The Last Flight by Julie Clark

Hello everyone.  I hope you're having a great day.

I have written endlessly about how my family can talk strictly in movie lines.  I can't help it.  My parents were big movie fans, especially of mysteries that were also comedies. I like some more serious movies like Gaslight, where I drive my husband crazy afterward saying "Pauuulaaa" like Charles Boyer. Then there is Hitchcock.  If you're a very young person, go check him out, and don't forget Rebecca from the book by Daphne Du Maurier.  Another not to miss is Strangers on a Train, where people meet on a train, each unhappy about someone in their life.  They agree to trade murders, to avoid being discovered because they might have a motive.  It's just a simple trade..."criss-cross".  The same theme is used in the much later comedy, Throw Momma From the Train, with Billy Crystal and Danny DeVito.  They also decide to trade murders, well at least Danny DeVito thinks so and kills Billy Crystal's author book stealing wife but then expects Crystal to kill his annoying mother.  When Crystal refuses DeVito tries wacky methods like blowing a trumpet in her ear while she is sleeping, only she wakes to say, "Holy S*** what a dream I was having, Louis Armstrong was trying to kill me!"  The trading of evil deeds is popular in movies and in books.

I recently read The Last Flight by Julie Clark.  This is the story of a woman, Claire Cook, who has a perfect life.  She is wealthy, wants for nothing and is surrounded by servants.  Her life is elegant.  Claire's husband is a member of a political dynasty, think something like the Kennedys only more flaunting with their money.  The problem is that Claire is deeply unhappy.  Her husband has a terrible temper which frightens Claire and she is certain he tracks everything she does and everywhere she goes.  Bound and determined to find a way out of this dangerous situation, Claire devises a way to disappear. When she goes to the airport to enact her plan, Claire meets another woman, Eva, also in desperate circumstances.  Together they make a plan to switch places (criss-cross).  While they aren't killing anyone like a Hitchcock movie, the two women decide to take each other's flights.  The problem is that the flight Eva is taking, pretending to be Claire, crashes.  Now everyone is looking at a picture of Claire as her famous family's stature has caused the media to post a story and photos of her everywhere.  Hard to disappear when everyone is staring at your face.  As Claire tries to become Eva, she realizes she has traded more than just a airline ticket.

This story is a welcome relief to thrillers in traditional settings.  It is thoughtful and complicated but doesn't get bogged down in too many details.  Characters are well developed but still leave room for the reader to discover more about them as the book progresses. The plot moves forcefully forward making for a quick and satisfying read.  A fun book, it would be great on vacation.

Hubby is about to tell me to "criss-cross" myself into the kitchen to make him some chicken salad.  I wonder what direct flights there are taking off this afternoon.