 13 (who calls him Daddy, not Tubs), and works for the NTSB investigating plane crashes. He is described as six feet tall and stocky. It’s not clear whether he’s called Tubs because of his name or his build, or why, since his daughter also belongs to the class of “everyone except his boss,” she doesn’t call him Tubs too.
I’m guessing he’s called Tubs because of his build and not his name, because his daughter shares his name, there’s no description of her as stocky, nor are we told that anyone calls her Tubs.
Tubs has been assigned to investigate the crash of a Boeing 737 commercial airliner which had left Seattle for Hawaii but did not crash over water, suggesting the plane was humanly diverted if not hijacked.
It turned out that through an audacious plan of pure chutzpah, a computer hacker on board had conspired with the plane’s co-pilot to electronically rob the Federal Reserve Bank of a trillion dollars during the flight. Both had parachutes to bail out before the plane’s pilot, who had been drugged, woke up. The co-pilot, who had drugged him, had not anticipated that the pilot might wake up too late to land safely and that the plane would crash, killing everyone on board. Everyone except the co-pilot and the hacker, who had bailed out before the crash with a trillion dollars of Federal Reserve cash converted into bitcoin.
Fallen angel Tubs becomes the first NTSB investigator in history who thinks his job is not just to determine the cause of the crash, but to find the crooks who robbed the Federal Reserve before the crash — not to bring them to justice, but to steal from them the cash. A trillion dollars in bitcoin would go a long way to giving his daughter the life she deserved.
Relax. Compared to what follows, the story so far is a study in realism.
I know that trains, not planes, run on rails but at this point the story just jumped the tracks and went flying off in so many ridiculous directions it would be impossible to overstate how badly the rest of this fairy tale was written. Even the word preposterous would not do it justice.
Zero stars for the story but two stars for the cover art.
He joins a list of physicians who were also writers of fiction. The great A.J. Cronin comes to mind as does the famous Michael Crichton. But if Sky Heist is a fair sample of his writing skills, Dr. Finkle should stick to medicine. I can only hope for the sake of his patients that he is better at doctoring than he is at writing. His book is virtually devoid of dialogue. I wonder if in his medical practice Dr. Finkle treats his patients without talking to them.
I chose to read this book for all the wrong reasons. It was free, so if it was bad then at least I wouldn’t have wasted my money. It was short, so at least I wouldn’t have wasted much time. And ignoring the time-tested wisdom that you literally can’t tell a book by its cover, I liked the cover art showing a passenger jet with one of its engines ablaze about to crash with a person suspended from its wing. As a kid I used to pick my comic books using that same technique.
As a kid, it’s excusable.
Dr. Finkle’s main character is John Tubman, known as “Tubs” to everyone except his boss. Tubs is a former collegiate football star, age 41, divorced, has a daughter age 13 (who calls him Daddy, not Tubs), and works for the NTSB investigating plane crashes. He is described as six feet tall and stocky. It’s not clear whether he’s called Tubs because of his name or his build, or why, since his daughter also belongs to the class of “everyone except his boss,” she doesn’t call him Tubs too.
I’m guessing he’s called Tubs because of his build and not his name, because his daughter shares his name, there’s no description of her as stocky, nor are we told that anyone calls her Tubs.
Tubs has been assigned to investigate the crash of a Boeing 737 commercial airliner which had left Seattle for Hawaii but did not crash over water, suggesting the plane was humanly diverted if not hijacked.
It turned out that through an audacious plan of pure chutzpah, a computer hacker on board had conspired with the plane’s co-pilot to electronically rob the Federal Reserve Bank of a trillion dollars during the flight. Both had parachutes to bail out before the plane’s pilot, who had been drugged, woke up. The co-pilot, who had drugged him, had not anticipated that the pilot might wake up too late to land safely and that the plane would crash, killing everyone on board. Everyone except the co-pilot and the hacker, who had bailed out before the crash with a trillion dollars of Federal Reserve cash converted into bitcoin.
Fallen angel Tubs becomes the first NTSB investigator in history who thinks his job is not just to determine the cause of the crash, but to find the crooks who robbed the Federal Reserve before the crash — not to bring them to justice, but to steal from them the cash. A trillion dollars in bitcoin would go a long way to giving his daughter the life she deserved.
Relax. Compared to what follows, the story so far is a study in realism.
I know that trains, not planes, run on rails but at this point the story just jumped the tracks and went flying off in so many ridiculous directions it would be impossible to overstate how badly the rest of this fairy tale was written. Even the word preposterous would not do it justice.
Zero stars for the story but two stars for the cover art.
February 5, 2023
A decent plot but just too unbelievable. Too many convenient things. Characters a bit like cardboard. Despite its shortcomings it keeps you turning the pages.
May 22, 2024
Excellent read - unusual.
April 17, 2023
This Book Initially Deserved 4-Stars, but Its Crappy Ending Dragged It Down to a 3 or 2
‘Sky Heist’ began as a good, interesting story, alternating between “Before” and “After” scenarios — which was a bit confusing/annoying, but tolerable since that’s the device The Author chose to control his tale.
But, sorry — no matter how much The Reader can convince themselves that the first 3/4 of the book was good and interesting, allowing for hard-to-believe scenarios to actually fit in — The Author stretched the credibility factor WAAAAAYYYYY too far, and the last 15-20% of the book was simply unbelievable, and frankly — stupid, and insulting to The Reader.
It’s as if The Author had a really good book in his mind, but was then told to hurry up and finish it — tail-end-be-damned!!! Whoever convinced The Author to cheat The Reader out of a more realistic ending should be drawn and quartered and given a lengthy prison sentence where there are only 3rd grade books to read.
‘Sky Heist’ began as a good, interesting story, alternating between “Before” and “After” scenarios — which was a bit confusing/annoying, but tolerable since that’s the device The Author chose to control his tale.
But, sorry — no matter how much The Reader can convince themselves that the first 3/4 of the book was good and interesting, allowing for hard-to-believe scenarios to actually fit in — The Author stretched the credibility factor WAAAAAYYYYY too far, and the last 15-20% of the book was simply unbelievable, and frankly — stupid, and insulting to The Reader.
It’s as if The Author had a really good book in his mind, but was then told to hurry up and finish it — tail-end-be-damned!!! Whoever convinced The Author to cheat The Reader out of a more realistic ending should be drawn and quartered and given a lengthy prison sentence where there are only 3rd grade books to read.
June 9, 2025
Sky Heist succeeds in scaring me about both hackers and airlines.
Sky Heist is full of fascinating characters who are willing to do anything to become very rich and wealthy, including stealing trillions of dollars from the US government. Despite its serious plot of robbing the federal government of trillions of dollars, this novel describes in great detail all the recent plane disasters that occurred throughout the world.
The amount of research it took to write this book is amazing. For character development, I had to give this book a 4 rating instead of a 5. It is absurd to develop female characters, both with the same intent, similar extraordinary talents, skills, and abilities to succeed in the most daring and dangerous theft in history. Even worse is using gangsters and Russians as the key villains.
In brief, Portia, a co pilot of a commercial airline, wants to become very rich. She will do anything for money and enlists the aid of a computer genius capable of hacking even the most impenetrable firewall of the Federal Reserve system. Absurd as it is, the Russians have devised technology greater than any lazy and incompetent American has accomplished. The Russians want the two Americans to pull off this heist. They give the computer hacker a laptop computer more sophisticated than any American made but it is also loaded with tracking devices unbeknownst to the hacker.
The detail with which this story is told is incredible. Airline crashes are described in full detail for two of the agents hired to solve a plane crash. Trillions of dollars are detailed in full to understand how much money could be placed in bank accounts.
But because the Russians are so intent upon getting the trillion for themselves, their fall guy has information that only he can use to attain the great fortune. My question is how did Patel know his secret. This ending is really unbelievable. But the author obviously forgot how to explain that!
I recommend it if for no other reason than to learn how many cameras are watching us everyday everywhere! At least where it is affordable!
Sky Heist is full of fascinating characters who are willing to do anything to become very rich and wealthy, including stealing trillions of dollars from the US government. Despite its serious plot of robbing the federal government of trillions of dollars, this novel describes in great detail all the recent plane disasters that occurred throughout the world.
The amount of research it took to write this book is amazing. For character development, I had to give this book a 4 rating instead of a 5. It is absurd to develop female characters, both with the same intent, similar extraordinary talents, skills, and abilities to succeed in the most daring and dangerous theft in history. Even worse is using gangsters and Russians as the key villains.
In brief, Portia, a co pilot of a commercial airline, wants to become very rich. She will do anything for money and enlists the aid of a computer genius capable of hacking even the most impenetrable firewall of the Federal Reserve system. Absurd as it is, the Russians have devised technology greater than any lazy and incompetent American has accomplished. The Russians want the two Americans to pull off this heist. They give the computer hacker a laptop computer more sophisticated than any American made but it is also loaded with tracking devices unbeknownst to the hacker.
The detail with which this story is told is incredible. Airline crashes are described in full detail for two of the agents hired to solve a plane crash. Trillions of dollars are detailed in full to understand how much money could be placed in bank accounts.
But because the Russians are so intent upon getting the trillion for themselves, their fall guy has information that only he can use to attain the great fortune. My question is how did Patel know his secret. This ending is really unbelievable. But the author obviously forgot how to explain that!
I recommend it if for no other reason than to learn how many cameras are watching us everyday everywhere! At least where it is affordable!
November 21, 2023
This is my bag as I like the story and Finkle is a good author. The are some errors in his story, things that wouldn’t be true, but he wrote it like it happens so I just went with it, but it still bothers me. It would be even better if he hadn’t done them. The Russian is one of the guffs, broken right foot and then running and climbing over a fence? Tubs and Patel spotting the Jeep and the exact storage unit number? It is getting worse because he is getting near the end of this tale. It really tops out after he explains an override, tell me why he described a torture chamber on the yacht? What a twist for an ending. I enjoyed it, but clean up the guffs and it would be a super book. Because of the guffs a 4:, otherwise 5.
July 21, 2025
An explosive thriller that doesn’t let up, and I mean that literally 😮💨💥
Sky Heist had me hooked from the very first chapter. Agent Tubman is one of those rare lead characters who’s both sharp and stubborn in the best way, you want him on the case. The plot takes off fast (pun intended), and just when you think the mystery is solved… nope. Another layer. Another twist. Another reason to keep reading 'til 2 a.m.
Raymond Finkle masterfully blends mystery, action, and just enough suspense to make you second-guess every character’s motive. The pacing? Perfect. The writing? Tight. The ending? Well let’s just say… the explosion is only the beginning, and I need the sequel yesterday.
Highly recommend for anyone who loves investigative thrillers with brains and bite.
Sky Heist had me hooked from the very first chapter. Agent Tubman is one of those rare lead characters who’s both sharp and stubborn in the best way, you want him on the case. The plot takes off fast (pun intended), and just when you think the mystery is solved… nope. Another layer. Another twist. Another reason to keep reading 'til 2 a.m.
Raymond Finkle masterfully blends mystery, action, and just enough suspense to make you second-guess every character’s motive. The pacing? Perfect. The writing? Tight. The ending? Well let’s just say… the explosion is only the beginning, and I need the sequel yesterday.
Highly recommend for anyone who loves investigative thrillers with brains and bite.
September 27, 2023
A fabulous stupendous story that takes the readers on a tremendous roll of a heist that involves a Federal Reserve stealth with the involvement of bitcoin, people involving Russian, co pilot of the plane, a genius hacker!
When the aircraft crashes and the various agencies such as CIA, NSA, FBI and NTSB are involved, John Tub Tubman in partnership with Darcy Patel are investigating the events that led to the death of 158 passengers and crew the book takes the readers over the events and keeps them engrossed until the end of this remarkable narrative.
A huge thank you to the author Raymond Finkle!!
When the aircraft crashes and the various agencies such as CIA, NSA, FBI and NTSB are involved, John Tub Tubman in partnership with Darcy Patel are investigating the events that led to the death of 158 passengers and crew the book takes the readers over the events and keeps them engrossed until the end of this remarkable narrative.
A huge thank you to the author Raymond Finkle!!
December 10, 2023
Utterly preposterous. A hacker targets the federal reserve from an airliner, then parachutes from said airliner with his co-pilot henchperson, who has more skills than Bear Grylls it seems, whilst holding down a full time pilots job? Meanwhile the NTSB are on the trail. As are the Russians. The first half of the book reads like someone who has watched FAR too many episodes of air crash investigation. Then, the plot takes a swerve and it ends so abruptly I was under the impression the author had abandoned his plot because he couldn't be bothered. Take note people. THIS is what happens when you download free books on your kindle.
April 9, 2023
The story was a bit repetitious in places, where something that had been explained already (eg. a character’s reasoning) was explained again, almost verbatim from the first occurrence. I also found the character development to be fairly shallow and sometimes events were just too convenient to be realistic.
Having said that, the basic story was good and held my interest. I’m not sure I liked the way everything got resolved in the end, but there you go.
I’m curious enough to try other material from this author.
Having said that, the basic story was good and held my interest. I’m not sure I liked the way everything got resolved in the end, but there you go.
I’m curious enough to try other material from this author.
June 21, 2025
A lot of descriptions of why planes crash. All of this is being told during the investigation of a crash that was not an accident. There is a lot of back and forth in the timeline so we can see what and why it happens. Had it not been for the history lesson, the first half of the book wouldn’t have been too bad. In the second half we deal with the after effects of the money heist. That too was almost interesting except it was too much of an info dump. Add in the ridiculous ending and I was left entirely disappointed.
February 20, 2023
The Flight of Your Life!
This is one book you won’t want to put down. Planes.Trains and automobiles
Bitcoin, Computers and Hackers, when you find out what’s going on with the possible theft of the century and the planning, confusion, & number of people who are originally involved and the additional people that get involved, plus a plane in flight, a drugged pilot and a Copilot that wants it all.
Just remember, it’s only a story!
This is one book you won’t want to put down. Planes.Trains and automobiles
Bitcoin, Computers and Hackers, when you find out what’s going on with the possible theft of the century and the planning, confusion, & number of people who are originally involved and the additional people that get involved, plus a plane in flight, a drugged pilot and a Copilot that wants it all.
Just remember, it’s only a story!
November 7, 2023
This was methodical, very captivating and thorough. There was a lot I had actually learned about a lot of things dealing with airplanes and the events of a lot of crashes that I kind of really think I didn't want to know about. But I think all in all the storytelling of how the details of the characters and how they are involved and what their story and background about how this whole heist came into play was genius. And I think you will be very happy with the conclusion.
June 7, 2025
Excellent fast read
Co pilot of a plane, drugged the pilot.
She was working with a hacker to steal bitcoin.
When the bitcoin was finally sent to where it needed to go, the co pilot and hacker parachuted from the plane.
Even with the meticulous planning, she did not mean for the p!ane to crash. All aboard died.
More running and hiding.
Sometimes the best made plans, eventually turn out. Just not in the way they were planned.
Co pilot of a plane, drugged the pilot.
She was working with a hacker to steal bitcoin.
When the bitcoin was finally sent to where it needed to go, the co pilot and hacker parachuted from the plane.
Even with the meticulous planning, she did not mean for the p!ane to crash. All aboard died.
More running and hiding.
Sometimes the best made plans, eventually turn out. Just not in the way they were planned.
April 7, 2023
Not your typical mystery
When NTSB John “Tubs” Tubman receives a request to investigate the cost of a commercial airline crash, he knows this will probably be the biggest story of his career. He partners with Darcy Patel, another investigator in looking into the world of bitcoin. Then several twists at the end.
When NTSB John “Tubs” Tubman receives a request to investigate the cost of a commercial airline crash, he knows this will probably be the biggest story of his career. He partners with Darcy Patel, another investigator in looking into the world of bitcoin. Then several twists at the end.
April 19, 2023
The Kindness Hidden
This is a story of greed and sadness. I especially liked each player for themself. In the end each one is realizing that he or she was not so clever. The gift of a trust fund shows the unmistakable, though confused person of Partel. I will gladly recommend this book to friends. The ending was indeed a surprise.
This is a story of greed and sadness. I especially liked each player for themself. In the end each one is realizing that he or she was not so clever. The gift of a trust fund shows the unmistakable, though confused person of Partel. I will gladly recommend this book to friends. The ending was indeed a surprise.
June 10, 2024
What would you do if you could hack into the U.S. Treasury and steal an obscene amount of money? But it had to be put into bitcoin. That amount of money would take a long time to transfer. Where and how could you do it? It was figured out in a very smart way. Think of D B Cooper and the little money he got away with.
Very clever story with a nice ending anyway. Recommended!!
Very clever story with a nice ending anyway. Recommended!!
April 5, 2023
Perfectly Plotted
Deftly cutting from before the crash to after the crash, the suspense never lets up. The characters are all strong, with the two females more than equal to the men. The plot is cleverly layered, combining hijacking, cybercrime, Russian collusion,and a plane crash into a thriller you’ll be reading long into the night. I loved it!
Deftly cutting from before the crash to after the crash, the suspense never lets up. The characters are all strong, with the two females more than equal to the men. The plot is cleverly layered, combining hijacking, cybercrime, Russian collusion,and a plane crash into a thriller you’ll be reading long into the night. I loved it!
April 16, 2023
Good job
I think this was a pretty good book. The storyline was pretty cool. It kept me in the story till the end. I was a little disappointed with the way the story looked like it was going to end. But then you fooled me. Good job.
I think this was a pretty good book. The storyline was pretty cool. It kept me in the story till the end. I was a little disappointed with the way the story looked like it was going to end. But then you fooled me. Good job.
April 16, 2023
Good Twists
Very good book with a few plot twists I wasn't expecting. Could have done with a little more plot development and sometimes the explanation of what a character was thinking was long winded and repetitive but overall a very enjoyable story.
Very good book with a few plot twists I wasn't expecting. Could have done with a little more plot development and sometimes the explanation of what a character was thinking was long winded and repetitive but overall a very enjoyable story.
April 28, 2023
Something different for a change: informative, unexpected turns of events and easy to read. Also remind again and again that plenty of people can't resist to have easy money. Enjoyed reading, will recommend for my friends.
May 13, 2023
Absolutely unpredictable!
The author clearly knows something about airplanes and how they work! This was a fascinating story of high stakes theft and incredible planning. The story has twists and turns to keep the reader guessing and I will confess the ending totally surprised me!
The author clearly knows something about airplanes and how they work! This was a fascinating story of high stakes theft and incredible planning. The story has twists and turns to keep the reader guessing and I will confess the ending totally surprised me!
May 15, 2023
Sky Heist
This is a really good story with loads of twists and turns.
A Russian agent, an airline copilot and a hacker hatch a scheme to steal money from the Federal Reserve. None of the 3 can be trusted by the others.
This is a really good story with loads of twists and turns.
A Russian agent, an airline copilot and a hacker hatch a scheme to steal money from the Federal Reserve. None of the 3 can be trusted by the others.
September 2, 2023
What a ride!
I loved this book and will read more from this author. It was action packed and kept me on the edge the entire time. It was a fun exciting read and the story just flowed, right to the twists and turns that I didn’t expect but loved.
I loved this book and will read more from this author. It was action packed and kept me on the edge the entire time. It was a fun exciting read and the story just flowed, right to the twists and turns that I didn’t expect but loved.
April 4, 2024
So Many Turns
in this book.... I LOVED it! Not to mention I am a fan of Air Disasters. Many of the episodes I've watched were referenced in this story.... the actual plane accidents! This book is truly a one-of-a-kind!!
in this book.... I LOVED it! Not to mention I am a fan of Air Disasters. Many of the episodes I've watched were referenced in this story.... the actual plane accidents! This book is truly a one-of-a-kind!!
July 1, 2025
Crazy twist
This as a pretty good story until about page 190. Then took a ridiculous turn that was just not believable. The ending feels like the author just gave up and wanted to finish as soon as possible.
This as a pretty good story until about page 190. Then took a ridiculous turn that was just not believable. The ending feels like the author just gave up and wanted to finish as soon as possible.
February 26, 2023
Good Character and Plot!
There was no way to out guess the next twist in this fast-paced, action-packed thriller! Right up to the end, the author continued his twists and turns!
There was no way to out guess the next twist in this fast-paced, action-packed thriller! Right up to the end, the author continued his twists and turns!
March 9, 2023
Mad mad mad world
It's interesting until the end. The end is really bad and beyond belief. Not worth the time it took to read it. Don't waste your time on this one.
It's interesting until the end. The end is really bad and beyond belief. Not worth the time it took to read it. Don't waste your time on this one.
March 23, 2023
Good read. Can’t really guess ahead of what’s going to happen.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews