This is a fascinating and very well-researched non-fiction book looking at what might have happened to flight MH 370, which disappeared seemingly without trace in March 2014. The author is a journalist and she has closely followed the story from the very start. In the book we see that she has interviewed people from all walks of life – from the conspiracy theorists, to the politicians, to the eye witnesses and more to try and piece together what the most likely scenario is as to what happened to the plane. Some parts of this book felt a little bogged down in detail and I had to re-read sections to fully grasp them but other parts of the book had me completely engrossed and unable to put the book down. de Changy’s ultimate theories on what might have happened to the plane sound incredibly plausible and believable. It’s shocking that so many mistakes and mis-steps (and possible deliberate cover-ups) have meant the mystery of MH 370 might never be solved. This is a well written book and I recommend it.

On the 8th of March 2014 Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared, and to this day, has never been found. It was carrying 239 passengers at the time. Their families and friends have never had closure.

Touted as aviation's greatest mystery, what happened to the flight? How could an aircraft completely vanish? de Chagny’s book is a fantastic piece of investigation, taking you from the early days of the incident, and spanning across years. She delves deep into all evidence, reports, expert opinions, eyewitness testimonies, and more. She has gathered together a plethora of information, catagorised it, sorted into a timeline, and presented it in a manner easy to follow, yet makes your head reel - making you deeply unsettled at the ‘truth’ we were told about the incident, particularly so, when you see how much more there was that was left unreported, obfuscated or straight out buried.

I don’t often read books in this genre, but this was an absolutely gripping read. I bookmarked pages. I took notes. I reread chapters. I sent excerpts to friends, and had them as invested in the book as I became! I found I needed to talk about what I was reading, I had to internalise it, then discuss it with others. It was a gripping read, an exhausting read, but one that I would highly recommend. de Chagney has done an incredible job of pulling together the story, presenting it to us, but all throughout, reminding us, at the heart of it all, there are 239 people who never made it home.

I found this book to be absolutely fascinating. The depth of her research has been amazing and also the depths of apparent cover up are also amazing.
It really held my attention, although it is a large book, but I could not stop reading it.
The list of the countries she has travelled to in order to obtain the information was incredible.
A brilliant, but very concerning read.

The author must be commended on her perseverance as she has spent years on trying to discover what exactly happened to flight MH370 which ‘disappeared’ on its flight from Kuala Lumper to Beijing. This is a tour de force.

Sadly, however, although I did finish the book I did begin to flag just over half-way through. As a result it took me a long time to read it. What comes over loud and strong is the author’s determination/fascination to resolve this issue. A feat I matched with mine to finish the book. My review in no way diminishes Ms de Courcy’s efforts – it just shows my lack of fascination for the subject matter.

Well done Ms de Courcy – a tour de force.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

Highly detailed! The author spent years organizing her reporting from her time in Malaysia immediately following the disappearance and adding current research to put forward a comprehensive, highly detailed work surrounding MH370. In areas, the author shares her impatience (the impatience experts and readers share) towards the incompetence, negligence, and misinformation that permeated the official information that was provided by investigatory bodies. And for good reason, we see all of the chaos and time wasted in the earliest stages through the pages of this book.

I'm fascinated with this incident, and the author leaves no stone unturned when detailing every ping and search and theory. She includes a lot of dates, data, and names that could be a bit confusing if you aren't paying attention.

This is a detailed investigation into the disappearance of Flight MH370. On Friday, 7th March, 2014, the Boeing 777 set off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, on route to Beijing. It was nearly midnight and everything seemed routine, with a sign off as the plane left Malaysian airspace and then seemed to simply vanish… Of course, tragically, there are still no definite answers for the families of those on board. The author asks the question that reverberated around the world that day – how can a plane, with 239 people on board, simply disappear?

Florence de Changy does an excellent job of giving the reader all of the available evidence. From the initial, confusing statements and press conferences, from Malaysian Airlines, through to the later speculation and conspiracy theories. She travels around the world speaking to anyone who was even remotely involved. Those who claimed to see a low flying plane, or witnessed lights, or knew members of the crew or passengers. Although her research is painstaking, she does not make this a dry read. It is obvious that she is invested in uncovering the truth and following every lead.

Therefore, we taken through events. She points out that it is often easier for those investigating such tragic events to blame the pilot – exonerating the plan, airline or airline manufacturers. So, was it a pilot suicide? Electrical failure? Engine failure? Why was some of the cargo not scanned properly before being loaded? Were any of the passengers suspicious? Could there have been a bomb, a fire, a suicidal crash into the sea? Although the author cannot give a definitive answer, she weighs up all the evidence and saves her own suggestion for the end of the book, as she goes through all the possibilities and outlines her own scenario. A fascinating read and, let’s hope, at some point the relatives have a definitive answer.

I found this story fascinating. The research done by the author is methodical, speaking to governments, fishermen, and everyone in between that could hold a piece of this jumbled jigsaw of real events and the people that purposely mislead the world and the grieving families.


On the outside looking in it was like a David Copperfield magical extravaganza because it had that now you see it now you don’t scenario, but it lacked the finish, it has never been found. That is the whole point though there was nothing, no black boxes, no debris and no bodies dead or alive. The pilot’s last message was to air control signing off before moving into the next one, but it simply disappeared. No distress call, no passengers making goodbye calls to family, just gone.

Although this is a true story about the whereabouts of flight 370 don’t think for one minute that it is just full of facts and figures, yes there is a lot of technical information and lot of statements from governments, but there are also times that it is so tense. There have been people made to retract statements and much worse.

The author bears all about governments and leads me to the most believable explanation possible. What price can be placed on these lives? I feel so much heartbreak for these families of the victims that have no conclusion to this. It is an outstanding account from this author, the research is extensive and seems like it became all-consuming to find out the truth. Exceptional.

I wish to thank Net Galley and the publisher for an e-copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.

What happened to Malaysia Airlines flight MH370? You may think you know the answer to that question but the truth is you probably don't. This book will correct that for you though and make you look at the whole incident in a new and much more skeptical light.

This is a very detailed and well researched book tackling the story of MH370 from the moment it happened right up to 2018. It picks up not only the official story of the crash that is clearly nonsense but also some of the other theories that have been put forward. Florence de Changy has really dedicated herself to this investigation over many years, following up on numerous leads which leads her to her conclusion that is a fairly chilling one. Also, you will never really look at the airline manufacturing companies in the same light again once you know the extreme lengths they will go to to lay the blame at one anyone or anything instead of their airplanes.

This is not a short book and it is very detailed but it is well written and the more I read the more the more it became obvious that the official story line is clearly suspect and so what really happened.... Well I won't spoil it apart from to say it amazing what you can cover up if enough people have skin in the game.

De Changy’s book tales a phenomenally detailed look (actually, that’s an understatement- it’s an extremely thorough investigation) into the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370, en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur in March 2014. Throughout, the writer investigates countless possibilities, failed searches, debris which allegedly belonged to the plane, witness accounts - and so on. Despite the enormity of the disaster, and the fact the tragedy remains unsolved nearly seven years later, De Changy’s writing suggests that no stone has been left uncovered.

Given the depth and detail here, which I found very interesting, it is disgraceful that there still aren’t any finalised answers as to what brought the plane down in the middle of the night. Was it technical error? Maybe it was a deliberate act? Perhaps it was a military operation gone wrong? De Changy throughly explores many potential situations and, without too much exposition, I was left feeling quite certain as to what happened.

This book shows how much time the writer spent on trying to find answers. At times, De Changy’s style is a little informal and some might feel she labours the point too often. However, having read ‘The Disappearing Act’, it has left me much more knowledgeable about the incident, but also with a great sense of sadness for the 239 lives lost on that night in March 2014.

I found this to be a fascinating investigation on the disappearance of Flight MH370. How can a plane, carrying 239 people on board, just go missing in this day and age? Well, that is what happened on the 8th March 2014, and the relatives of those on board are still waiting for answers.

I remember seeing this on the news at the time and thinking that the authorities would be doing all they could to discover just what happened to make a plane disappear into thin air. But after reading this book and the calamity that was the investigation, it just makes you extremely worried that so many agencies and countries seem willing and able to hide the truth.

Was the plane hijacked? Did it change route? Was it shot down? The author explores all the theories as she travels across the world talking to relatives of the lost passegers, along with eye witnesses on the ground who were ignored by official investigators. Her research was extensive and exhaustive as she looked into every single theory - official or otherwise- and the more you read, the more suspicious you are of all those involved across the world in various governments. And why was a commercial flight disappearance being controlled by governments?! What did they want hushed up? There's question marks over some of the passengers on board, the cargo being carried, the mental wellbeing of the pilots - but still nothing concrete has ever been discovered despite the occasional discover of pieces of plane at various locations.

The fact that another Malaysian plane was lost a few months later just muddies the water and left me feeling shocked that such incompetence was allowed to go unchecked - which just makes you think even more that something dodgy was behind all this. It all felt very choreographed to distract people from the reality of what did happen and a number of countries seemed complicit in the cover up

Was it pilot error? An accident? Terrorism? After reading this you'll definitely believe there is more to this disappearance than meets the eye and you can only commend the author for their research in trying to find out the truth - a shocking and eye opening read! Highly recommended!

I'm really interested in real life mysteries and the disappearance of MH370 is one that has fascinated me since it happened in 2014. It's incomprehensible how a large aircraft can just disappear, and all these years later we still do not truly know what happened to it.

Florence de Changy does an excellent job of compiling all of the public information together, combined with insider knowledge and private interviews. She calls out all of the many inconsistencies and includes many voices that have previously been ignored or disparaged by the media.

It did throw me off at times when certain certain pieces of information seemed to be given undue prominence in the book, however I appreciate that this is difficult when so many sources need to stay anonymous! I was worried we weren't going to get a summary of the information or the author's opinion but the last chapter absolutely blew me away. I enjoyed how de Changy took all of the elements of the investigation and put forward an incredible but totally believable account of what could have actually happened.

If the MH370 fascinated you like it did me, then I highly recommend this book.

A common sense summation of the disappearance of flight MH370. Unravelling the obfuscation and confusion to give perspective to the contradictory aspects of the mystery. Written with sterling concern for the relatives who seek closure and with depth and empathy..

What happened to Malaysia Airlines flight MH370? How could a Boeing 777, crammed with electronics, with 239 passengers and at least as many telephones, vanish without the knowledge of radars and satellites in one of the most strategic areas of the planet? Two years later, relatives of the missing are still waiting for a plausible explanation. On the basis of learned mathematical calculations, they are told that the plane crashed in the Indian Ocean. But there is no tangible evidence to support this official version. Was the Boeing carrying suspicious passengers? Secret cargo? On the sidelines of the investigations off Australia, the whole world followed in the footsteps of the plane: secret services, private investigators, scientists and enthusiasts of all kinds. Millions of dollars have been swallowed up. In vain. The mystery has become a thriller. 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.

His conviction: flight MH370 has not disappeared. People know. States hide certain facts. The truth bothers. The Disappearing Act is a bold, fascinating and extensively researched deep dive into one of the most profoundly unexplainable airplane disappearances in recently memory; not because it really is unexplainable in the sense that there aren't several theories that could ring true but more because in this day and age, with all of the technology, radar and special search equipment, people feel uneasy that a DEFINITIVE cause cannot be given. God knows the families of those on board certainly deserve an answer as to why they will never see their loved ones again. Bringing the latest research, documents, experts and witnesses together, de Changy pens a terrific forensic investigative piece bringing together all that is known plus some information that wasn't and building a picture of the likelihood of each theory. I just hope in time we will perhaps know more. RIP. Highly recommended.

This is a chilling and truly extraordinary account of a well publicised air disaster. It’s almost unthinkable that a Boeing 777 carrying a total of 239 people should literally disappear into thin air. And yet that’s exactly what happened to Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Disappearing Act is an exciting and remarkable investigative account of events prior to the disaster, those directly involved including the pilot and copilot and the full search operation that was conducted.

Florence de Changy writes in a very engaging way. She tackles and explains significant technical detail about electronics, satellite tracking and more in a way that the lay reader can easily follow. At the heart of her story is the fact that the aircraft was not found. Needless to say, there were widespread repercussions, not least with the relatives of the poor souls who perished. The author maintains a sensitive balance between explaining and investigating the various facts, disinformation and rumours whilst bearing in mind the human cost.

This story is a real eye opener. What happened, why and what can be done to stop it happening again? These questions are tackled in detail and Ms de Changy has clearly used her extensive knowledge as a Far East correspondent for Le Monde and other media. Her research and network of contacts is extensive and her sources are all noted. This is a story which is truly jaw dropping, not least in the way the authorities handled the situation immediately following the disappearance. I read with a growing sense of anger and frustration at the dissembling nature of briefings and misinformation. It’s genuinely astonishing is one of the best non fiction titles I’ve read.

I downloaded to a Kindle, but to really appreciate the content, I recommend download to a tablet; there are numerous colour photos to support the text, an extensive index and notations and maps. This is a real human interest story and a slice of social history. It’s a remarkable read and one that will stay with me for some time.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

This book looks at Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 which disappeared with all of its passengers in 2014, never to be seen again. A brilliant account of the mystery, looking at different theories and ideas. It certainly gets you thinking, and the writer has done a brilliant job investigating and writing about it. I particularly enjoyed looking at the photographs at the end, and I also liked the section that looked at what happened to other flights over the years. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of the book in return for my honest feedback.