Abort landing. Do not land!

Forget marauding zombies, malevelant ghosts or viscous serial killers. You want real, visceral fear, the terror that slowly crawls up your spine and leaves you so transfixed that even the scream is frozen? Then this is the book for you. Because this is a 'this could really happen' feeling.

This is a remarkable book in several ways. Firstly, it is well written, slowly, but from very early in the story, ramping up both mystery and tension, playing on the natural human fear of flying. But all is held in check by the experience of having 'been there, done that's of the pilots. The problem is theirs to solve. No terrorists, not really. Just the unexpected conditions. Then there is the narration - or should that be production? This is so well done, it feels like a whole cast of actors has been employed here, rather than just Greg Patmore. His ability to become each and every player individually is remarkable and, by slight technical effects for such details as conversation via communication systems, made very real. His reading voice for the ongoing text is American but the British pilots' accented voicings and other nationalities of the passengers and flight assistants is absolutely spot on. Is this really just the one narrator? And finally, although this is a work of fiction, incidents similar to that portrayed in the story have actually occured individually in real life.

I was gifted a complementary copy of Altitude, at my request, by the rights holder, via Audiobook Boom. Thank you so much. I had expected a frightening tale of disaster, of horror in the air. I was totally unprepared for the way in which I was completely immersed, actually there, in the cockpit with the pilots as they battled to save their passengers and plane. So very realistic and understated on every page, this has been the most powerful book of it's kind that I have read. If I could, I'd award ten stars in all three categories. Recommended to anyone who enjoys their drama strong and moment by moment. Unless, that is, they are soon to be flying to Iceland...

2 people found this helpful

Great if you like airplane disaster movies!

A great read, or should I say listen... Very believable in both story and characters.