I have just finished Hostage by Clare Mackintosh. I couldn’t put this brilliant book down; It was gripping, and I was desperate to see how the story unfolded. I didn’t care that I was reading just before I went to sleep!! And now that I have reached the end, I want to read it all over again!!!

Mina is a flight attendant, and her Husband Adam is a Police Criminal Investigator (CID) and their story is told in alternating chapters. Their Daughter, 5-year-old Sophie, is the most important person in their lives and then this unconditional love for Sophie is tested - it's a real OMG moment because we all know what we would do...........

I have read a few of Clare Mackintosh’s novels and have enjoyed each one. I thoroughly recommend Hostage and give it five stars.
Thanks to #netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this remarkable book for an honest review.

I was expecting a lot more out of this book, because I really liked „I let you go“. Unfortunately, it was rather a slowburn and only took up pace in Part 2. I enjoyed that we could get a look into the thoughts of some Passengers of the plane ✈️. But the bad guys in this hostage thriller, were such a joke, like seriously there could’ve been better alternatives. The epilogue was great though, I didn’t see that coming.

Thank you NetGalley / Little, Brown Book Group UK for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This novel had me gripped from start to finish, with twists I didn't expect right till the end. The Hostage tells the story of Mina, Adam, their adopted daughter Sophie and the passengers and crew of Flight 79, their problems and histories weaving together, but giving little away to keep you wanting more until it all comes together at the end.

This was yet another excellent piece of work from Clare. An absolutely superb read, one of the best I've read this year and would make the most amazing film. I highly recommend

This is a fast paced thriller, gripping from the start. I wanted to know what happened but tried to read slowly as I didnt want it to end. Thanks to Clare Mackintosh for writing the best book of the year. This story would make a fabulous film

Thank you to NetGalley, Little Brown Book UK/Sphere publishers and Clare Mackintosh for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Wow, Clare Mackintosh is back with a bang. One of the undisputed queens of thrillers. This book certainly did not disappoint. Hostage is the sort of book you read in one sitting as you physically can’t put it down. I am a huge fan of Clare Mackintosh and this book just cemented that even further. This will be the thriller of the summer. It’s thrilling, dark and exhilarating. I can’t recommend it enough!

I read this as part of a buddy read and it was so difficult to stick to the schedule as I needed to know what happened next so I finished a few days early!

I thought the theme was really important and very relevant at the moment. I also haven’t read anything similar which incorporated climate change so it definitely shares an important message. I loved the Adam and Sophia storyline and was on the edge of my seat wondering what sound happen to them. The points or views of the passengers were interesting and it was good to see how the story unfolded from a different perspective, though I enjoyed some accounts more than others.

Definitely a book I would recommend and also great to discuss with others as there were so many parts to the story!

Thank you to NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the start of this book right up to almost halfway through actually but then the issues it was addressing just overwhelmed each other. The likelihood of one family getting involved in so many dramas is too fanciful by half. I skimmed to the end but that was even worse than the overload of catastrophe surrounding them and even seemed more like a horror story.

Hostage is a compelling locked-room thriller and follows Flight attendant Mina Holbrook who has changed shifts with a colleague in order to join the crew of the first history-making 20-hour nonstop flight from London to Sydney, Australia. Mina's marriage to Adam is on the rocks and she is taking as many shifts as she can to avoid her police detective husband. Mina believes Adam is having an affair with their Ukrainian au pair, Katya, who has recently quit leaving Mina’s adopted, five-year-old daughter, Sophia without a carer. World Airways Flight 79 is an exciting prospect for both passengers and crew and a few hours into the flight on the Boeing 777, a person dies and as Mina checks his wallet for identity she finds a photograph of Sophia in it. A short time later, she is given a note and the hijackers present themselves. Mina must open the locked door to the flight deck if she wants to see Sophia again. They will crash the plane if she refuses.

The novel’s great strength is in the way its dual storylines both contribute to the tense atmosphere. The tale progresses with alacrity and there is a palpable feeling of claustrophobia throughout as well as fear about what might happen next. It's an exhilarating domestic drama that quickly evolves into a spectacular ride with many twists. The tension built to a level so intense it was heart-hammering. A terrifyingly good read with a stunning conclusion.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Little, Brown/ Sphere via NetGalley at my own request. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

I love a good thriller and this is indeed a great thriller! The pace is fast, it's tense, plenty of terryfying scenarios and lots of emotion. There are plenty of themes here; parenthood, adoption, anxiety, secrets and lies. Great premise for a story and the plot plays out very well. It's gripping and delivers exactly what a thriller should. I would certainly recommend, but don't read it on a plane!

"Mina is trying to focus on her job as a flight attendant, not the problems of her five-year-old daughter back home, or the fissures in her marriage. But the plane has barely taken off when Mina receives a chilling note from an anonymous passenger, someone intent on ensuring the plane never reaches its destination. Someone who needs Mina's assistance and who knows exactly how to make her comply.

It's twenty hours to landing. A lot can happen in twenty hours."

This is another cracking read by Clare Mackintosh, but I found the identification of the individual passengers in their seat numbers by a description in italics made the storyline disjointed and difficult to follow. I ended up making notes of seat numbers so that I could keep track of each of them.

The book presented a great moral dilemma, and made me wonder what I would do in a similar situation and my loyalties lay with Mina, do you choose your own child/family or your passengers and your own life?

The book running over 24 hours was a great concept and kept the story alive and fast-paced as the flight proceeded and the real reasons for what was happening became clear.

Very fast moving and intriguing thriller! The first non stop flight from London to Sydney sets off, but one of the passengers is determined to ensure it never reaches its destination...

I liked the movement between the scenes on the plane and the scenes back in England, I liked the way the daughter thought, and it was overall very clever.

2.5* --> 3*

Looks like it’s unpopular opinion time.

Mina is cabin crew on the very exciting inaugural non-stop flight from London to Sydney. Mina shouldn’t really be on this flight but she found it preferable to spending time with her estranged husband. She tries to focus on her job but the plane has barely taken off when she receives a chilling note from an anonymous passenger. Cooperate or put her five-year-old daughter in harm’s way. Save hundreds of lives? Or the one that matters to you most? What would you do?

Meanwhile on land, Mina’s husband Adam is in a whole heap of trouble. He doesn’t quite come across as the reliable type so knowing he’s supposed to be the one to keep their daughter Sophia safe doesn’t exactly fill one with confidence.

Two characters in the spotlight, two strands of a story that immediately promise tension and let’s face it, the premise shows a lot of potential. High up in the skies, in a metal box, nowhere to run to, no way of contacting anyone … stuff of nightmares. And yet, as a whole, it just didn’t quite work for me. It all started out extremely well but then it just went downhill for me.

First of all, there are the characters. I don’t even know why by Mina and Adam never managed to convince me. I didn’t find them particularly likeable and while that’s not something that normally bothers me, in a situation like this where I’m supposed to root for them it feels rather important. Some of the passengers on the flight are introduced to us and again, I had niggles there as well. This flight is a huge deal. There are celebrities and journalists on board. Surely not every Tom, Dick and Harry could have afforded a ticket? But here we are and unfortunately I can’t say anything more about that because it would spoil an entire thread of the story. Don’t even get me started on the ending because I may never stop.

Suspending belief is all fine and dandy and I have no qualms with that if the book is entertaining me, but for me this storyline went completely above and beyond and not necessarily in a good way. As the flight goes on, the tension builds up but at some point it seemed to come to a halt just where I thought it should have mattered the most. There is a reason Mina is cabin crew and even that failed to have any kind of impact on me, which feels entirely wrong when you know what it is. And Adam … ugh. I somehow just ended up being annoyed with everyone and everything.

I guess it’s rather obvious Hostage and I just didn’t get along. Nobody is more surprised about this admission than I am because I normally love Clare Mackintosh’s books. It is what it is. Will it stop me from reading Clare’s next book? No, it will not. And these thoughts of mine should not stop you from reading Hostage as I am very much in the minority!

I really enjoyed this latest book which went in a new direction to Claire Mackintosh's previous work.
The timing was perfect with the start up of world flights again after COVID and envrionmentalists such as Greta Thunberg being a key figure in the news over the past few years.

Family dilemmas were mixed with a hijack and kidnap plot with lots of options as to what could happen within the book. It was fast paced, really enjoyable and twisty too - I can wait to read whatever comes next from Claire!!!

WOW, WOW, WOW!
I don't know what I was expecting when I started this book, but it blew me away.
Fast paced and tense, a real page turner. I was very annoyed when life got in the way and I had to put this down and do boring adult things like work.
Fantastically gripping, and a debatable topic, what would you do, save your child or your passengers?
Incredible.
My favourite read of 2021 so far.

I am not sure if reading a similar book recently skewed my thoughts on ‘Hostage’ but for me, it was an ok/ quite good read
It is quite tense and well written but I found the probability of some of the book questionable and some if not all of the characters irritating, I think even the ones I was meant to ‘warm to’
I also found Mina’s ( a main character) culpability and consequence of this ie nothing, very surprising
There was though a VERY good surprise ending that recaught my attention just at the point I thought it was all a done deal
Interesting author’s notes that relate to the reason for the book and the scenario in it and acknowledgements at the end and fascinating insight into adoption attachment issues within the book

6/10
3 Stars

My personal opinion is this is Claire Mackintosh's best book, certainly my favourite. A really clever plot and excellent writing. I was caught up so quickly in the story and invested what happened to the main character Mia. A really good nailing biting thriller with plenty of twists along the way.

You know sometimes when there is so much hype around a book and then you read it and it's a bit of a disappointment ... well, let me tell you that this is not one of them!

Oh my word. What an absolutely corker of a read this is. I know it's a cliché, but this really is page-turning and difficult to put down. It starts quite serenely but the sense of dread creeps up on you just as it does to Mina.

There aren't enough superlatives to describe this book, just know that it's everything you would want in a thriller. Excellent characters, relentless pacing, claustrophobic, nail-biting, gripping, tense, thrilling and that's just what's happening on the flight; I won't even start to go into what's going on at home!

As you have probably guessed, I thoroughly enjoyed this and would recommend to anyone who .... well anyone really!

Thanks must be given to Little, Brown Book Group and NetGalley for my copy in return for an unbiased and unedited review.

I love Clare Mackintosh- she is so clever. She can weave a story out of everyday life so well that you can picture the story clearly in your mind. After readying this book, I may never fly again - as always Clare captures evil characters so well- but it does make you question who is actually sitting next to you. Gripping read. Loved, and was pretty scared, reading this book.

Thank you to Net Galley, the publishers and to Clare for an ARC copy of the exciting new book.

A brilliant book, full of intrigue and suspense. Well-written. A recommended read.