The Survivors

January 8, 2007
Bestseller McCall's latest romantic thriller has all the elements that her fans have come to expect, though some readers may find she goes over the top with her high-velocity plot. A tragic plane crash in the Appalachian mountains brings together a disparate group of survivors—Patrick Finn and Darren Wilson, two U.S. senators who happen to get adjoining seats on the doomed flight; Johnny O'Ryan, a young boy whose grandparents perish in the crash; and Molly Cifelli, a young child welfare worker. Wilson already holds a furious grudge against the other senator, who refused to vote for legislation that would have gotten the mob off Wilson's back. In the wreckage of the downed plane, the other two survivors witness Wilson murder Finn, leading to a desperate game of cat and mouse as the killer seeks to eliminate the loose ends. Local psychic Deborah Sanborn has visions of the crash and its aftermath that help several generations of O'Ryans in their rescue efforts, and in the process she falls for Johnny's father. Though it can feel contrived—the coincidental seating of the political adversaries in particular—those with a well-developed suspension of disbelief should enjoy the ride.