🛩️ Tailspin 🛩️ (2019) - Book Review

MY REVIEW

Hardcover: 432 pages

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; First Edition (August 7, 2018)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1455572160

ISBN-13: 978-1455572168

“Rye Mallett, a fearless "freight dog" pilot charged with flying cargo to far-flung locations, is rough-spoken and all business, but soft on regulations when they get in the way of meeting a deadline. But above all, he has a rock-solid reputation: he will fly in the foulest weather, day or night, and deliver the goods safely to their destination. So when Rye is asked to fly into a completely fogbound northern Georgia town and deliver a mysterious black box to a Dr. Lambert, he doesn't ask questions.

As Rye's plane nears the isolated landing strip, more trouble than inclement weather awaits him. Greeted with a sabotage attempt on his plane, he has barely recovered from the crash landing when he meets Dr. Brynn O'Neal, who claims she is receiving the box for Dr. Lambert. Though he has a strict "no-involvement policy" when it comes to others' problems, Rye finds himself being irresistibly drawn in to the intrigue surrounding his cargo . . . and to the mysterious and alluring Brynn.

Soon Rye and Brynn are in a treacherous forty-eight-hour race to deliver the box. With everyone from law enforcement officials to hired guns hot on their heels, they must learn to trust each other to protect their valuable cargo from those who would kill for it.”

Local libraries are pretty great for finding what you need, especially when you're not sure you want it ... 

Rye knows this isn’t any ordinary flight or package. He isn’t even allowed to know the contents of the package he is transporting. In addition, the weather conditions are so dismal that most major airports in the area he is flying into are closed. There is one airstrip open, and one controller available.

Rye has flown in worse conditions (bad weather doesn’t bother him) and volunteers anyway. But, he never expects sabotage and a crash to be included under the “worse” conditions category. Nor does he expect to be greeted by a lovely doctor (Brynn O’Neal), who isn’t the actual recipient of the package. And, she isn’t revealing what the package is.

Rye has questions which are put on hold when he, along with Brynn, stumble upon the unconscious controller bringing the local police into the situation. Neither Brynn nor Rye wants to tell the entire truth of their respective situations. Brynn is forced to reveal the contents to the police – blood samples for an experiment.

The police aren’t the only two interested in Rye and Brynn. Two goons, Goliad and Timmy, will stop at nothing to get the box that Brynn is guarding with her life. Rye tries not to get involved, but stays involved for reasons he can’t even understand.

Halfway through the novel, Rye soon learns the truth about the package and why Brynn is so desperate to hold on to it. His “no involvement” policy turns into a race against the clock to get Brynn and her package where she wants to be while avoiding the two goons who are determined to see she is redirected. Rye risks his pilot’s license to see Brynn succeed while trying not to fall completely in love with her.

This book, at 424 pages, is an interesting and intriguing read which takes place over a 48 hour time period. There are a lot of characters to keep up with (at least 7-8 characters), and for some readers it might jump around too much in the action.

The “steamy” sex scenes aren’t until almost three-quarters (¾) of the way in. For some readers they might be too explicit. For those who are looking for more of the steamier stuff – this might be lacking. If you’re not exactly sure if you want to buy it – borrow it from the library, which is what I did. It tends more toward the “suspense” genre than the romance.

Once the plot is revealed at the halfway point, it picks up the pace in getting to the end. I pretty much knew how it was going to end after the half point reveal. There are a few chapters from another character’s perspective (titled only by their name) which adds a sense of urgency as well as compassion to the heart of the story.

It was an interesting read with a “happy as can be, given the situation” ending, which does seem to slide into a rapid finish. It wasn’t a quick read by my standards (2-day or weekend read), but not nearly a long read (7-14 days) either. I was able to read it in about four (4) days which is about 100 pages per day.

4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐