The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian

This novel started off really interesting.  A woman wakes up next to a dead body and has no idea how it died and only a vague idea of how the vodka-fueled hookup could have ended so poorly.  I was hooked for the first few chapters as we followed Cassie's drunken memories and reactions to this unexpected chain of events.  I found myself wondering what I would have done in that situation and how it was going to play out.

Then the middle of the book happened.  We know who killed the dude so there is no mystery of "did she or didn't she", a good 30% of the dialogue centered around Cassie's alcoholism. People admonishing her for drinking too much, her admonishing herself about drinking too much. Even total strangers telling her she drinks too much.

The final third redeemed itself somewhat by providing a slight twist that I didn't really predict but seemed to fit.  Skip the epilogue though...it was unnecessary and kind of made me angry.

So - on my rating scale it ended up a solid three.  I didn't hate it but I didn't love it, but I think there is an audience for it so definitely give it a try.

I'd like to thank Chris Bohjalian, NetGalley, and Doubleday publishing for providing me a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.