I thought the Hostage did a great job of building suspense! Once Mina is on the plane, she finds a belonging of her daughters, which lends credibility to her daughter being threatened. From that moment on, it was a tense ride to the end of the book waiting to see how everything played out! Each chapter was short and snappy, so once I got going with my reading, I didn’t want to stop!

The ending was incredible. My favourite part of the book was actually the last few chapters. The genre changed into a psychological thriller and I loved it! I just wish there was more of it. Overall, I enjoyed this book more than I anticipated. If you like a good old-fashioned thriller, but with an emotional concept as well, then this is one you won’t want to pass up!! The dilemma broke my heart and made my hand tremble. As a cabin crew, you have a responsibility towards the people on board. As a woman, mother, and wife, you have a responsibility towards your family. But can you sacrifice over 300 passengers for the sake of the ones you love? This is an impossible decision. I felt my brain take me to the aisle of the plane, my eyes scanning the faces. Celebrities, journalists, normal people, babies… And on the ground, millions of eyes ready to applaud this new non-stop route to the other side of the world. Clare made sure I could visualize everything so vividly I could not possibly choose. And then, she added beautifully intricate moments, chapter after chapter, making Hostage an emotional thriller masterpiece.Just a short way into the flight, Mina receives a note that she can't ignore, calling on her help to derail the flight, or her much beloved adopted daughter will suffer the consequences. Every single chapter is tense, totally compelling and although it felt very OTT drama at times I could not put it down, no matter how ridiculous I thought it was getting. Yes, I think you do. If you have a rigid, inflexible approach to problem solving I think you shut down a lot of avenues of resolution. So you need to come across as someone who is able to adapt to the circumstances and be open to dealing with the issues that are important to this person. Mina is a flight attendant who deliberately places herself aboard an inaugural non-stop flight from London to Sydney, Australia. This subterfuge, of a sort, is intended to give her a break from her husband, Adam, whom she believes has cheated on her, and her five-year-old, special needs daughter, Sophia.

Hostage is the tale of several hostage situations. The Smith family are held hostage by Dennis Rooney and the gang after their robbery, Jeff Talley is held hostage by his own past, and... well, I hold off on mentioning the hostage situation in the book.There isn’t much that can be said about the hostage situation without taking away from the reader’s enjoyment.

When we were working out how to do this we copied very heavily from Cialdini’s book. We looked at ways people gain influence with another and it is all about relationship building, earning trust and demonstrating a genuine interest in their issues and concerns. We learned that negotiators needed to come across as being non-threatening and non-judgmental. Mina has one of the coveted cabin crew spots onboard and takes off whilst Adam is left with Sophia and his own demons to deal with....And this is something that you feel deeply frustrated about because you had been taken off the case. I think it is a very good book on articulating many of the problems that authorities have, and by authorities I mean not just police but governments, in dealing with organised radical terrorists who are willing to die. And I think it is probably the best book out there on that topic. I think its only weakness is that it draws conclusions based only on Chechnyan terrorists and we may see other terrorists act in different ways around the world. What an absolutely amazing book. I honestly could not put it down and while I was desperate for it to end, I didn’t want it to end!!! Five star read - highly recommended. Once Mina's flight is underway, she receives a note informing her that if she does not comply and do as she is told, her daughter will pay the price. What is a mother to do? But Mina’s mind is not entirely focused on the tasks at hand as her heart is still firmly on the ground, with her husband, Adam, and daughter. Her marriage is in trouble and Sophia, their daughter, is facing difficulties that make Mina long to be home even before the flight takes off.