After a brief hiatus from crime fiction, author Clare Mackintosh returns to the genre this week with HOSTAGE, a psychological thriller that takes a claustrophobic “locked room”-style premise and sets it aboard a long-haul flight from London to Sydney. A relatively ordinary day at work takes an extraordinary turn for flight attendant Mina when she receives a threatening note from a passenger with a terrifying ultimatum: follow the anonymous passenger’s instructions and help ensure the plane never reaches its destination, or Mina’s young daughter will pay the price. It’s an immediately arresting and horrifying dilemma. Will Mina save the lives of the innocent passengers aboard her plane, or save the life of her beloved young daughter? Clare Mackintosh weaves a gripping story brimming with unreliable characters, shifting points of view, and a terrifying dilemma at its core. A jaw-dropping final reveal in the book’s Epilogue ties this book together with true Mackintosh flair. Clare Mackintosh has become a staple of my personal suspense library over the years, and while HOSTAGE may not be my absolute favorite Mackintosh release (that title still belongs to her debut, I Let You Go!), it nevertheless proves itself a worthy addition to any suspense reader’s collection. It’s a thrill to have Clare Mackintosh back writing crime fiction, and HOSTAGE delivers major entertainment value and edge-of-your-seat suspense.