You're on a routine flight from London to LA.
Hundreds of people are on board - including your estranged son, Theo.
Ten hours into the flight, something goes terribly wrong. The engines fail. The plane enters a steep dive.
You, and everyone else on board, die instantly.
Then, you wake up. It's one hour before the crash. You can't believe it - you're alive. Your beloved son is safe.
Until, terrifyingly, the same chain of events repeats itself. Again, and again, and again.
You're the only one who knows what's about to happen.


Wow, there's not much else to say. Absolutely fantastic read; difficult to put down as the pace is relentless. The characters are real and flawed as we all are. Couple that with a killer and totally unexpected ending. What's not to like? Great read.

I was drawn in by the premise of this book and, whilst it was incredibly tense in parts, it just didn't really work for me and I struggled to keep reading. Judging by other reviews I am definitely in the minority here.

Wow, wow, WOW! This book took me on one hell of a ride! I wasn't completely sure of what to expect and it absolutely didn't disappoint!

Charlie is on a flight from London to LA, on which her son, Theo, is the First Officer and has no idea that his Mum is on board. At midnight, the plane crashes, killing everyone on board and then Charlie "wakes up" to find it's 11pm. Was it a dream? When it gets to midnight and the plane crashes again, Charlie realises she is in some kind of mysterious time loop and must find out how to break the cycle and save hundreds of lives.

I found this completely compelling and to add to that, after every time loop, we hear from Theo, starting from his first trip to LA, up to the present time, which adds another whole gripping dimension to the story. I know more than I should about the underbelly of the casino world, as a result of a family member's addiction, so this aspect of the story was really intense and harrowing, and my heart was breaking for Theo.

As the pieces started to fit together, I had to remind myself to breathe! The writing is superb, the character development is excellent and the plot is flawlessly executed. And then the ending - explosive, next level, I loved it!

5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Cameron Ward and Michael Joseph, Penguin for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Thanks to Cameron and NetGalley for allowing me to read Spiral before the publication date.
This is definitely NOT a book for anyone who is claustrophobic or a nervous flyer.

As a student, Charlie took a vacation in the USA where she met the charming and handsome Logan Kelly.
After she returns home, Charlie realises that she is pregnant. She tries to contact Logan, only for her letters to be returned.

26 years later, her son, Theo, is an airline pilot. He finds a box of paperwork about his biological father. Furious with his mother, he storms out, determined to track down Kelly.

This takes him down a path of self-destruction, probably killing off the few brain cells which he has left as he drinks himself into oblivion.
Theo’s ex- girlfriend, Laura, tells Charlie about his behaviour.

Determined to save Theo from himself, Charlie books a seat on the flight on which Theo is the first officer.
From there, the book enters Groundhog Day.

I have read previous books by the author but I could not engage with this one.

Charlie is the mother of Theo who is the first officer on flight from London American Atlantic 229. They have been estranged for the last 12 months. But she's on the flight to surprise her son and reconcile their differences. After a phone call from a friend of Theo’s called Laura saying that his life is spinning out of control. Charlie is on the flight to help her son, but disaster strikes when the plane’s engine fails, and everyone dies.
Charlie wakes up thinking how she survived the crash. But then she realised that time has gone back an hour before as she must find out what happens to stop it from happening.
Spiral by Cameron Ward is it clearly written addictive read which I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. It goes back in forth in time. Theo founding out about his father and leaving Charlie to go and find him. But he is not the guy that Theo expects him to be, and Theo gets into all sorts of trouble that leads up to the crash. Also, a mother getting some chances to rectify the problems she has done in the past. If you could change what happened with your children, what would you do?
This is a fascinating read. I loved it from start to finish. This is a unputdownable read. 5 stars from me.

A real non stop thriller which had me hooked on every page. I could not put it down. The tension was manic throughout with twists and turns along the way. I do love a thriller set on a plane and this one was pure brilliance.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I loved the concept, it was really unusual and well executed. The tension and the setup was nail biting, and I thought that Charlie was a great character. The ending was fantastic, and I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately I found Theo to be unbelievably naive and extremely self absorbed, obviously it was somewhat necessary for the story arc, but it just didn’t work for me. This is just my personal opinion.
I would recommend this to people who enjoy an unusual thriller.

I've been loving plane-based thrillers recently, particularly TJ Newman's Falling and Drowning, and Clare Mackintosh' Hostage. Which is weird as I am scared of flying at the best of times. But I think it's such a great location for a thriller, the claustrophobia and the natural fear I think we all have about being stuck in a tin can 35,000 feet in the air going 500 mph.

We see Charlie's story going forward on the plane trip, but we get to know Theo through flashbacks 12 months beforehand, counting down to the present.

There are many characters in this book, but for me, you're looking at two main characters, Charlie and Theo.

Charlie is our main character and Theo's mother. Did I like her? Yes and no. There wasn't any particular reason to dislike her, and I felt she was doing the right thing for herself, her son, and a plane full of strangers, she was just being a mother protecting her son. But there was something about her, something that niggled throughout that I couldn't quite put my finger on. But by the end she had redeemed herself and those thoughts of dislike had been replaced by pride at her character.

Then we have Theo, Charlie's son. For the most part we only get to know him through the flashback scenes, and through Charlie's thoughts and memories, so it was hard to hit on a definite opinion of him to begin with, but it was clear he was troubled. I disliked him in his flashback scenes (for the most part), I felt he was just going round in circles, not listening to anyone. I wasn't 100% sure how old he was meant to be in those scenes but for me was acting like a petulant child. But he clearly had issues and he got himself in too deep, and by the end I did have empathy for him.

I thought it might be a bit too familiar to the other plane-based thrillers I've mentioned above, but this has a twist. Yes it's a thriller, but we also have a fantasy/sci-fi element, there's romance, the dynamics between mother and son; which makes it stand out and makes it original enough.

It has been described as a Groundhog Day situation and, I may be the only person to admit this, but I didn't like Groundhog Day very much. I know it was meant to be repetitive, that's the whole point of it, but for me it went too far. Instead of it being an amusing and slightly frustrating premise, it became annoying and I wanted to turn it off. And there was a worry this would be similar and I'd give up half way through. But by having the other scenes set in the past and from Theo's POV help break it up and give great context for what's happening on the plane.

It's 400 pages, give or take, which would sometimes take me a matter of hours to read, and others several days. This was in the first category. The first quarter sped by so quickly, and I read it all in one day.

It does contain some difficult topics and scenes: obviously, plane crashes, but anxiety, alcohol problems, debt, crime, death, relationship difficulties, bribery, mob life, gambling etc.

Other reviews say that at about half way through, they figured out what the cause for the time slip in the plane....but I didn't. I mean, it does get quite scientific and technical, and so I understand what they're saying at a very basic level, but I can't dissect it enough to figure out what it actually meant in context to the story. If someone asked me to explain why and how this time slip on the plane was happening, I couldn't answer them. But maybe that's just me.

I thought it was very good, very original. I still have a few questions but I think he's done well. It's the right side of repetitive, is thrilling, with twists and turns. This is my first Cameron Ward book, but will not be my last.

This was an interesting read that the twists and turns made me run through
A little hard to believe and some parts were rushed but I genuinely enjoyed

Wow. What an amazing read. Intellectual Groundhog Day. I loved this book so much and cloud not put it down. Such a very clever storyline, based around Charlie on a plane from Heathrow to LA on a time loop, intertwining with her son Theo’s back story, living in LA over the last year. There were some amazing characters and some very unsavoury ones. I was on the edge of my seat throughout trying to second guess the actions of both Charlie and Theo in their individual circumstances. Excellent ending which was hard to second guess. I have read all this authors books, and they get better every time. (It would make an amazing film!)

Charlie is on a flight to LA to try and reconcile with her son, Theo, who is also co-pilot on the flight.
The book flashes back over time to show how mother and son reach this point, in particular with regard to Theo's destructive life choices.
When Charlie becomes aware of a plot to down the plane, she enters into a time spiral where she gradually works out what is happening. But can she stop the plane crashing before time runs out?
Spiral is a real page turner.

Well if you’re looking for a book that’s going to keep you glued to every page then this really is the book for you. For me being in a bit of a reading slump this was one that grabbed my attention right from the start with a completely different kind of plot that had me racing through the book as I was desperate to find out what the heck was going on.
The writing was so well crafted and I loved the Groundhog Day kind of theme and the playing with time aspect it was so very cleverly done and also well explained and interesting. I’m not saying more about the plot as I think it’s better to read this story with no preconceived ideas as that’s what I did and it made it even more enjoyable I think not knowing what was happening or going to happen made it all the better.
So a book I would highly recommend it really is a thrill a minute read with excellent twists and all you want in an addictive and clever thriller.
My thanks to NetGalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for giving me the opportunity to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved this book! Initially it was the time loop storyline that reeled me in as I do have a love for time loops generally. This book though was just so much more! There was so much depth to it and so many themes that were brilliant to read, I loved that everything was based around family and identity and there was a lot of psychology undertones in there too. The characters were great, although I did get frustrated with how naive Theo was, I felt maybe he should have been written as a slightly younger character but I did feel for him too. There was always a lot happening and the story moves at such a great pace without ever becoming overwhelming and it’s really easy to keep up to speed with everything all the way through. It was always full of suspense and atmosphere and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it & absolutely recommend it

Charlie is on a flight from London to LA, travelling to try to meet her estranged son to reconcile. Ten hours into the flight something goes terribly wrong. The engines fail, the plane plummets and all passengers on board die. Then she wakes up. It was all a dream. An hour before the crash took place. Then the Groundhog Day effect starts to take place and she can’t believe what is happening. Until the plane crash happens again, and she wakes up again, this time a little bit closer to the time of the crash. Charlie has to figure out what is happening, and fast. She is the only person on the plane who seems to realise what is happening, but how can she change it?

This was a gripping read. It splits between Charlie’s story on the plane, and flashing to that of Theo, her estranged son. Charlie was a great character, and I loved it when the story was focused on her. Theo was harder to like, becoming more and more unlikable as we got to know him more. However, as the story progresses the twists in the plot of each time loop gives us more to the tale and we unearth more about Charlie and Theo and what has put them in this situation in the first place. To say any more will ruin the story, but it is safe to say there is a lot of misdirection in this one, a lot of plot twists, and a lot of angles you don’t see coming. The ending was a brilliant unseen twist! You will want to read this in one sitting, so make sure you have no other plans. Also, perhaps, don’t bring it as your plane reading material!

*I received this book from NetGalley for review, but all opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of Spiral.

I just read this more or less in one sitting and I am breathless! This concept is perfect for me, a mixture of disaster and time travel, what’s not to love?

Everytime Charlie woke up again from the crash, you knew she was getting closer and closer to ultimate disaster! Fast paced, with characters you could like, and ones you really couldn’t, I absolutely loved it! My first by this author, and it will NOT be my last! Miss this one at your peril!

This one was such a fun concept and I definitely did not expect it to go the way it did - there was so much to this story that I did not expect and it was entertaining!

I found myself wondering in the beginning where the story was going as I could not get my head around what was happening and how the the two narratives coincided however, the more the story continued and the further through I got - the clearer it became.

For me, while the concept was gripping and the book was entertaining, I didnt find myself unable to put it down but I cannot pinpoint why that was - I would definitely recommend it because it was an interesting concept though!

Loved this book. It's extremely well written with a quirky plot. One of those where you find yourself screaming at a character to do something different. I've reccomended it to my book club.

Another exciting thriller by Cameron Ward. Charlie is flying to LA to try and repair her relationship with her son, Theo. Theo is the co-pilot but doesn’t know she is on board. The plane hits turbulence then starts to crash. Charlie wakes up and everything is normal but this happens again and again. Each time it happens something is different and Charlie realises the plane will crash and it is down to her to stop it and save everyone on board and, of course, Theo. I enjoyed the sections about Charlie and Theo’s relationship and Theo’s life in LA but didn’t much like Theo as a character and felt much more for Charlie. This was a great read, full of suspense.
Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC

Definately not a book to take on your holidays if you intend to fly ! Apart from that warning, this is a great high stakes thriller. Just don't read it on the plane.

This book felt like a combination of
Ground Hog Day, Final Destination, and
Lost.

Told from the POV of Charlie, a worried mother who is trying to fix the fractured mother-son relationship and her attempts to repair it in different timelines, but of course, only on her timeline.

I always love a time slip trope, and this time, it's in a suspense/thriller and was done in such a clever way.

The Fibonacci spiral was a brilliant touch and such a great concept for the title!

I loved the clues she had to try notice each time her timeline restarted, and gradually, the pieces fell into place, and she discovered the truth.

This was my first book by this author, but they're definitely on my radar now.