I was asked to review this book by NetGalley.

It now 10 years since the Malaysia Airlines MH370 disapeared off the radar and today we are still no further forward. At that time I was working a Patient Safety and Risk Manager, was very used to NHS serious incident investigations and trained by the airline industry to teach Human Factor training. So this mytsery for me has more questions than answers. How in this day and age can a Boeing 777, with 222 passengers and 12 crew just go missing? the last communication with air traffic control was around 38 minutes after takeoff when the flight was over the South China Sea. The aircraft was lost from air traffic controls secondary surveillance radar screens minutes later, but was tracked by the Malaysian military's primary radar system for another hour, deviating westward from its planned flight path, crossing the Malay Peninsula and Andaman Sea. It left radar range 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) northwest of Penang Island in northwestern Peninsular Malaysia.
Ten years later the relatives of the missing passengers and crew are still waiting for an explaination. The search for the missing airplane became the most expensive search in the history of aviation. It focused initially on the South China Sea and Andaman Sea, before a novel analysis of the aircraft's automated communications with an Inmarsat satellite indicated that the plane had traveled far southward over the southern Indian Ocean. The lack of official information in the days immediately after the disappearance prompted fierce criticism from the Chinese public, particularly from relatives of the passengers, as most people on board Flight 370 were of Chinese origin. Several pieces of debris washed ashore in the western Indian Ocean during 2015 and 2016; many of these were confirmed to have originated from Flight 370.

After a three-year search across 120,000 km2 (46,000 sq mi) of ocean failed to locate the aircraft, the Joint Agency Coordination Centre heading the operation suspended its activities in January 2017. A second search launched in January 2018 by private contractor Ocean Infinity also ended without success after six months.

I have had a lot of interest in this case as you can tell from what I know already.

So what else has this book to offer - Correspondent for Le Monde and RFI in Asia-Pacific, Florence de Changy dismantled rumors one by one, explored all avenues, from Kuala Lumpur to the Maldives. Through fascinating research, she had access to confidential documents and met crucial witnesses. Sadly we cannot learn any more at this time as there is no plane, black box or defiitive evidence which is sad as the families and loved ones need answers as well as the world avation industry and the world as a whole.

Recommended read.

I’m really not one for conspiracy theories (anti-vaxxers, climate change deniers, and great replacement pushers, I’m looking at you!) but neither do I believe for one minute that governments are always honest and always tell the truth; the current government in the UK is a testament to that.

I used to love flying – in fact I flew with Malaysia Airlines to Singapore by myself when I was only twenty. I didn’t feel unsafe for a minute. I’m not so keen now, more because I hate the whole process of security checks and boarding and queueing and waiting and delays that are involved. It feels like too much hassle, to be honest.

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It was shocking when MH370 vanished, and then again when another Malaysian Airlines aeroplane, Flight MH17 was shot down a few months later. So I was intrigued to read this book, especially as the author is a journalist who has worked for Le Monde.

This is so well researched and so well put together. The author has certainly tried her best to get to the bottom of things, though it feels as though she is hampered at every turn, as though the truth is known, but certain people don’t want the general public to know exactly what happened. Because, let’s be honest, how is it possible in these days of modern technology for a huge airliner to simply vanish? It just isn’t possible at all.

Whatever you might think about government cover-ups, and whether it’s possible to keep something like this a secret, what really comes across in this book is that the author always has the passengers and their families in mind. She isn’t doing this to expose anyone, she doesn’t want to bring down governments, she just wants the truth for the sake of those families who can’t get any closure because they don’t know what has happened to their loved ones.

My only issue is that a lot of the theories rely on a huge amount of technical detail, and I did find a lot of it difficult to understand. That said, I can’t really see how the author could have made things clearer – the technology around air travel is complicated, after all.

An eye-opening read, painstakingly researched, with real compassion for the people involved. Recommended.

Speaking of things that remain an enigma, Sophie has long been fascinated by the disappearance of MH370, the Boeing 777 that apparently vanished without a trace between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing in 2014. Written by French journalist Florence de Changy, who has covered the story for Le Monde since day one, The Disappearing Act is an in-depth look at everything that is known about the story so far.

Each chapter of the book examines a different aspect of the case in roughly chronological order. Every element is covered from numerous radar pings and radio contact to eyewitness statements, possible debris findings to the numerous private investigations that have been launched. The pilot and co-pilot are examined, as are many of the passengers known to have been on board, and many pages are given over to examining the occasionally suspect cargo manifest. An addendum looks briefly at a number of other air crashes in order to use them as comparisons and attempt to rule out certain theories.

As is probably obvious given that the case remains unsolved, there are no earth-shattering new revelations to be found here, although every page contains its own revelations as evidence is overturned and contradicts other evidence to create one of the most complex scenarios imaginable. By the end of the book, the official story (that the plane flew for hours until exhausted of fuel then crashed into the Southern Indian Ocean) appears to have been almost entirely debunked. As an epilogue, the author provides her own thoughts on what she believes may have happened, it is a story that feels more at home in a James Bond movie or episode of The X-Files than in real life but that also feels incredibly plausible given the apparent wealth of supporting evidence. However, De Changy herself admits that her own version of events still has many holes and pieces that don’t quite fit.

While you won’t walk away from The Disappearing Act knowing precisely what happened to MH370, it is a fascinating read that will no doubt leave many readers itching for more and starting to do their own research until such a day that the real story finally comes to light.

This is an interesting book, took me a while to get into it but bear with it, really is worth reading. I wanted to be gripped from the start but that didn't happen but then it is a story of facts and not fiction.

I remember the news telling the world about MH370, the loss of the plane and the missing passengers. I remember wondering how a plane could vanish, this book is for anyone that wondered the same.
Balancing the evidence, theory and emotion Florence De Changy lays it all out that is fascinating, scary and heartbreaking all at the same page. From the opening chapter we are reminded that 370 souls were lost and, in many ways, forgotten or brushed over for the sensationalism of the story of a missing plane in the era of vast technology.
Spanning the globe and many years De Changy gives an in-depth look at the loss, search and 'recovery'. There is also the look at what could have happened which is mind boggling - one of the many moments in the book which will have you setting it down and thinking how and why.
This isn't the sort of book you binge read because it's heavy on facts and emotion that need to be digested. Grab this book for a week or two read, grab a coffee and some tissues and wade in.

An incredible read that is both tragically heartbreaking and terrifying, the quest for answers for families of the lost loved ones is palpable and I don't think it can be summarised in a few chapters but the theories backed up by evidence do go some way to uncovering what happened

The Disappearing Act by Florence de Changy looks at the investigation into the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 en route to Beijing in March 2014. De Changy outlines the frustrating lack of concrete answers amid numerous theories, contradictory accounts and limited physical evidence of what happened to the plane. The painful conclusion is that it is unlikely that any significant new evidence will come to light any time soon. This is an extremely thorough if not exhaustive piece of investigative research considering every possible scenario. de Changy’s analysis is mostly sensible although I’m not sure there will ever be enough evidence to completely discount pilot suicide in the way that she does.

If the subject of MH370 interests you, as it does me, this is the definitive book on the subject
Incredibly detailed and thorough, the author has followed up on many leads, spoken to many people and travelled the world to follow up on every morsel of information.
I also found the book to be balanced, and gives you much food for thought to draw your own conclusions.
I have purchased many books after reading the ARC through Netgalley, but this one I went out and purchased when I was 100 pages in to reading the ARC, as I was so absorbed by it I wanted to read it on my work breaks too!
Really excellent read, thank you to Netgalley Harper Collins UK and Mudlark for the ARC

I haven't finished this book but I decided to review it now as I'm not sure if I will continue reading.
Whilst this book is incredibly well-researched and very detailed, it is this point which is also the book's downfall. It became too convoluted, with many details repeated in different chapters, leading to a unnecessarily long and complicated book. At first I was interested in the theories that de Changy presents but as I read more I got lost in all of the repeated and irrelevant details and found it hard to maintain my interest. I appreciate the journalistic integrity that de Changy clearly has in presenting, evidencing, and criticising every theory, but I think a more nuanced, focussed account would have made for a more concise and thus interesting read.
I may still come back to this book as I am curious about de Changy's final thoughts but it feels like the book requires a lot of hard work on the part of the reader just to trudge through all of the details and chapters, even the ones which could definitely have been omitted.

A fascinating look at what happened to Malaysia airlines flight 777, which apparently vanished from the sky in March 2014. Years later, relatives of the passengers are still waiting for answers. Journalist Florence de Changey takes a deep dive in the urban legends and actual facts surrounding the most well known aeroplane disappearances of the twenty-first century. An interesting read.

Clever cover
Fascinating book
We all know the story of flight MH370 and probably like me have an opinion on what happened, why and who was responsible ( if anyone ), this author has taken every scenario, rumour, ‘fact’ and discussion and thoroughly ( and I mean thoroughly ) dissected and researched each one, giving not just her view but the factual evidence for and against each, she has travelled round the world, met hundreds of people and read thousands of words to bring this near encyclopaedic study, she has done it carefully and methodically as leaves no stone unturned in her quest to try and give her answers
It is important to say she does reach a conclusion, of course am not going to say what it is, but on the way to this she leaves the reader no option but to believe it as every other possibility for the disappearance is covered factually disproving each one until we reach the shocking conclusion, I can’t emphasis the ‘factually’ bit enough, it’s not a book of fanciful ramblings but everything is numbered and listed to be referred to at the end of each chapter ( and whilst reading each ), I guess in this way a book book is better than an e book for using this
It is a surprisingly easy read for saying so much information is thrown at you on every page although not a quick read, I think at 5 days this is my longest in time read for many years!
I loved the way she started the book more or less saying this plane did not just disappear, it happened in 2016 and to think so is crazy and her slightly bemused narrative that anyone actually believes it did just vanish carries on, it actually works really well and very quickly you realise just how implausible it was that we all believed it had
There is reference to many other air disasters in a separate and sobering chapter but she relates and cross references them to this case, nothing she says is ‘conspiratory’ as I keep putting she bases it all on fact
It is an astonishing case and this is an astonishing book, the work that has gone into it is amazing and at the end there really is no other conclusion to draw other than the one she offers

10/10
5 Stars

Like a lot of people I have been captivated by the fate of MH370 and have read most of the literature out there about it. I thought I had nothing new to learn. I was wrong. This is the most definitive account of the disappearance of the aircraft you will ever read, written in a way that is easy for a lay person with no knowledge of aviation to understand. De Changy deep dives into the background of this modern day mystery and gives a plausible explanation of what most likely occurred. This is a very well written book, impeccably researched, and a must read for anyone who has wondered how an airline can literally vanish in the night. The easiest 5 star review I have ever given.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 ok stars.

I enjoyed this book but I had to keep picking it, putting it down again as it was really detailed and written like a forensic analysis of all angles to be considered.

It will be loved by all conspiracy theorists out there, but for me just a bit slow and drawn out.

I requested this book because I was intrigued as to how a huge plane and all its crew and passengers can simply ‘disappear’ mid-flight. I vaguely remember it’s coverage in the news media here in Britain and was looking forward to an interesting read about the reporting of and the various theories that surround its disappearance. Whilst I commend the in-depth analysis and investigative efforts that Florence De Changy went to try to uncover the truth about what happened on that fateful flight, I found myself bogged down with details so much so that whilst the book was an interesting read, I did struggle with it and I am ashamed to say I DNF at 37 %. What I did gather from what I read though was that this incident needs a thorough re-investigation if only to enable some sort of closure for the families of the passengers on that fateful flight.

The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, with all its 239 passengers and 12 crew, is one of the strangest aviation mysteries of modern times. How could a modern airliner vanish from thin air? The mystery is both jaw-dropping, and in a world where air travel is ubiquitous and something we all take for granted (at least prior to COVID-19, and hopefully in the future too) disconcerting and horrifying. It’s never really been explained, though there is an official narrative of sorts after various inquiries.

In this book, Florence de Changy, a French journalist and foreign corespondent for Le Monde, painstakingly challenges the official narrative of pilot suicide (along with various conspiracy theories) and claims instead the plane was shot down. It’s a great piece of investigative work, and she sources her claims with endnotes in every chapter.

The problem I have with her work is there is an equally convincing long form article in The Atlantic by William Langewiesche, which argues precisely and convincingly for the suicide theory. Similarly, Blaine Gibson, a man who has found over half the verified pieces of MH370 wreckage to be recovered so far, supports the suicide theory and dismisses this book as a conspiracy theory.

So, as often happens in a world of information at our fingertips, unless the reader conducts the investigation for themselves (and I don't mean reading random Facebook posts and watching Youtube videos, but actually doing the investigative work that Florence de Changy and William Langewiesche presumably have), they’re left unsure who to believe. The two conflicting, and to a layperson, equally convincing, theories about the fate of MH370, are perfect analogies of our times. As someone old enough to remember the dawn of the digital age, I recall being told the internet and social media would empower us with information. In fact, the reverse has happened, and we suffer information overload.

I literally do not know who to believe, Florence de Changy or William Langewiesche; the narrative put forward in this impressively crafted book, that the plane was shot down, or that in the equally impressive Atlantic article, that the pilot or co-pilot committed suicide with all on board.

The Enigma of the loss of MH370 is captured in all its convoluted intrigue in this book by a tenacious investigative reporter. Her diligent research and logical approach led to the conclusion that, despite the lack of technical evidence and the different and conflicting testimony from industry ‘experts’ and politicians, there had to be a massive international cover-up of the real cause to the loss of the aircraft and the passengers and crew.
What I found in my mind at the end of this fascinating real-life saga was that the very public search that was conducted in the Southern Indian Ocean was nothing but obscuration of the real fate of the aircraft off the coast of Vietnam. The witnesses that the author interviewed in Thailand and Vietnam were absolutely convinced by what they saw and heard and as the saying goes ‘they could not all be wrong’.
A thoroughly fascinating read that is very thought provoking and leaves the reader with a collation of information that enables them to decide in their own minds what happened to MH370.

The Disappearing Act is one of the most intricate, involving and meticulous pieces of investigative journalism that I’ve read and I’ve read a fair few.

The missing flight MH370 captured the imagination of the world – what followed in the media, the speculation, the conspiracy theories, the obfuscation, soon meant that the human tragedy became secondary and the families seeking an answer were somewhat left behind.

Enter Florence De Changy, who after covering the case herself, took on the seemingly impossible task of unraveling the myths and bringing focus to the facts. The results of this incredible in depth analysis is here in The Disappearing Act, it is fascinating, melancholy and utterly gripping.

Reading like a thriller in a lot of ways, the author looks at everything, no matter how obscure or unlikely and measures it against realistic possibilities and known facts. A lot of what you’ll find here you likely won’t have heard before and the disconnect between what was presented by authorities and actual realities is often stunning.

Eventually Florence De Changy will offer you a story that sits away from the white noise, away from the spotlight and she’ll do this whilst never losing sight of the huge human loss at the centre of this mystery.

A massive accomplishment and highly recommended by me.

While the investigative journalism in this book seems thorough and professional, it seems more like a smattering of facts instead of a well-narrated story. I probably still have the lofty ideal of Michelle McNamara in my mind. I DNFd the book at 14%, even though I was and still am pretty intrigued about the happenings of MH 370, the cover-ups by the government and the author's theories about what actually went down on that fateful night,

Investigative journalism has always been my soft spot, since most of the time it will challenge my logical inquiry and goes against the common narrative. In one of the most massive and expensive ocean search in the history of civil aviation disasters, the Boeing 777 which carried 239 passengers simply disappeared without a trace in one of the politically sensitive regions of the planet. So rather than simply describing the official narrative as ‘incredible’, Florence de Changy simply said it as ‘not credible’. And it goes without saying that the disappearance of Flight Malaysia Airlines MH370 in this modern age with massive surveillance challenges our basic modes of inquiry.

Through various cases presented in this book, Florence de Changy does not seek to provide an established answer to the readers. Rather than that, it seeks to analyse from various lenses the established truth in the official narrative that the last point of contact of the flight MH370 was made at 1:22 am at the waypoint IGARI, between Malaysia and Vietnam over the South China Sea in which the captain responded with the infamous last remark “Good night Malaysian Three Seven Zero”. The weird cases begin when the official narrative did not include information from the Ho Chi Minh air traffic controller which recorded that the plane reached waypoint BITOD at 1.30 am, and the fact that the real last point of radar contact at 2.40 am. From then on, Florence de Changy presents us with various scenarios offered by national and international media outlets as well as the official narrative which support the theory of the plane making a U-turn to finally end up exhausting its fuel in an unidentified spot in the Indian Ocean.

As a journalist who was posted in Hong Kong by Le Monde, Florence de Changy has been following up every piece of information related to the disappearance of MH370 since Day 1. Her first task at that time by her media outlet was to listen to what common Malaysians thought of the incident. To investigate the incident, she went as far to meeting the next of kin of the flight passengers, consulting with various aviation experts as well as pilots, discussing theories with MHists (keen personal-driven investigators who seek the truth behind the disappearance of MH370), and visiting several places related to the incident (such as the Maldives, to prove the theory that the plane was shot down near the US military base in Diego Garcia). I would recommend grabbing some maps to accompany the reading of this book since it will really help to determine some locations mentioned here and there in this book.

To explain her investigation results, Florence de Changy does not spare us from aviation terminologies. But I like the way it enriches me with some particular cases in the history of aviation as well as the common pattern with flight disaster. Considering that the author did not have any expertise in writing about the aviation industry prior to covering the case, this book is indeed proof of what extensive research could do to explain the disappearance of MH370 even when it is done by a layperson. Florence initially published a book in French in 2016 which attempts to explain the disappearance of MH370 based on the facts that were available at that time. Her initial discussion invited many MHists and other people who are interested in the subject, who finally contributed to help to collect more facts that are presented in this latest English edition of The Disappearing Act.

This is not a short book, and there are extensive details that might bore some readers, especially those who did not follow any news related to MH370 before reading it. But it is well written and self-evident in telling us that the whole case of MH370 needs some attention, not only for the family members of the passengers who need closure about the fates of their beloved ones but also for us as human beings as this case is a challenge to our modes of inquiry. In the words of Jan Hus, the Church reformer who was executed following dissension against the doctrines of the Catholic Church almost a century before Martin Luther successfully reformed the Church in the German-speaking world, “Seek the truth, hear the truth, learn the truth, love the truth, speak the truth, hold the truth and defend the truth until death.”

‘The Disappearing Act’ -Florence de Changy
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“In a world defined by advanced technology and interconnectedness, how could an entire aircraft become untraceable?”

At 12:42 am on March 8th, 2014, Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 seemingly vanished. It is one of aviation’s biggest mysteries to date and remains shrouded in copious amounts of conspiracy and skepticism.

De Changy leads the way in a particularly monumental piece of investigative journalism. Her dedication to the case is admirable, spanning many years and within this extremely detailed account, no stone is left unturned. It offers; press releases, eye witness testimonies, it debunks rumours and disproves illogical explanations from authorities. It provides an unnerving narrative that deduces logical theories supported by extensive research.

Sadly, still no plausible explanation remains to the 239 lives lost to this inexplicable event. Hopefully, in time, the families of those lost shall learn of answers and explanations they so gravely deserve.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for this ARC.