The Last Flight

I loved this book. So many unexpected twists and turns which kept me in suspense the whole time. The epilogue was beautiful and bittersweet. I had to re-evaluate my belief about what happened to Eva several times throughout the book. Spoiler Alert: I am mainly writing this review to dispute a top review by another person on this page. That reviewer makes allegations of several \”plot holes\” in the book. Well, that reviewer must have not been paying attention when reading the book because several of those alleged \”plot holes\” do not exist. For example, the reviewer mentions a plot hole about Claire being picked up by Castro after her TV interview. That makes sense because she is still in the Bay Area. The TV interview had been conducted remotely from SF, not NYC. Also, Claire DOES have Eva\’s ID. I\’m not sure why the reviewer in question thinks that she does not have it. It is mentioned several times in the book. As for Claire and Petra finding each other at the end, that would not have been such a difficult task since Claire\’s story was all over the news by that point, and no longer had to hide from Rory. Lastly, if the reviewer in question had read till the end of the book, they would have understood whether or not Eva was actually on the plane when it crashed. There is no plot hole to be found there. It makes me frustrated to see the top review of this book on here making accusations of plot holes, when in actuality, poor reader comprehension is to blame. I was compelled to write this review to encourage people to read the book for yourselves, all the way to the end, and see how all the plot details do fit together if you just pay attention! It is a great summer read if you like suspense combined with a strong emotional storyline.

I am not usually a nit-picker, but I\’m making an exception here because I really enjoyed this book, and the author\’s misuse of this one word was like fingernails on a chalkboard, every time it appeared. I am pretty sure the word \”anyways\” appears five times in the book. That\’s how annoying it was–this is such bad grammar, and really skewed the characterizations. Not to sound snobby, but no one who went to Vassar, as Claire supposedly did, or Berkeley, as Eva did, would say \”anyways.\” Some first year writing teacher would have nipped this in the bud. So I\’m writing this partly for the author–I think the book was mostly well-written, and yes, there were plot holes (as others have noted) but they didn\’t bother me. I would like to read more by this author, but only if she learns that \”anyways\” isn\’t a word. ANYWAY, it was an enjoyable story, and I devoured it in one day. Recommended if you don\’t mind the occasional fingernail scraping the blackboard.

\”The Last Flight,\” a psychological thriller by Julie Clark, is a compelling story that held my interest to the end, despite its slow start. For me, the book was slow to get off the ground, and the first half really dragged. But by the second half of the book, it really took off, but unfortunately, with its poor ending, it ended up crashing, in my opinion. The book tells, in mostly alternating chapters, the story of Eva and Claire, both on the run from their past. In the first half of the book, I found Claire\’s story more interesting than Eva\’s. But at the half-way point, I became annoyed at Claire, and was more interested in Eva\’s story. So why only two stars? Plot holes, and many of them. I will mention just a few (don\’t worry, no spoilers). If Eva did not get on the plane, it would have been noticed since her boarding pass was scanned. The plane would be short a passenger and the flight crew always takes a head count, no exceptions. Plus there were a lot of people waiting for standby seats, so the plane was 100% booked. An empty seat would stand out to the flight crew. We are told Claire was a \”confirmed passenger,\” which would be impossible if Eva never boarded the plane. Again, her seat would be empty and the flight crew would instantly know who the missing passenger was as the seats were assigned. We are told Eva and Claire switched purses, ID, and credit cards, yet later Claire did not have Eva\’s ID. In fact, Eva handed Claire her purse, so her ID would have been in the purse. We are told Eva \”slipped away from the gate agent.\” No way! The gate agent would not let the line close in around her to the point she would be out of their sight. How did Petra and Claire get back in touch with each other? They both had new cell phones and new numbers. This is not explained. Finally, on page 295, Claire is in New York, but after her TV interview, Agent Castro takers her back to Eva\’s house. But Eva lived in California, not New York, and in the next paragraph, Claire and Castro are still in New York. These were just a few of the plot holes I noted as I read the book. I felt them serious enough to drop it down to two stars. It is not a bad read, but due to the slow start and plot holes, not as good as it could have been. The story idea had so much more potential.

Good summer beach read. Hard to put down. Interesting plot. One criticism. It is obvious the authoress is an enormous Me Too fan. My criticism is that not one male character in the book is a good person. Women good! Men bad! Single motherhood seems to be the norm in this book as it appears not one woman in it was ever capable of finding a good man. Yes, they do exist. And while Eva has spent years committing crimes including causing terrible beatings we are expected to forgive her as she had a difficult childhood. I guess because you guessed it. She is a woman!

I could not put this novel down! I stayed up into the wee hours reading it. Great characters, great writing. The two women, Eva and Claire, whose lives have taken a wrong turn, meet in an unexpected way. Their impulsive decision leads them both down paths of self-examination which changes their lives. Pulse pounding at times, the story moves with infinite care to the logical conclusion. The ending is unexpected, but satisfying. I highly recommend this gratifying novel.

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