Mayday

By: Nelson DeMille, Thomas Block

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

Twelve miles above the Pacific Ocean, a missile strikes a jumbo passenger jet and leaves the flight crew either crippled or dead. This is the story of how three survivors must achieve the impossible and land the plane. Master storyteller Nelson DeMille and veteran pilot Thomas Block collaborated on Mayday, the most terrifyingly realistic air disaster thriller of all time.

©1979, 1998 by Thomas H. Block and Nelson DeMille, All Rights Reserved (P)16 9; 1998 Time Warner AudioBooks, A Division of Time Warner Trade Publishing

Critic reviews

"Strong and electric!" (Washington Post)
"Truly horrific...delicious terror. Mayday is a novel for the true connoisseur of disaster novels." (The New York Times Book Review)

Mayday

Great book. Had a hard time tuning it off.

Mayday Is Magnificent

Mayday grabs you by the throat and makes it impossible to stop listening as it rockets you from 62,000 feet to sea level in a throbing, nerve wrenching trip of life and death. Just when you think that the tension and chaos can't continue, their intensity grows. When a huge, supersonic transport is mistakenly targeted by an errant missle being tested the the United States Navy in violation of the latest arms treaty all hell breaks out. In a desperate race of survival an amateur pilot must sieze control of the giant transport after the flight crew is either killed or incapacitated. In a battle against huge odds a man, a woman and a child's life hang in the balance when the military decides to cover their mistake by shooting the airliner down at the same time that the airline management and its insuror are also plotting to have it crash to avoid liablility for the three hundred passengers who have been irrevocably damaged by oxygen deprivation caused by the accident. Burn the midnight oil and take a trip you will long remember. The story will have you crying Mayday too as it thrusts you into the thick of the action. It will have you squirming in your seat and grabing for the operating controls of the aircraft right along with the characters as they careen from one emergency to another against impossible odds.

Might have been believable 35 years ago

Could two people control the events and outcome as the airline VP and Navy Commander were allowed?

What level of intelligence is required to believe these events could occur?
That of the 300 passengers suffering from sudden decompression.

Aerialhorizon

Great story. Technical details are well researched and the dramatic situations created by the author are both suspenseful and thought provoking. The performance was captivating. Well worth a listen...I even enjoyed it on my way to the airport.

Terrific collaboration!

I'm reading this book for the 2nd time and am finding it as crackling a great thriller as any I've read. The collaboration of my favorite author, Nelson DeMille, and pilot Thomas Brock results in wonderful narrative and page-turning fun.

I could not recommend this novel more highly.

Love Nelson DeMille

Always look forward to listening to a Nelson DeMille book. This one, "Mayday" would have been a better listen if only Scott Brick had been the one reading the book.

Great book great narrator.

Simply one of the best tales and one of the best narrators in the business. Scott Brick enhances the books entertainment.

GREAT DRAMA....with a caveat. Strong narration.

Whenever I make a long road trip I carefully select a book that will grab my attention to the point where I can drive the 1200 miles between Maryland and Miami nonstop. At about a third way through the book I was ready to give it 2 stars partly because of the spoiler effect of reading the review from an enthusiastic listener from Texas (Mayday is Magnificent) that gave away far too much plot, as well as what I thought were the misrepresentations of the acute effects of oxygen deprivation which grated on the sensibilities of my professional medical training. Either the research was poor, or the author resorted to journalistic license. Additionally, with the plot focused mainly on a single aircraft, the drama felt constricted for a while. I got easily distracted till near the midway point, and then became engrossed. Although rather predictable with no shock revelations nor surprising plot twists, the 2nd half moves along briskly enough, with good intersecting lines that were rather well juxtaposed. I thought the terse tone and inflections of the narrator were forceful and convincing, and for me his performance was as strong as the story, which eventually was entertaining enough to keep me awake through all night driving without caffeine. I would have given the story 5 stars but the fantastical characterizations of anoxia were a stretch, and writing that was just a bit too colorful for me to ignore; nevertheless overall very entertaining, and highly recommended.

Non-stop suspenseA

Action and suspense from beginning to end... A thoroughly entertaining book. Even the terrible narrator couldn't ruin it.

Don’t miss it!

This is the best book I have read or listened to in a long time. Don’t miss it!