The Last Flight by Julie Clark

Good morning! If you are looking for a thriller involving two strong women, look no further. This is a captivating read which will have you digesting this book for quite some time.

Claire Cook is married to Rory, a powerful well off man from a successful family whose about to announce his run for senate. To the outside world, the couple has it all - success, money and a perfect marriage. In reality, Claire is a victim of domestic violence and wants to escape this life and start fresh. She develops a well-orchestrated plan to leave him during one of her upcoming trips, but a last minute decision by Rory to change these plans puts her in grave danger.

At the airport, on her way to her Rory-delegated destination of Puerto Rico, she meets another woman, Eva, who desperately wants to get away from her current situation. The two women decide to exchange flights - Eva will take the flight to Puerto Rico and Claire will be taking the flight to Oakland. Each is taking the belongings of the other. When Claire lands in California, she learns that the flight that she was supposed to be on went down off the coast of Florida. Claire takes this an opportunity to assume the identity of Eva. Will this prove to be a good decision?

Wow, wow, wow - I can’t believe how this storyline unfolds. This book is full of twists, and emotion. To say this book is engaging is an understatement. Claire’s story, told mostly in the present, has you feeling empathy right from the beginning - she is a smart woman who has found herself in a trying, dangerous situation. Eva’s story is told starting with six months before the flight and is slowly unraveled over the course of several months. My feelings towards her changed throughout the book.

I listened to the audiobook edition of the book, narrated by Khristine Hvam and Lauren Fortgang. I appreciated the difference between their two voices and found that while Claire’s voice was sweet, Eva’s voice had an edge to it (indicative to me of her more difficult upbringing). These woman do a fantastic job of providing a voice to these characters and the flow of the narrative kept my interest. My only criticism would be that the voice of Drex would have been better narrated by a man as his voice had a sweeter quality than Eva’s.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good thriller.

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5