A gripping tale that begins in an apocalyptical New York and goes downhill from there. There is plenty of aviation detail as an airplane carries its passengers over the Atlantic while below nuclear war breaks out. The characters put their heads together and find a way out, or do they? The story kept me gripped and was mostly convincing. ( )

A solid page turner that seems to go on auto pilot in the last part of the book--the whole final leg is literally devoid of tension or coflict, and there's a twist at the very end that buggers belief. Still worth the read, if only for the very believable dystopian world he creates at the beginning, complete with a nail-biter of a scheme that literally goes up in smoke. ( )

Terrific apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic fiction from 1979. A bit dated, and slow for the first quarter of the book, but then edge-of-the-seat suspenseful until the very last page.

Jonah Scott, a British pilot who makes rescue flights across the Atlantic to a failed and violent post-oil America, tells of the days before and after uncontrolled nuclear war erupts. Among those on board a flight from New York to London are 150 children, several scientists, a large group of returning British soldiers, diplomats from several competing countries, and two stowaways Jonah is hoping to sneak through heavily-armed British customs. They are mid-way across the Atlantic when they hear reports of cities being bombed, and one by one their possible landing sites become unapproachable. Desperate to find somewhere, anywhere, they can land, Jonah and his crew search for a landing site or a ship to contact if they have to ditch in the water.

A keeper to read again. ( )

This was an interesting, believeable cold-war nuclear drama set in the 1980s. Nuclear war breaks out while a large "797" jet is midair on a cross-Atlantic flight, and the crew struggle to find a safe place to land and, potentially, save what remains of the human race. The main character, the plane's pilot, is a bit of a chauvinist pig, slapping flight attendants on the rear end by day and sleeping with them by night. There are a few "oh, that's convenient" plot elements which threaten the suspension of disbelief. Also, the story has 3 potential endings, depending on which edition of the book you have. My own copy (a 1986 printing from Fawcett Crest/Ballantine Books with 23 chapters) had the happier "Americanized" ending, which was more satisfying than some of the other options available. My understanding is that some editions end after chapter 21, and chapter 22. Recommended for fans of the post-apocalyptic genre. ( )

Rather uneven post-apocalyptic novel. The first 100 pages are a bit slow, with preparations for a plane leaving the US taking 600 people away from a society that has collapsed in the wake of economic disaster. Just after they take off, drama and tension explode as nuclear war breaks out, engulfing the entire world. The crew attempt to find somewhere to land, but their alternatives run out as nuclear holocaust covers more and more places. As I said, this is uneven. There are some incidents of drama, tension, excitement, horror and pathos. The characters, on the other hand, are very cliched, especially when male- female relations are described and the dialogue is often quite cheesy. The ending was also a bit strange and unexpected. Despite its faults, there are some incidents in this book that will stay with me for some time. 4/5 ( )