Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

"The Last Flight," a psychological thriller by Julie Clark, is a compelling story that held my interest to the end, despite its slow start. For me, the book was slow to get off the ground, and the first half really dragged. But by the second half of the book, it really took off, but unfortunately, with its poor ending, it ended up crashing, in my opinion. The book tells, in mostly alternating chapters, the story of Eva and Claire, both on the run from their past. In the first half of the book, I found Claire's story more interesting than Eva's. But at the half-way point, I became annoyed at Claire, and was more interested in Eva's story. So why only two stars? Plot holes, and many of them. I will mention just a few (don't worry, no spoilers). If Eva did not get on the plane, it would have been noticed since her boarding pass was scanned. The plane would be short a passenger and the flight crew always takes a head count, no exceptions. Plus there were a lot of people waiting for standby seats, so the plane was 100% booked. An empty seat would stand out to the flight crew. We are told Claire was a "confirmed passenger," which would be impossible if Eva never boarded the plane. Again, her seat would be empty and the flight crew would instantly know who the missing passenger was as the seats were assigned. We are told Eva and Claire switched purses, ID, and credit cards, yet later Claire did not have Eva's ID. In fact, Eva handed Claire her purse, so her ID would have been in the purse. We are told Eva "slipped away from the gate agent." No way! The gate agent would not let the line close in around her to the point she would be out of their sight. How did Petra and Claire get back in touch with each other? They both had new cell phones and new numbers. This is not explained. Finally, on page 295, Claire is in New York, but after her TV interview, Agent Castro takers her back to Eva's house. But Eva lived in California, not New York, and in the next paragraph, Claire and Castro are still in New York. These were just a few of the plot holes I noted as I read the book. I felt them serious enough to drop it down to two stars. It is not a bad read, but due to the slow start and plot holes, not as good as it could have been. The story idea had so much more potential.