Book Review: “Skyjack” By K.J. Howe

Last month I reviewed K.J. Howe’s debut thriller “The Freedom Broker.”

That novel introduced readers to K&R expert Thea Paris (read my review of “The Freedom Broker”). 

Paris is quickly becoming one of the most compelling protagonists in the thriller game. Her heroic antics are tempered by the fact that she lives with Type 1 diabetes. She is a well-drawn character, and the intricate family saga woven into her story adds depth and dimension.

“Skyjack” finds Paris escorting two young brothers — Jabari and Ayan — from Africa to Great Britain. Thea’s brother Nikos started a charity to help recovering child soldiers, setting up an adoption program as part of the service. 

The boys are first-time fliers — excited to meet their adoptive parents. Shortly into the flight, a passenger has a heart attack. The co-pilot (who happened to be using the restroom at the time) informs Thea that the pilot has locked the cockpit, ignoring multiple communication attempts. 

The plane is re-routed to Libya. Our kidnap-and-ransom expert soon finds herself — along with her fellow passengers — in a hostage situation.  

This sets into motion a series of events that would make the late great espionage novelist Robert Ludlum proud. 

The skyjacked plane is part of a larger plot involving a B-47 Stratojet that went missing in 1956, a Sicilian crime boss named Prospero Salvatore, and an Austrian arms dealer named Gernot Dietrich (who has genocidal tendencies). 

We learn about “secret organizations” that the CIA and British Secret Service helped train in Europe following World War II — put in place to guard against communism, operate in the shadows, and aid against a possible Soviet invasion. 

Some of those organizations are alive and well today... with less-than-noble goals. 

The structure and pacing of Kimberly Howe’s “Skyjack” improves upon that of her first novel. She does an adept job navigating the various threads in the narrative. The story has a heft that keeps the momentum rolling to the final page. 

Howe isn't afraid to tackle larger philosophical issues in the geopolitical realm. That fact helps her novels transcend from "potboiler" status into something more meaningful.  

In "The Freedom Broker" she looked at the psychological scars left when a child is kidnapped — and the ramifications that follow. In "Skyjacked" she deals with the issue of xenophobia impacting the world today. 

As many of you know, I enjoy little bits of trivia found in espionage novels — especially when they are subtle nods to other stories in the genre. 

At one point during “Skyjack,” Rif Asker (Thea’s longtime friend and compatriot at Quantum International Security) finds himself inside the cockpit of a Czech Aero L-39 Albatros. This is the same plane featured in the opening sequence of the 1997 James Bond movie “Tomorrow Never Dies.” 

As someone who built model airplane kits as a kid, I love to see unique military aircraft featured in detail. 

There won’t be another Thea Paris novel out until 2019, but I’m already looking forward to reading the next adventure with this fine lady. 

If you like espionage and suspense thrillers in exotic locales, give Howe’s novels try. 

Howe is the executive director of “ThrillerFest,” the annual convention of the International Thriller Writers. If you’d like to learn more about the author, visit her website at www.kjhowe.com. 

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