A heart-racing finish. [The Last Flight by Julie Clark]

Two women. Two Flights. One last chance to disappear.
Claire Cook has a perfect life. Married to the scion of a political dynasty, with a Manhattan townhouse and a staff of ten, her surroundings are elegant, her days flawlessly choreographed, and her future auspicious. But behind closed doors, nothing is quite as it seems. That perfect husband has a temper that burns as bright as his promising political career, and he's not above using his staff to track Claire's every move, making sure she's living up to his impossible standards. But what he doesn't know is that Claire has worked for months on a plan to vanish. 
A chance meeting in an airport bar brings her together with a woman whose circumstances seem equally dire. Together they make a last-minute decision to switch tickets — Claire taking Eva's flight to Oakland, and Eva traveling to Puerto Rico as Claire. They believe the swap will give each of them the head start they need to begin again somewhere far away. But when the flight to Puerto Rico goes down, Claire realizes it's no longer a head start but a new life. Cut off, out of options, with the news of her death about to explode in the media, Claire will assume Eva's identity, and along with it, the secrets Eva fought so hard to keep hidden.
For fans of Lisa Jewell and Liv Constantine, The Last Flight is the story of two women — both alone, both scared — and one agonizing decision that will change the trajectory of both of their lives.

Usually something grabs me about a book, I request it on NetGalley, and by the time I've started reading I've forgotten enough about the plot that it's like entering blind. Reading through the first tenth of Julie Clark's The Last Flight, I remembered very vaguely that this was a story about an identity swap at an airport. As the domestic violence issue at the heart of the story my enthusiasm fizzled. The wife on the run from a violent husband (or just one partner fleeing an abusive one) is an important story to tell, but too often literary depictions are rife with corny tropes. Stories that people can relate to, stories that reflect the trauma that too many suffer through, are always needed, but they aren't always comfortable.

Yes, The Last Flight conveys the story of two women, but the narrative focuses so much on the stakes for one that it generally feels one-sided. A lot of minutia was repetitively noted, highlighting the minor details of the day-to-day. Even though in a protracted manner, the scene was set and I as a reader was in the story. What bumped up my rating were the moment of high tension at the end where I doubted the happy ending I expected and the moment when the truth is laid bare.

I did raise my eyebrows at some of the language as it felt a bit too crafted. A lot of the plot relies on happy coincidences and tiny miracles, which is only to point of the conveniences of the plot. The ending disappointed me in a oh no, that's terrible and I'm sad kind of way, but that's life I guess. I enjoyed my read. 4 stars from me.

The Last Flight was published June 2020.

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