Airframe

Customer Reviews

• riveting and fast paced  Apr 29, 2003 (35 of 38 found this helpful)

  I am constantly amazed by the breadth of Michael Crichton `s interests and by his remarkable skill in researching his subjects. I also find his indirectly expressed issues of more than passing significance. In Jurassic Park the issue is the arrogance of science in its manipulation of nature and the tendency of Western science to eschew accountability for the spillover costs to society when things go wrong. Airframe is another example of it. Here the issue of the freedom of speech and the lack of accountability of the media, particularly television news, is explored. In a society that has come to stress individual rights, little emphasis has been placed on individual responsibility. In order to be a functional culture, there has to be a balance of both rights and responsibilities. Airframe makes this abundantly clear.

  As so often with Crichton's central characters, a uniquely placed individual must come to grips with the inherent difficulties of fighting an uphill battle against society's inertia. The heroine, Casey Singleton, is given the task of deciding how a disasterous air accident happened before a crucial business deal collapses and takes the company she works for and all of its employees down with it. It is by no means clear what is taking place, and ultimately she must come to trust her own personal interpretation of events to bring things to a head.

  The detail is impressive. The characters are well developed and real. The story is riveting and fast paced. A thoroughly enjoyable book.

• The best Crichton's ever written  Aug 21, 1999 (12 of 12 found this helpful)

  This is absolutely my favourite book by Michael Crichton. He may have a medical degree, but he writes about journalism, the media and politics with much more insight than the condescending attitudes of his scientist characters. This book is Crichton at his best--backed up, as ever, by extensive research into the topic, a cast of hugely realistic characters to love and love to hate, and, of course, an intriguing mystery thrown in to boot. Casey Singleton is a classic Crichton heroine--world-weary, wise, and an expert in her field, she reminds me of Sarah Harding from "The Lost World", except Casey has a REAL job. The realism of the plot is one of the main factors in making this one of Crichton's best books--all of this could really happen. I've seen other reviewers bellyache about the mundaneness of the final solution to the aircrash, but isn't that the most chilling note to the whole plot? Just how easily all this chaos was caused? Sleazy journalists, wise colleagues, a comical team of experts called in to exammine the aircraft, and at the centre of it all Casey Singleton, trying to save the company and at the same time trying to stop herself becoming the scapegoat to be sacrificed to the media: for me, this makes a brilliant novel. The final pages will blur by--and when you sit back with a sigh of relief, the underplayed conclusion to this book behind you, there is the final message: Don't believe everything you read in the papers. Well, I said it was realistically underplayed, didn't I?

• Keep 'em Flyin'  Jan 15, 2007 (8 of 8 found this helpful)

  This was a very enjoyable novel. The trademark punchy Crichton opening scene, around which the entire story revolves , is incredibly exciting. You'll also get a concentrated class in aviation acronyms. And the thoroughly satisfying "getting even" scene, toward the end, is especially tasty. Once again Mr Crichton gives you the tools to figure out the final revelation, but it will still knock you sideways, because I don't think you'll figure it out. The science is fine, and digestible. Once you get into the swing of things (acronym-wise) even the aircraft reports get semi-discernable, and pleasing. I highly recommend this book.

• Absorbing--Deep Insights Into Airline Safety  Oct 10, 2002 (6 of 6 found this helpful)

  
  If you are a frequent flyer, or afraid of flying, this is a riveting book that will easily cause several hours to pass and will have the added benefit of making you feel much safer as you fly.

  The author has done a really outstanding job of first understanding and then explaining to a lay person the enormous complexity and rigorous attention to detail that go into building and testing commercial aircraft, and investigating mishaps when they occur.

  The minor plot elements aside (the usual cast of media mediocrities, intra-office back-stabbers, etc.), this book makes aircraft safety *exciting.* I was completely absorbed in what this author has put together, and highly recommend this book as an intelligent thriller with a practical foundation.

• Talk about a good book.....  Dec 11, 2000 (6 of 6 found this helpful)

  Wow, now that's what I call a good, quick read. Michael Crichton just never lets you put down the book. At the end of almost every chapter, he leaves you with a cliffhanger just making you want to turn the page. Airframe was no exception. Airframe is about a commercial airliner and its internal happenings. Casey Singleton, the newly appointed QA director for the builder of the plane, gets the job just in time. En route from Hong Kong to Denver one of her company planes all the sudden jerks out of control. Does TWA Flight 800 ring a bell? Casey must investigate to find out why the plane mysteriously did so and in doing so killed several and injured many others. She encounters many obstacles along the way and has to do and say some things that she wouldn't normally. Overall all, I thought that Airframe was a very good book. I would recommend it to anyone over the age of 15. If you really want a rush, read it while flying on a plane. That should at least double the value of reading it.