A privately –chartered executive plane, luxuriously appointed, arrives in Martha’s Vineyard to transport the Bateman family (David, wife Maggie and 2 children) home to New York after a family holiday. Wealthy? Oh yes: to the point that David Bateman, CEO of a right-wing media empire, no longer has to come into contact with those mere mortals who commute and travel by commercial aircraft. Family security has become an everyday part of this family’s life since their daughter was kidnapped for ransom (unsuccessfully) at 3 years of age. The other passengers are their casual friends Sarah and Ben Kipling, similarly wealthy, but apparently on the FBI radar because of illegal money trading.
At the last minute they are joined by a holiday acquaintance of Maggie’s – Scott Borroughs, prolific but unsuccessful artist she has chatted to at the markets during the holiday, and impulsively offered him a lift on the plane to New York. And of course, the family’s security guard, the intimidating Gil Barusch,
The weather is foggy but warm, and the plane takes off for its short journey uneventfully. Then it crashes into the ocean and everyone dies except Scott, the artist, and 4-year-old JJ Bateman. Scott unbelievably swims miles to shore with the little boy on his back, despite a dislocated shoulder and the roiling seas. Hailed as a hero, the reserved Scott finds the media frenzy unbearable, and after delivering the child safely to an aunt, tries to return to a normal life.
However, the demise of the plane and the standing of its occupants ensure involvement not only by the air transport investigators but also the FBI, whose aggressive officer insists there must have been foul play, this couldn’t just happen. Then there’s the obnoxious media ‘investigative’ front man, devoted to his boss David Bateman, who has no scruples about declaring Scott a phony who must have sabotaged the plane. And the aunt’s husband, whose reaction to news of the boy’s inheritance makes him a prize target for the media man.
The unravelling of the mystery, intertwined with the background stories of the characters, makes riveting reading, I think mainly because of the multi-dimensional characters, whose human foibles make their lives and reactions much more than cliché ‘goodies and baddies’.
Certainly the mindset of authorities such as the FBI, that makes them pursue an individual with no real evidence, is chilling; while the methods of tabloid media are shown to be nothing short of sociopathic.
The author is the multi-award-winning writer of such TV series as the dark and violent ‘Fargo’ among others, which may account for his incisive writing. I loved this book.
HELEN
