It's been a little over 24-hours since I finished The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian and I'm still not sure where to start. I thought if I gave myself some time to wrap my head around what I'd just read. Obviously from the 4-star rating I enjoyed this read, yet, for the life of me I can't see why. Here's why...
Bohjalian's The Flight Attendant introduces us to Cassie Bowden. She's a flight attendant that doesn't shy away from a good time. She's basically a functioning alcoholic (and that's putting it nicely... so far). As she jet sets around the world touching down in one beautiful city after another, her time between flights are filled with drunken table dances and meaningless sexual encounters.
It's business as usual on a flight to Dubai when Cassie meets and hooks up with a young, handsome hedge fund manager. After spending hours flirting with each other they meet up, hook up, and shack up for the night. When day breaks, Cassie attempts to make her getaway as this man, Alex, lie sleeping, still piecing together what she can from the night before, she notices Alex doesn't stir. Thinking she'll make a clean getaway from this latest dalliance, she's alarmed to find Alex, and herself covered in blood.
Refusing to end up like the American in Paris, Amanda Knox, she does what she can to wipe away any trace of her having been there. Dubai isn't exactly the place to be entangled in what appears to be a homicide, especially when you're a woman. From the moment Cassie leaves Alex's hotel room, she becomes...
I don't even know what to say...
They say if you have nothing nice to say don't...
I can't not say it at all. I'm a self-proclaimed reviewer, for Pete's sake. So... here we go...
Shit's about to get real.
Let's begin with the niceties.
The Flight Attendant hooked me from page one. I've read other works by Bohjalian but this one is my favorite by far. Despite the gripes that have. As I write this review, the gripes that I have with this book are actually quite big and I'm amazed I was able to overcome them to offer a positive review. Believe me, I am shocked.
The Flight Attendant is a fast moving car with no breaks. Seriously! I don't think I was bored at any point in this read. Infuriated, yes. Bored. No. Readers will share Cassie's trepidation as she wonders what's around the corner. Is it the FBI? Is it the extradition? Or possibly the other woman she vaguely remembers from that night with Alex?
Our other source of fear is the fact that Cassie is a wreck. A stupid, idiotic, alcoholic wreck that most readers will want to choke to death or slap some sense into. She's given so many chances to redeem herself and "act like a grownup" she fails time and time again. I'm sorry if that reveal was a spoiler of sorts, but seriously, 20-pages in makes it obvious Cassie's flying without a pilot.
My final gripe is that I have no clue what that ending was all about. It sorta just came at you. Some people were burned and some secrets were uncovered. Note to Bohjalian, if you ever read this review, please explain to me what happened there. I'm no Einstein, but I'm no Homer Simpson either.
Sure I had my gripes with this novel. Actually pretty definitive gripes that usually pull my rating down, down, down. Yet, The Flight Attendant was quite entertaining. There's an apprehension that's maintained throughout the novel that forces readers to see it through. Bohjalian could have made this a sappy, woe is me story about a drunk but instead, delivers a nail-biting mystery that will stay with most long after the last page is read. ****
Copy provided by Doubleday Books via Netgalley
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