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A WOMAN STANDS ACCUSED

BUT THE COST TO PROVE HER INNOCENCE…

MAY JUST BE HER LIFE

Captain Kate Gallagher has a plane to land and a daughter to get home to. But first, she’s got to contend with a confrontational co-pilot, blizzard conditions, and something far more treacherous–a plane contaminated with a lethal virus. When the controls refuse to respond to her commands, she’s got two choices: Turn the plane around or trust her instinct.

One day later, the world’s press is picking through the mangled remains of Flight 394 and crying pilot error. To clear her name and find out what really happened, Kate must uncover a shocking conspiracy that has already zeroed in on a new target: another plane, another deadly disaster.

With only seconds to save the 262 passengers on board, Kate Gallagher will fight her way back into the pilot’s seat and up into the air–in a life-and-death race against time, a madman, and a computer code that is wired, running, and ready to kill again....And the price for saving all those lives may be only one...hers.

Publishers Weekly

Drawing on his intimate knowledge of the airline industry, first-time author and pilot Majd crafts a compelling aviation thriller that unlocks the cockpit door to a world few authors have explored in depth. The novel opens in the midst of a crisis; with little help from her sexist first officer, commercial pilot Kate Gallagher must land an unresponsive aircraft. Unfortunately, not all of her passengers survive the landing and an investigation ensues. Despite evidence indicating that the crash was due to pilot error, Kate, a feisty single mother, does some probing of her own to support her theory that the plane malfunctioned. In the process, she bumps heads with Michael O'Rourke, a handsome Washington, D.C., special investigator, and uncovers evidence suggesting that the fatal accident may have been the result of sabotage. Majd writes with an assured hand, creating a strong female protagonist who will hold the reader's attention and sympathy throughout. The only elements that detract from this emotionally charged read are Majd's superficial character descriptions (he was "young and tall, with boyishly straight brown hair") and a weak subplot involving a romance between Kate and O'Rourke. Still, this absorbing first novel is a seductive introduction to Majd's series. (Feb. 5) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.