What a fantastic premise! Gripping but at the same time believable, which makes the story feel very authentic and moving. The supporting cast of characters are well drawn too with some great surprises along the way.

The very definition of a page turner. Loved everything Clare has written so far but this might be my favourite. Great cast of characters, in such a relatable, yet perilous set of circumstances, that i tore through it in two sittings!

I've read a few of Clare Mackintosh's books, the early ones, and in comparison "Hostage" doesn't start off as strongly. However as the plot develops and you understand what is happening on the Sydney flight, the book becomes as addictive as her others. It ends well but I am left wondering how the scene on the runway before the prologue links in with the rest of the book.

Took me a bit to get into this storyline but once in it held my attention throughout.

A bit different from this authors previous books but it was an excellent page turner with good characters

Thank you to Netgalley and Little Brown Book Group for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

You can save hundreds of lives.
Or the one that matters most . . .

The atmosphere on board the first non-stop flight from London to Sydney is electric. If that alone doesn't get you wanting to read then I don't know what will.

Well, I really don't know what I expected from this read but what a read it was. What an interesting story that built up with the more you read.
Mina is a flight attendant, trying to put her failing marriage and the problems of motherhood behind her while she is working is difficult when so many things remind her of her daughter.

All aboard, you are in for a turbulent ride. This book covers some difficult topics, yet it really does get your mind thinking, what would I do in this situation, well I have no flipping idea, thats what.

One word - wow!
I’d both wanted to read this and not at the same time. I was desperate for another Clare Mackintosh book, but I knew as soon as I’d devoured it, I would have to wait for ages for another. So, I held off for as long as I could, letting the anticipation build.
It was so worth it, giving in and reading it early, but also having waited a while too. I was just in the right frame of mind for fantastic writing; keep me awake reading moments and lots of shocks and twists.
Mackintosh didn’t let me down and delivered everything I expected. This book really keeps you gripped right from the start. I purposely didn’t reread the premise before diving in so that I could just read it with no major preconceptions, just knowing I was in for one hell of a ride.
We start with what appears to be a mundane family of three. Mina, Adam and their adopted daughter Sophia. There is a little bit of drama but not a lot to really set the scene for the book, leaving you wondering where the author is going to take you. Mina is a flight attendant and is scheduled to work on the first non-stop flight from London to Sydney. It is here that all the excitement starts.
We are following the perspective of Mina and Adam. However, there are chapters interspersed throughout from some of the passengers on the flight. These small chapters appear to be irrelevant, but you know they are building towards something at the same time.
There are so many twists and turns that it is hard to keep your head on straight. They aren’t all delivered at the end but peppered throughout, really keeping you gripped and invested in the story.
That ending, though, has completely broken my brain. When I first read it, my eyes searched for the next line of the book, but there was none; it just goes straight into the author’s note. So, instead, I went back and reread the chapter but just couldn’t wrap my head around what had just happened. I have actually had to get my husband to read the final chapter for me to try and see if he could entangle it. I gave him a brief outline of what had happened throughout the book and waited to see what he came up with. His conclusion was completely different to mine, so I am still none the wiser.
I finished this a few days ago, and I’m still thinking about the plot, the ending and just the overall brilliantness of this book. So, another outstanding read from Clare Mackintosh and like I predicted, I’m now sad I have to wait so long for the next one.

Oh, wow! This is a real white knuckle ride read. Clare Mackintosh knows how to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. In this case, Mina is an air hostess with an adopted daughter and a troubled marriage. In a very cunningly crafted plot, the reader follows her trip on an inaugural non stop flight from UK to Sydney. She’s in business class and the tale is developed as the lives of each of the passengers is revealed. I found it impossible to second guess who was real and who was involved in the hostage situation.

The characters have real depth. The plot is twisted and full of the unexpected and there are sub plots that keep you on the edge of your proverbial seat as you race through the story. Fast, punchy and horribly plausible. Another winner.

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

The opening chapter of this book makes a big impact, and then the story builds up to the point the plane takes off. During this time we get to know more about Mina and her family which important given the deep moral dilemma Mina finds herself in later on. There is a good second plot line around the trouble facing Mina's husband, Adam, and I liked how this also feels tense and a race against time. I thought the build up felt tense and uneasy and set the scene for the rest of the novel. When the plane took off I felt trapped on board with the passengers, in a novel I couldn't put down.

Once on board it feels claustrophobic and captured a sense of anxiety about being on board a plane for 20 hours. The tension is matched by what is happening on the ground and I thought this was effective. There are many twists and turns and shocking events that keep the tension and suspense building.

I liked the switch in points of view to the characters on board the plane, although some were more interesting than others. I didn't find Mina nor Adam particularly engaging, but I thought Clare Mackintosh does a brilliant job of capturing character emotion and conflict.

A great thriller that had me racing through the pages to find out what was going to happen next.

Clare Mackintosh has firmly come top of my automatic purchases.
I was lucky to get an early copy of this though and was very excited when I got the email if I’d like to read it.

Oh yes please, thank you very much.

This is a good solid plot with real life characters.

A family with a daughter.
Both have their relevant careers.

As you can tell by the title HOSTAGE it’s plain but not at all simple and straightforward as to why or how this hostage takes place. It soon unravels though.

There are mysterious things that happen, for instance, her daughter has a severe allergy and needs an epi pen with her most times. So they are kept in certain places for emergency yet one is on the plane she works on. How did it get there?

There is an emotion decision that has to be made, weighing up options as to what she should do and being judged for it and herself feeling guilty for it.
But yet......

I put myself in this ladies place and wondered what I would do.....

I felt tense, I felt butterflies in my tummy and I had stopped breathing without noticing until I gasped!

If you want a tense read, here it is.
If you want a book where you’re constantly turning the pages, here it is.

Comes out June 2021 in U.K.

A high octane, classy thriller set in tbe world of aviation. A mother faced with an impossible choice. Mackintosh again proves that she's a writer at the top of her game. That ending!

Hostage is the story of an airliner being hijacked en route from London to Sydney. But the highjackers aren't the usual terrorist suspects, they are environmentalists recruited online with none of them meeting in real life until they board the fated plane.

Mina is one of the flight attendants but she has to put the safety of her young daughter before that of her passengers with dire consequences for her colleagues. Will the flight land safely is in everyone's mind especially when Mina herself, who has taken pilot training in the past, has to take control.

This was an unusual tale from Clare Macintosh whose books I have always enjoyed. An immense amount of research must have gone into it but somehow Hostage didn't move me as much as her other stories. Perhaps it was the characters themselves: Mina; her estranged husband; the hijacker in chief, and some of the passengers. I am glad I kept turning the pages especially when it came to the ending, which was most imginative, if possibly unrealistic! Many thanks to NetGalley and LittleBrown/Sphere for the opportunity to read and review Hostage.

So as a caveat, I have read all of Clare Mackintosh's books and have loved every one. So, I was quite excited when I received a copy of this latest one, Hostage. And I really tried to like it, I really did.
Initially, the characters were likeable. A police Detective (so we know we are in good hands here with Clare's past), and a cabin crew member, (we know Clare researched this role thoroughly for After the End).
But the book just fell flat for me. I can't go into too much detail as that will involve spoilers, but it was as if Clare had decided to write this with a view to maybe getting a film deal. Maybe it was lockdown that made her change tack, or genre but it wasn't for me.
It is not a spoiler to say that there is a hostage situation, in more ways than one. The hijackers were unbelievable, their cause not believable, and the whole scenes on the plane just a bit far fetched. Yes, I know a hijacking situation would be farfetched, but there was just no sense to it, no logic to it. it was just not believable.

It was as if there were three different books here; the relationship with her husband and daughter, her husbands issues, her issues, and then the hostage situation.

The research was obviously thorough. Clare has got the info regarding the fundamentals of the job spot on.
I wasn't on the edge of my seat, I didn't buy the storyline with the husband and daughter, and his strand throughout the book.
Sorry, but this was not for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher and the author for the early copy.

‘You can save hundreds of lives, or the one that matters most...’ This is the impossible choice faced by Mina while working as a flight attendant on a nonstop flight from London to Sydney. The 20 hour flight gives plenty of time for lots of action and the countdown of ‘hours from Sydney’ adds to the tension. The point of view switches between Mina and her husband Adam and it’s fair to say he is having a nightmare of a day too. A clever twist on an aircraft hijacking which makes it very contemporary. This is one of those books that you read and then feel like you’ve just watched the movie.

Hostage by Claire Mackintosh. Wow!! This is edge of your seat stuff! A really good tense thriller.

Mina, air stewardess, married to police officer Adam, with adopted daughter Sophia. Mina has taken a job on the first non-stop flight from London to Sydney. There is huge excitement, and the plane is filled with journalists, celebs etc. Everyone on the plane has a story. Strange things are happening during the flight building up to when Mina gets a message which threatens Sophia’s life unless he complies with demands. From this point on, the tension builds, choices have to be made, lives are in danger.

The storyline goes between the happenings on the flight and Mina’s husband Adam who has hidden a secret from her for years.

A really tense page turner with a lot of nail biting twists thrown in also. I certainly was not expecting the ending. You are asking yourself throughout “What would I do if I was in Mina’s position?”. Would I have done what Mina did?

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A roller coaster of fear and suspense. This book was fantastic. The story was so intense and plays on everyone’s worst fear when getting on an airplane. While simultaneously playing on a mother’s worst fear... harm to her child. This book took off running and didn’t slow down for one single moment. The characters were wonderfully thought out. The plot was literally terrifying. The ending has a twist you don’t even see coming. All the elements for a 5 star book!

I loved the concept of this book and I didn’t see some of the twists coming!

At the start of the book I was confused by the number of characters introduced, but the story quickly became ‘unputdownable’.

The topic of climate change featured heavily, I much preferred the topics around the relationships between the main characters and the choices they made, so this was the only negative for me making this 4 stars and not 5.

I was so excited for another Clare McKintosh. I have been absolutely gripped by her previous books and Hostage is no different. I was hooked from the first page and it was filled with all the thrilling suspense right to the twists you don't see coming that you come to expect. Readers will definitely not be disappointed.

Hostage by Clare Mackintosh is an outstanding book, the storyline, characters and the pace of the novel also made the novel ‘a must read ‘ book for 2021.
I have read Clare Mackintosh’s books in the past and thoroughly enjoyed reading them, but I do believe Hostage could be her best written book yet. It is entertaining, highly believable and has many twists and turns to keep the reader engaged and intrigued.
Highly recommended.

Well this took the word thriller to another level it was non stop action right from the start the pace just didn’t let up and was completely hooked!
I am somewhat lost for words in describing just how good this book was mainly as it had surprises, twists and so much going on but it was actually far more than just that it had that extra something that just made it a gripping and compulsive read.
I’m not one to rehash the overview and actually it better to just pick this book up not knowing what to expect, I did just that I knew it was going to be good because it’s written by Clare Mackintosh and all her books are brilliant but I just couldn’t put this one down.
The plotting of the story was perfect and the characters were varied, interesting and so damn well written it’s a clever story with many different strands and I especially likes Mia and Adams adopted daughter Sophia she was one feisty little girl!
So much praise for this book I thoroughly enjoyed it and what more do you want when you pick up a book than that and to finish it with great big smile on your face because it was such a satisfying read.
My thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Great idea for a thriller, this really plays on the fear of flying/crashing, so perhaps not suitable to be read on a plane! Great tension builder, slowly but surely the story draws you in. Won’t give any spoilers but I particularly liked the last chapter.