Clare Mackintosh channels Idris Elba in Hostage

A little bit of background📃

I felt like I was in the middle of an Idris Elba movie when I was reading Hostage. The book seems quite similar to Elba's first Hijack series on Apple TV. I'm not sure if Idris took inspiration from Clare or the other way around, but either way, Hostage is a cracking story, perfectly written for a television or film adaptation.

There is more background on Clare Mackintosh in my review of her Ffion Morgan series and her deeply personal story of impossible choices about a couple's child's serious illness.

Hostage | Published June 2021 | Read August 2024

The story📖

Hostage tells the story of Mina, a flight attendant on the inaugural and landmark non-stop flight from London to Sydney. Mina has plenty on her mind, with her marriage at a crossroads (as she suspects her husband, Adam, of cheating) and a gifted but challenging adopted daughter, Sophia, to raise. The flight has barely begun when Mina receives an anonymous note from one of the passengers intent on ensuring the plane does not reach Sydney. The hijacker needs Mina's help and has taken her husband and daughter hostage to force her to comply.

My thoughts on the book💭

There's a lot of love about Hostage. The premise promises a suspenseful, locked room drama and who doesn't love a good hijacking story? The dual stories and points of view that centre the story - Mina's on the plane and Adam's on the ground - captured my interest. Both are written with loads of tension and proper pacing.

There's loads of suspense as the team of hijackers is slowly revealed through their own chapters and points of view. I thought this part, while a bit convoluted, was intelligently done. It seems clear to me that a lot of thought went into these chapters. The story moved beyond your standard "here's a description of the passenger" to an insightful reveal about their role in the hijacking. I enjoyed reading about how and why these seemingly ordinary people became involved in a cause.

As if the hijack situation is not enough to grip the reader, there are several weighty subjects tackled in the novel. These include marital relationships, adoption, neurodivergence, and radicalisation. There are two other super important and relevant topics that I won't mention as they're spoilers, but I will say that one is to do with the hijack situation and the other with Mina's backstory.

The main part of the action (on the flight) is complex and it takes some attention from the reader to unpack it all as events unfold. I didn't mind this as I love an cleverly-written story, but there is a lot going on. Mina is a constant voice in the reader's head and there's a lot of space dedicated to her thoughts. This could have been cut down a bit. I get that she was placed in an impossible situation, mind you and her backstory is an interesting one.

While the radicalisation of the passengers involved in the hijacking was well explained, their extreme action of taking over a plane did feel a bit over the top. I suppose it's not out of the realm of possibility, but I felt that their actions didn't quite align with their cause.

I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending (as clever and surprising as it is) and Sophia's involvement in the story. At times her thoughts and actions seemed way too sophisticated for a 5-year-old and they didn't quite ring true to me.

In sum📝

Hostage is a wild ride but interestingly, it is Sophia's place in the story that seems more implausible than the plane hijacking. That said, the book deftly combines a hostage situation with lots of important contemporary topics that made me pause to reflect. I have to give props to Mackintosh for crafting an intricate and suspenseful story, as the thought behind it is admirable.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐