Over The Edge

By Suzanne Brockmann

My Rating: 4

Genre: Contemporary, Mystery

Finished on: 7th Aug, 2020

When I picked up this one, I was very intrigued by the book's description.

Senior Chief Stanley (Stan) Wolchonok and Navy Pilot Teresa (Teri) Howe have a very friendly relationship, that is, until they are dragged in a situation where a plane has been Hijacked AND US Senator's daughter is in that plane!

A very interesting plot, isn't it? 

Here's what my expectations were: the entire story would be about how they are planning/strategising their moves regarding the rescue mission. Listing out the challenges, portraying how grave this mission is, etc etc

With a little bit of their love story in between 

If only. *facepalm*

The story starts with Stan coming to know Teri is being harassed by a guy, and she simply is not able to get that guy off of her. And I'll admit, the way Stan had been handling this situation, and helping Teri in overcoming her fears and helping her in stepping out of her discomfort zone throughout, I was very very very very impressed with Stan. 

Did I say very? Yes, very. 

He had been so polite, so professional, so caring and so sweet, no wonder this woman fell for him. 

He put aside his huge crush for her,  to help her when she needed it, how's that for being amazing? 

And while reading we come to know there are two other POVs. Of a girl, Gina and an old woman, Helga Schuler. 

Gina's was interesting, and if I have to rate any character as my favourite one in this book, that would be Gina. 

What's so special about her? She's just another American girl. They board this flight, World Airlines 232. But before boarding, Gina comes across a crying girl who claims to have lost her wallet and boarding pass to pick pocketters. Gina offers to help her, and takes a contact number which the girl gave and promised to give them a call and tell about the girl's situation. 

Easy enough, right? How sweet of Gina. 

But that's not it, they board this flight, come to know soon that it's hijacked, and they hear an announcement that they know US Senator's daughter Karen Crawford is aboard and want her to surrender ASAP. 

Gina waits patiently, wonders where Karen might be sitting. 

But the hijackers weren't patient enough, and they start injuring people out of frustration. 

Gina wonders, had she been Karen, would she simply give herself up? Can anyone do that? 

But slowly as time passes by, horror dawns upon her as she realizes that the girl crying at the airport was called Karen. 

She hastily opens the paper handed over to her by Karen where she has written the contact number, and sure enough, the contact name is Emily Crawford, and it was signed by Karen Crawford. 

US Senator's daughter wasn't on the plane. At all. 

Gina simply couldn't sit and watch them injure people. What does she do? I'm pretty sure even she didn't realize what she's about to do. She simply gets up and tells them. 

"I am Karen Crawford. Please don't hurt anyone else."

That's it. She gives herself up, and lies straight on their face. I think this is a very, very brave thing one can ever do. 

And this girl had my utmost respect from this point. 💗

Coming to the other character, Helga Schuler, who is she? A woman suffering from Alzheimer's, but that has not stopped her from remembering her past. Currently she's with a guy named Desmond, who works in Israel intelligence. 

With this news of Hijack, they come to know that the terrorists wish their companions to be released from prison, one who is in American prison and the other in Israel. 

But that's not it, Helga desperately wants to go the place where the Hijacked plane has landed in Kazbekistan, not because they can be useful as some negotiators representing Israel, but because knowing that as part of the rescue mission, Stan's team will be in it. And Stan Wolchonok is son of Helga's best friend, Marte Gunvald. 

Throughout the book, we see glimpses of Helga's past. 

She and Marte were best friends. Marte's parents used to work for Rosen family (Helga's family). 

Marte was the brave one. They come to know that the Germans have invaded their country, Denmark. And Rosen family are jews.

The Gunvald's know how Hitlers is, Gunvald's (and everyone) know Hitler's plans. Herr Gunvald says, they can stay at their place. They don't have to be afraid. But Helga's father simply gets angry listening to that, but Helga doesn't understand any of it. 

They show a cute love story between Annebet Gunvald (Marte's elder sister) and Hershel Rosen (Helga's elder brother) both are such brave souls. They both meet when Annebet scolds and takes Marte and Helga away from a German guy (Wilhelm Gunber) who has a crush on Annebet. 

But she knows he's enemy, and hates him from beginning. 

And when Hershel meets Annebet, they both find a spark within each other, and that's when their rebellious love story starts. 

Let's return to present for a moment. Stan's team learn about the Hijack and they head to Kazbekistan. Stan takes Teri along too, as that's the only way she'll get an assignment away from her constant harasser. When they reach there, Teri gets the job of being helo pilot, transporting them from the airport to the hotel, and then hotel to the place where they'd be having mock practice of the ambush they had planned. 

And in this one, there's Max Bhagat who's a negotiator. His job is to talk to terrorists on friendly terms, and making them believe their demands are being met. But when the terrorists let Karen aka Gina talk to them, Gina very subtly informs that Karen is safe at the airport and this is Gina who's pretending to be her, Max immediately acts and stops US Senator to blurt out that the girl on the radio is not his daughter. 

And even better part was Max threatening to break US Senator's nose if he so much as risks Gina's life by letting the terrorists know they don't have his daughter as hostage over there. 

Max was equally impressed by Gina as I was. And Max knows he has to do everything to keep this girl alive. 

So for almost the entire book we'll be switching among these POVs. Stan will be trying to set up Teri with his team member Mike Muldoon, and want them to date, so that he can forget Teri. As he thinks Teri doesn't deserve him, and it won't do him any good if his budding crush on her keeps growing.

But that, of course, doesn't happen.

There's another parallel story going on between Sam Starret and Alyssa Locke. Both want each other, but they both pretend they hate each other and are enemies. Oh well.

So the story goes..

Gina will be buying them some time with her talks. She manages to convince them to let the injured ones leave the plane and is in the process of convincing the mother's with babies leave too. Since Gina is talking to Max on behalf of terrorists, with time she and Max becomes close, and Gina tells him, that she wants to make it out alive. But in case she doesn't, she wants him to convey to her parents that she was okay all the time she was in there. 

After listening to this now, Max really really wants nothing to happen to her. 

Me too. She is so, so, so brave. And amazing.

Switching to Helga's story. She struggles to remember things, so she keeps a note of them on her notepad. 

And through her memories we come to know more about her past. How Hershel's parents didn't approve of Annebet at all assuming she's after their money. But they both truly loved each other. And get married too. And with time when they realized Hitler is rounding up Jews, the Gunvald's are more than happy to let the Rosen's stay. 

And by this time, Rosen's had realized how wrong they were. And they also realized that things were not going to be like before. 

And they weren't for them. 

Annebet and Hershel were part of a rebel group which cost him his life. And Annebet made it her mission to let the Rosen's leave Denmark safely. That was the last Helga had seen of Gunvald family. She wanted to know more and the rest from Stan. 

And she comes to know too, when she meets Stan whenever she got time. Annebet was known as Dr. Anna Rosen, and sadly she had passed away just two years ago. And she never married again. Stan's mother, passed years ago to a disease. But Helga could tell. Stan has his mother's laugh and Anna's eyes. 

Time was getting closer, the terrorists were getting more impatient. Gina does a mistake of accidentally talking to Max, when he's supposed to have his radio off, according to terrorists. But one of them, Bob had been simply pretending to sleep. He notices that and decides they have had enough. It's time to hurt the girl they held hostage so far. So to everyone's horror, they start beating her up. And worse, they both (Bob and Al) even rape her. 

I thought Gina would be broken at this point, but my respect for her increased tenfold when she kept convincing herself that as long as she's alive, and as long as she's breathing, she's winning from them. But what hurt her was Bob's betrayal. He had been acting all nice with her till this point. Gina almost thought he had become a friend. 

But a terrorist with a mission, will always remain a terrorist. 

So up till this point, there was lot of romance and romantic thoughts stuff which happens between the two couples. 

Teri and Stan keep  having crush on each other, without realizing they BOTH are crushing on each other. 

Stan keeps pressing Mike to date her, but the plan ultimately fails, all that happens. 

But ultimately the time comes, which this book was all about. 

Defeating the terrorists and saving the day. 

The most funny part was, the entire duration of the ambush inside plane and defeating terrorists happens in 15 PAGES. 

YES. 15 PAGES. 

I had put the book down and laughed for 2 straight minutes. 

Seriously? 

And it all happens too fast. While Stan is heading towards the real plane, here Desmond (Helga's companion) knows a super confidential information about a 6th terrorist being present inside, a woman, who is tied up with bombs, and will explode herself in case her companions are down. 

Desmond lets this information get leaked through Helga, who might forget later. 

And when Teri hears it, she wastes no time in taking the helicopter and flying there, even when she had no permission to do so. So they kill the 5 terrorists in a matter of seconds. Stan finds the woman, kills her (while getting shot himself), gets her out and Teri flies towards the ocean nearby all in a matter of 30 seconds. 

And.. What then? 

They have saved the day. :P

Nothing much is left of the book. Max rushes to get to Gina. He covers her up with a blanket, and as if Gina had not done enough to impress me, she tries more by WALKING out rather being taken out. Even though she was in a very battered and bloodied condition in which they had left her in. 

She's.. Just amazing. Just amazing. 

So they were flown to London

Where Gina and Stan both are treated. 

Max is 40. And Gina is 20. We still don't know how their relationship really is, or WHAT their relationship is, but we do know they care deeply for each other now. 

Max comes and holds her hand knowing that's what she needs the most. 

And Suzanne left it at that. 

(Also one small annoying part? Of all the things Gina could have worried about, after experiencing all this, she's worried that she will be VICTIMIZED in school, seriously?!?! I hope Max puts some sense into her head -_- 

US Senator should be giving her an award for saving his daughter AND many passengers from the plane and here's she's worried about SCHOOL. 

Crazy girl!) 

And here Stan's father comes to know about Teri, and rushes to get the diamond ring which was given to Stan by his aunt Anna. Which we come to know was given by Helga's mother to Anna when they officially accept her as their daughter in law, just before leaving Denmark. 

Helga visits Stan and he shows her the ring which Helga's mother once owned. 

She smiles and convinces him not to waste any moment in letting his girl come into his life. 

And.. Yeah, did I mention they had professed their love for each other just before leaving for the mission? Nope? Well.. Yeah, they had done that. Finally :P

While Stan and Gina are happy, the same can't be said for Sam Starret. He comes to know he got one girl pregnant, and we come to know he has decided to marry her. It was too heartbreaking for Alyssa to know that. They fell for each other in such a short time, only to lose each other that quick. 

He leaves her leaving his cap, and Alyssa knows that he's never returning for her again. 

Well yeah, their chapter ended with just that. 

And so the last part was of Teri and Stan again. Teri buys furniture for Stan from her inheritance. 

Oh yess, inheritance. I totally forgot about this part. 

In between Stan confronts her fear which she has for any kind of intimacy, and comes to know she was kinda abused as a child by her mother's lover. But her Mum then took a different lover when she turned 8, and he turned out to be a great father she could never have. 

He only stayed for 4 years, but those were wonderful years for Teri. He passed away from cancer, but left her rich with his inheritance. And you know what he said in his will? 

"First college, then, be all that you want to be" 

I got all teary reading that. 

Using that inheritance, Teri finished college, pursued her career as a pilot, and now she used the same inheritance in buying Stan his furniture, lol. 

Anyway. This books ends with Stan proposing her, and then starts their happily ever after. 

This book was great, I was disappointed to know the rescue mission lasted for only 15 pages, so it's a 3.5 from my side. 

Quote from the book:

"It was quite miraculous. All those people who believed so completely in saving lives that they felt it was their duty to risk their own."

Words: 2493

Chars: 13,667