Blackout

John J. Nance

I started this book around 10 on Saturday. I finished just before 5. That's AM, not PM on the finish. I couldn't put this one down. For those that like suspense/thriller type books (Al, are you out there?) this one is for you.

A plane mysteriously goes down in the Caribbean near Cuba. Three minutes of information at the end of the flight are missing from the black box (which, of course, is actually orange so you can see it). There is no obvious mechanical failure or bomb, and no Mayday before the flight ditches.

Robert, the Pulitzer prize winning reporter from a Washington newspaper, finds himself at a conference on airline terrorism in Hong Kong when one of his spook (CIA) sources goes missing. He attends a talk by FBI agent Kat. He suggests they the talk about his missing spook friend in a quiet location and they discover they are on the same flight back to the USA and decide to meet for dinner before the flight (thus avoiding airline food).

When he gets to his room, it has been tossed and he seems to be attracting too much attention from musclebound goons. He escapes the hotel and makes his way to meet Kat (late) and describe the information that his spook buddy had been trying to get to him, which he wasn't willing to discuss on the phone. They board the plane, and Kat gets pulled off for a State Department assignment the following morning. Shortly before take off, the 747 they are in is almost sideswiped by a medical jet taxi. About ten minutes after take off, the 'taxi' turns off its transponder and essentially disappears from radar. And a couple minutes after that, The Captain dies and the co- pilot is blinded.

I will only say that about 8 people survive a crash in Vietnam, including Robert. Kat is 'on the case' in a couple hours, and many twists and turns follow.

A great read.