Crashers (Unabridged) [Audio Download]

Via the Amazon Vine review program, I selected a copy of the book Crashers by Dana Haynes for review. This thriller has an element that I haven't encountered in my reading before... the investigation of an aircraft accident by the National Transportation Safety Board, or NTSB for short. And the fact that the author sets the story in Portland, Oregon (the city I live in) didn't hurt in my decision-making process, either. What I ended up with in Crashers was a fun thriller that kept me turning pages to see how the technical aspect of the crime was carried out (as well as the why was it done in the first place).

The story revolves around a plane crash that seems to have no root cause. The cockpit recorder shows that everything was working fine up to the point where the copilot notices a signal for a catastrophic system failure and instantly the plane starts to shake itself to pieces. A team from the NTSB arrives on the scene, led by Leonard Tomzak, a disgraced team member who failed to find a cause for the prior crash they investigated, leading to second-guessing by other members of the team. Part of the team wants to write the crash off to pilot error, but Tomzak isn't quite ready to buy that explanation, as the behavior of the pilots doesn't fit for him. Focus starts to turn to the new generation of flight recorder on the plane, and the technical lead from the company is more than happy to show off the capabilities of the device. However, it could be that the device does more than just record, and that the tech lead is part of a larger terrorist plot that could have international ramifications.

There was quite a bit to like about Crashers. The NTSB characters were fleshed out, and they were realistically flawed and believable. The terrorism thread was also interesting and I enjoyed watching the two storylines converge. A couple parts were pretty far-fetched (such as the freeway scene), but not enough that it took away from the overall entertainment value of the novel. Given that this is Haynes' first novel, he's done a nice job, and I hope he decides to evolve this into a series based around crash investigators.

Disclosure:
Obtained From: Amazon Vine Review Program
Payment: Free

"Crashers" is an okay, but not great, thriller. A big four-engined Vermeer 111 passenger jet crashes minutes after taking off from Portland International Airport. Members of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) quickly converge at the scene to find out what went wrong. The men and women of this "Go-Team" have the obligatory ethnic and racial diversity, and each of them is an expert in some field related to the crash investigation. As the Go-Team's work in the hulk of the downed airliner proceeds, it starts to seem that the crash may have been caused by an unknown terrorist who can bring down another airplane at any time--and the clock is ticking.

So far, so good. It's an intriguing premise. In these days of shoe bombers, underwear bombers and full-body security scans at airports, the concept of a terrorist being able to cause an airplane to crash at will, and in a way that leaves no incriminating evidence, is a unique twist. But, unfortunately, "Crashers" doesn't live up to the full potential of such a clever idea. I won't spoil it by revealing the details, but I will say that any alert reader should be able to figure out what brought down the airliner by page 10. After that, there's no mystery to unravel, and it's pretty much standard thriller fare: brutal, sadistic villains; all-American good guys; a beautiful and exotic female agent; clandestine goings-on; deadly shootouts, etc. The characters are pretty well-defined, the dialog is mainly convincing, the sense of place (mostly in northern Oregon) is adequate, and the pace is fast, especially near the end. If these were the only factors to consider, I'd give "Crashers" four stars and recommend it as a quick, throwaway "beach read."

But I have to knock off a star for several reasons. The descriptions of the crash investigation are very superficial, and the actions of some Go-Team members are too far removed from reality. I know, it's a novel, and I can suspend my disbelief in favor of a good story, but not that much. The technology of the system that causes the crash--I won't reveal it--is totally unbelievable and most likely physically impossible. Even though one of the investigators often says he doesn't believe in coincidences, far too much of the plot depends on coincidences. And finally, author Dana Haynes doesn't seem to know much about aircraft. As a retired aerospace engineer and licensed pilot, I cringed almost every time he tried to describe aircraft-related technology. Again, I know it's fiction, but a quick read by a competent techie could have corrected some of his more bizarre misconceptions and given his book so much more verisimilitude.

So I recommend "Crashers" as a three-star, quick, throwaway beach read. It's not bad, but it falls far short of my five-star standards--standards formed by decades-old genre novels such as Frederick Forsyth's "The Odessa File," Larry Collins and Dominick LaPierre's "The Fifth Horseman" and Brian Lecomber's "Dead Weight," which set the bar very, very high.

For me, part of the enjoyment of reading novels is being taken to another place and time. Philippa Gregory takes us to Tudor England, John Grisham takes us into Southern American courtrooms. Dana Haynes promises to take us into the world of the NTSB investigating major airplane crashes. Unfortunately he completely fails.

We're not looking for complete authenticity, after all novels take us to Mars or completely made-up worlds, but it should seem real enough to allow the suspension of belief so the story can unfold. In the first few pages of this book it is instantly clear the author knows near nothing about aviation or airlines.

Introducing the captain: "she was the pilot and the senior officer." No, all the pilots are pilots, and the ranks are captain, first officer, second officer. Then the captain looks at the weather, "One octa, she said to herself." Only if she was English, US pilots don't use octas. The copilot's schedule includes a "four-day layover in Los Angeles, before starting the rotation all over." No, that's called days off! A layover is rest at a hotel while working a trip. Every time the book involves aviation it makes beginner errors. "Uh, PDX flight control, this is CascadeAir Eight One Eight." No, in the US there is clearance, metering, ground, tower, departure, center and approach - no flight control. While still talking to the tower, the "air masks deployed." No, they are oxygen masks and they won't deploy at such a low altitude you're still talking to the tower. "Runway One Zero Romeo is available." No, as anyone who has listened for ten minutes on the web to tower frequencies, runways are left, center or right. This is all on just the first few pages! "Both Meghan and Russ looked up as the "stick shaker" sounded: they were perilously close to stalling an engine." No, no, no.

Since the basic everyday `details' are so wrong, how can I expect to be transported into the look and feel of the cockpit? If simple facts of ordinary flying are so off, how can I expect the NTSB accident team to be anything other than cartoonish? If you want a good aviation mystery, read something by John Nance. Run away from this twaddle.