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A legal battle turns violent in the aftermath of a tragic plane crashThe fog is thick as SurfAir 617 readies to land. Onboard, a mother consoles her daughter, two children reminisce about Disneyland, flight attendants flirt with each other, and two lovers agonize over their infidelity. None of them know they are minutes from death. Then SurfAir 617 drops out of the sky, the pilots blinded by the fall, and explodes onto the runway. Only eighteen of more than one hundred passengers survive. The families of the victims soon find themselves under siege by ruthless lawyers and corrupt insurance investigators who will do whatever it takes to cheat them out of their rightful settlements. In retaliation, lawyer Keith Tollison dives into the jungle of aviation law—and a fight to prove that SurfAir 617 should never have been cleared to fly.
- GenresFiction
400 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1989
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 18, 2014
I was a bit reluctant to read this book by Stephen Greenleaf. I’ve been reading my way through his entire Marsh Tanner series (excellent) and this is a stand-alone. (There is an oblique mention of Tanner on page 295 that was fun.) Often that means a letdown for the reader used to a particular set of characters. Not so in this case. I was hooked from the beginning.
The plot revolves around the crash of Surfair 617, a relatively new aircraft that collided with a small private plane. (Shades of an actual crash near Los Angeles between an Aeromexico DC-9 and a Piper Cherokee just a few years before this was written, and if the book has any flaws it’s perhaps the somewhat preachy concerns over flight safety pronounced by Alex Hawthorne.)
The cast of characters includes Alex’s partner, Martha, who keeps him on schedule, organized and satisfied (if you know what I mean.) Keith Tollison, another lawyer, is having an affair with Laura Donahue, husband of Jack, who is terribly injured in the crash. (He was sitting next Carol with whom he was having an affair who happened to be the Brenda’s sister.) He may be permanently paralyzed and neurologically impaired.. Tollison is in an on-again, off-again relationship with Brenda. Brenda has a mentally handicapped son who is devastated by his aunt’s death. All of these people come together in a nicely done courtroom drama. Yes, it’s a bit of a soap, but well done.
Greenleaf was trained as a lawyer so the legal aspects appear quite authentic. Something I found less so, was the conversation between the Air Traffic Controllers and the doomed plane before the crash. I’m a train and plane junkie so naturally I listen to ATC (you can stream it over the internet) for fun. (I often chose to fly United because they broadcast cockpit/ATC communications over channel 9.) ** The book’s rendering of those transmissions did not ring true. No matter.
**Sometimes the communications can be funny, e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acU2Ln... or scary http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV6inj...
If you listen regularly you get a real appreciation for the work of pilots and Air Traffic Controllers. Lots of recordings at http://www.liveatc.net/, which you can also get as an iTunes app - it’s worth the $2.99
The plot revolves around the crash of Surfair 617, a relatively new aircraft that collided with a small private plane. (Shades of an actual crash near Los Angeles between an Aeromexico DC-9 and a Piper Cherokee just a few years before this was written, and if the book has any flaws it’s perhaps the somewhat preachy concerns over flight safety pronounced by Alex Hawthorne.)
The cast of characters includes Alex’s partner, Martha, who keeps him on schedule, organized and satisfied (if you know what I mean.) Keith Tollison, another lawyer, is having an affair with Laura Donahue, husband of Jack, who is terribly injured in the crash. (He was sitting next Carol with whom he was having an affair who happened to be the Brenda’s sister.) He may be permanently paralyzed and neurologically impaired.. Tollison is in an on-again, off-again relationship with Brenda. Brenda has a mentally handicapped son who is devastated by his aunt’s death. All of these people come together in a nicely done courtroom drama. Yes, it’s a bit of a soap, but well done.
Greenleaf was trained as a lawyer so the legal aspects appear quite authentic. Something I found less so, was the conversation between the Air Traffic Controllers and the doomed plane before the crash. I’m a train and plane junkie so naturally I listen to ATC (you can stream it over the internet) for fun. (I often chose to fly United because they broadcast cockpit/ATC communications over channel 9.) ** The book’s rendering of those transmissions did not ring true. No matter.
**Sometimes the communications can be funny, e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acU2Ln... or scary http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV6inj...
If you listen regularly you get a real appreciation for the work of pilots and Air Traffic Controllers. Lots of recordings at http://www.liveatc.net/, which you can also get as an iTunes app - it’s worth the $2.99
October 15, 2015
Fascinating book about how lawsuits affect safety measures. This novel is about an airline accident. I found it difficult to put down, as I couldn't wait to find out how it turned out. I also liked the characters and found the plot ingenious, not common. It is one of (I think) only 2 novels he wrote that are not part of the Marsh Tanner detective novels, which turn out to be very good, also. Overall, I recommend this author in general.
February 12, 2016
ts a shame i lost the novel before i could finish it.
does any one have a thorough summary of the novel. I was half way through when i lost it. Specifically i was somewhere in 240's page the plaintiff and defendants were scrutinising the newly chosen jury and calculating their odds at winning..
i am genuinely sad. I cant find what happened. Apparently its not a renowned book.
does any one have a thorough summary of the novel. I was half way through when i lost it. Specifically i was somewhere in 240's page the plaintiff and defendants were scrutinising the newly chosen jury and calculating their odds at winning..
i am genuinely sad. I cant find what happened. Apparently its not a renowned book.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews