10/10

In this thriller, a group of strangers find themselves bound together in the aftermath of a catastrophe that’s reminiscent of the 9/11 attacks.

Caleb Drake takes the train from his residential suburb to Manhattan for work each day—a routine that’s typically uneventful. But on Oct. 10, he notices two small planes flying uncommonly low over the Hudson River, which turns out to be a harbinger of trouble. The train suddenly stops, and the frazzled passengers quickly discover that almost no one has cellphone service—and they’re certain that something terrible has happened when the train’s conductor, Charlie Murray, announces an order from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for everyone to remain on board. Unconfirmed rumors swirl like swarms of bees—maybe there was an explosion, there are evacuations underway—sending the train’s passengers into a spiraling panic. James Roth, one particularly agitated man, flees in defiance of the lockdown, intent on closing a billion-dollar deal in the city. Others quickly follow his lead, including Caleb and Rachel Silver, a real estate agent who seems to have the only working cellphone. Debut author Mott impressively unfurls a complex, suspenseful plot that launches with what turns out to be a terror attack. Caleb and Rachel are later drawn toward each other romantically, as both feel stuck in marriages that have lost their luster. Also, the death of Charlie’s father—who has a heart attack after someone steals his car—pulls the characters into what’s effectively a murder investigation. The author cleverly braids the lives of the various players into a coherent narrative tapestry, and he astutely dramatizes how crises can inspire promises that are abandoned later on. Caleb is tortured by his failure to fulfill his own pledges (“Don’t be trapped inside a haphazardly built life, a mind-numbing routine scraped together with bits and pieces of detritus from other people’s lives”), and Mott movingly depicts his struggle. However, Roth comes off as more of a cartoonish caricature—pure hubris incarnate—and readers may find his shallowness hard to believe.

A gripping and psychologically sharp crime drama.