Danger in the Air

Reviewed by Diane Kasperski

Global Airlines’ flights have been delayed for varying reasons all of which are mechanical. The company president has decided that a committee is needed to get to the bottom of these problems before the press gets a hold of the continuing issues they are having. Jane is a contracted employee with Global. It is never entirely clear what her job is but she is placed on the committee to help solve this mystery.

The committee starts off looking into the problem and Jane is sent to Sherman where the planes are worked on to see if she can find out anything by interviewing the mechanics. On her way out, Benny - one of the mechanics, asks if he can meet her later after he is off work. He tells her that he knows something that is pertinent to the investigation but can’t talk about it at work. Benny doesn’t show up. Benny is dead.

Jane goes back to headquarters. The committee is shut down - the problems are going away and it’s not needed anymore. Benny’s wife, Sylvia, contacts Jane and is going to fly up to meet with her. She wants to discuss something with Jane but won’t give her details over the phone. Jane goes to meet her at the airport. Sylvia comes off the plane dead.

No one seems to be concerned. Jane feels there is a cover-up going on and continues to investigate. She knows that it might mean that at the end of her contract she won’t be offered a job at Global but she can’t seem to let it rest. She feels there is no one she can trust at Global but she doesn‘t have enough details to take her suspicions to the president. The police aren’t looking into the deaths because they believe Benny’s was suicide and Sylvia was a self administered drug overdose. Jane wants to ignore it all but seems to get in deeper and deeper.

Jane is a very insecure; a worrier that for the most part is unhappy with life. She bought a house and regrets it. She won’t make it into a home but is unhappy with the décor. She questions herself at every step even as far as eating at a restaurant. After all, the food might make her sick. There are some hints as to why she is like this but they are only hints and not detailed at all. I think it would have been easier to understand where she was coming from if the reader had glimpses into her past that explained some of her idiosyncrasies.

All in all this story had some interesting peripheral information on the business of running an airline. The mystery was good as far as who truly was behind the problems troubling Global but it left me lukewarm at the end.