bookshelf

HUMAN ERROR

Name: HUMAN ERROR
Author: Tom Casey
ISBN: 0-312-14622-1

by Tom Casey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 1996

bookshelf

Breakdowns in personal relationships and the possibility of lapses in judgment by those at the controls of high-tech jetliners provide some engrossing conflicts in a first-rate debut novel from pilot Casey, now a captain with American Airlines. Nation Air Lines Flight 555 is bound from New York to Paris on a stormy night when Captain Hugo Price, confronted with indications of an engine problem and reports of turbulent weather over the North Atlantic, makes a command decision to take the jetliner back to JFK. On its final approach, however, Flight 555 slams into the rain-swept runway from an altitude of 50 feet, and 45 of 192 passengers lose their lives. Seriously injured himself, Hugo has plenty of time to reflect on whether the fatal accident was at least partially his fault. He also ponders a failed marriage to the vindictive Lydia, and the agreeable romance he's having with Sarah McClure, who was serving as his first officer the night of the wreck. Meantime, federal investigators are delving into the causes of the crash while a host of interested parties—the carrier, its vendors, Hugo's union, regulators, and ground personnel—maneuver to limit their liabilities. Although absorbingly detailed testimony at a formal NTSB inquiry suggests that an unusual mechanical failure and wind shear were the principal reasons for the crackup, Hugo's private affairs are subjected to indecently close examination; in the wake of the hearing, the FAA grounds him for six months on a technicality. Shortly before his suspension is to end, though, he satisfies Nation's chief pilot that he's fit to fly again during a dramatic simulator session. Concurrently, he endures yet another proceeding, one that makes hateful Lydia the ex-Mrs. Price and allows Hugo to make a fresh start with Sarah. A smooth flight of fancy for Casey, who displays a real flair for portraying mistake-prone adults facing the consequences of their actions in the air and on the ground.

Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1996

ISBN: 0-312-14622-1

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Dunne/St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

bookshelf

SUMMER ISLAND

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2001

The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...

bookshelf

Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.

Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.

The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.

Pub Date: March 1, 2001

ISBN: 0-609-60737-5

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WOMEN
by Kristin Hannah

- BOOK REVIEW
THE FOUR WINDS
by Kristin Hannah

- BOOK REVIEW
THE GREAT ALONE
by Kristin Hannah

bookshelf

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

by Harper Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 1960

bookshelf

A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.