The Flight Attendant

January 1, 2018
Blackout drunk Cassie Bowden is used to waking up in strangers’ beds, but what she discovers one morning in a sumptuous Dubai hotel suite is instantly sobering—blood-soaked sheets and the dead body of the handsome American hedge fund manager she met on her flight over. Even worse for Cassie, the assassin who executed him already regrets sparing the passed-out flight attendant. It’s a killer set-up, and Bohjalian (The Sleepwalker) initially maximizes the dual plot lines: Cassie, flying on primal survival instinct, tries to stonewall investigators, testing the truth of the maxim that God looks out for fools and drunkards; hit woman Elena methodically closes in for the kill. Bohjalian’s less successful in avoiding clichés or in making an espionage subplot plausible. Then, with about 50 pages to go it’s as though the bell has rung for the final lap, with the author unceremoniously detonating a plot bombshell that triggers the frenetic, exciting, but not especially convincing sprint to the finish. Bohjalian’s fans will still have fun. Agent: Jane Gelfman, Gelfman Schneider/ICM Partners

January 1, 2018
A hard-partying flight attendant runs afoul of Russian conspirators.Cassandra Bowden, like her namesake, the prophetess who is never believed, has problems. A flight attendant since college, Cassie, now nearing 40, has a penchant for drinking to the blackout point and sleeping with strange men. On a flight to Dubai, while serving in first class, she flirts with hedge fund manager Alex Sokoloff, an American with Russian roots and oligarchic connections. She repairs to his hotel room, and during the drunken bacchanal that follows, Miranda, apparently a business acquaintance of Alex's, visits with more vodka. The next morning Cassie wakes up next to Alex, who lies dead, his throat cut. She has blacked out much of the night, so although she'd grown rather fond of him, how can she be sure she didn't kill him? Rushing back for the return flight, she decides not to disclose what happened, at least not until she's back home in New York City, where the justice system is arguably less draconian than in Dubai. At JFK, the FBI interviews the deplaning crew, and Cassie plays dumb. Unfortunately, her walk of shame through the hotel lobby was captured on security cam. Sporadically intercut with Cassie's point of view is that of Elena, a Russian assassin for hire, who had presented herself as Miranda in Alex's hotel room. After being thwarted by Cassie's presence from executing Alex then, she returned to finish the job but decided not to make collateral damage of his passed-out bedmate, a bad call she must rectify per her sinister handler, Viktor. In the novel's flabby midsection, Cassie continues to alternately binge-drink and regret the consequences as her lawyer, her union, and even the FBI struggle to protect her from herself. Although Bohjalian (The Sleepwalker, 2017, etc.) strives to render Cassie sympathetic, at times he can't resist taking a judgmental stance toward her. As Cassie's addiction becomes the primary focus, the intricate plotting required of an international thriller lags.The moral overcomes the mystery in this sobering cautionary tale.

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Starred review from December 1, 2017
Flight attendant Cassie Bowden is working the first-class cabin on the JFK to Dubai run and, not uncharacteristically, strikes up a flirtatious banter with the passenger in 2C, Alex Sokolov, a charming Manhattan hedge-fund manager. At the book's opening, Cassie wakes up in Sokolov's hotel room, disoriented from their night of binge drinking and repeated lovemaking. The sight of Sokolov's corpse in the bed next to her, his throat slit and the sheets bloody, effectively banishes Cassie's incipient hangover. What happens next is a series of misguided decisions that only someone with Cassie's shaky self-image can make: she lies to the FBI, her lawyer, and her family and unwisely tries to identify the mystery woman who briefly shared a bottle of vodka with them that night. Bohjalian is an unfaltering storyteller who crosses genres with fluidity, from historical fiction to literary thrillers. He is also that rare male writer who has mastered the female point of view with adroit credibility, and he is nonjudgmental and sensitive in his portrayal of Cassie's alcohol and sex addictions. As in previous novels, including The Sleepwalker (2017) and The Guest Room (2016), Bohjalian revisits the notion of what happens when an individual loses control of his or her environment in a read-in-one-sitting escapade that is as intellectually satisfying as it is emotionally entertaining.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

Starred review from December 1, 2017

Flight attendant Cassie Bowden: a self-destructive alcoholic who favors one-night stands, a gifted liar, a petty thief. But she's also someone we can relate to: a soul damaged during childhood, terribly alone, and desperate for love. Cassie's luck at hiding her binge drinking runs out when she wakes in a stranger's Dubai hotel room and discovers him dead. Could she have killed this man? Is she capable of murder? Because of her blackout, she just doesn't know. Cassie flees and tells no one. But as the murder catches up with her, so do FBI agents and Russian spies who want to eliminate any loose ends. Caught in a downward spiral, she must brace for impact. After so many lies and devastating choices, she's almost given up on being a good person. Will she get a chance at redemption, or will her fate be decided by the murder in Dubai? VERDICT Readers who enjoyed the imperfect heroine in Paula Hawkins's The Girl on the Train and the anxiety-ridden paranoia of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment will be hooked by this murder mystery and Cassie's struggle to untangle her life and regain her self-respect. [See Prepub Alert, 9/26/17.]--K.L. Romo, Duncanville, TX

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2017

Flight attendant Cassie Bowden: a self-destructive alcoholic who favors one-night stands, a gifted liar, a petty thief. But she's also someone we can relate to: a soul damaged during childhood, terribly alone, and desperate for love. Cassie's luck at hiding her binge drinking runs out when she wakes in a stranger's Dubai hotel room and discovers him dead. Could she have killed this man? Is she capable of murder? Because of her blackout, she just doesn't know. Cassie flees and tells no one. But as the murder catches up with her, so do FBI agents and Russian spies who want to eliminate any loose ends. Caught in a downward spiral, she must brace for impact. After so many lies and devastating choices, she's almost given up on being a good person. Will she get a chance at redemption, or will her fate be decided by the murder in Dubai? VERDICT Readers who enjoyed the imperfect heroine in Paula Hawkins's The Girl on the Train and the anxiety-ridden paranoia of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment will be hooked by this murder mystery and Cassie's struggle to untangle her life and regain her self-respect. [See Prepub Alert, 9/26/17.]--K.L. Romo, Duncanville, TX

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2017

As always, Bohjalian combines popular tropes with a serious examination of social issues. Binge-drinking flight attendant Cassandra Bowden wakes up with a hangover in a Dubai hotel room and finds the man she spent the night with lying dead beside her. She goes about her job, lying all the way to her encounter with the FBI at flight's end in Paris. What happened that night? And what are the consequences of addiction, deception, and denial? Fans are lining up.

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.