“The last time I saw Mr. Hackman he was dead, but not decapitated.”

From Hollis Gillespie’s We Will Be Crashing Shortly.

Life has been crazy for teenager April Mae Manning since the events surrounding her step-father Ash’s plans to kill her for her paternal grandfather’s majority shares of the World Air company failed.  April’s standing as a legitimate heir has again been brought into question… and she keeps failing her driver’s test.  The only lasting impact of her short stint as World Air CEO was that she was able to hire her friends Officer Ned and LaVonda as chief security officer and crisis counselor.  While her mother is away on a cruise, April has been staying with Uncle Otis and visiting with the sassy, old flight attendant, Flo.  While simultaneously trying to dodge the press (mainly a tabloid reporter named Roundtree) and impress the driving instructor (Anita) so she can finally pass her driving test, April witnesses the kidnapping of her best friend Malcolm by an ex-employee of World Air (Hackman).  Jumping into action to try and save her friend, April finds herself and those closest to her caught in a dangerous plot that goes farther and deeper than she ever could have imagined.

Gillespie’s sequel to the 2013 original story of the girl raised in the world of planes and airports has all the wit and sarcasm of the first, while also being incredibly unique.  The story is full of interesting facts about airplanes, airport protocol, and global travel; in a few scenes the gore has been increased, but that is never the focus, just descriptive facts. It is a quick read with a solid mystery woven well throughout.  We Will Be Crashing Shortly is a fun and satisfying read that uses all the best from the first book and builds off those elements to create an edge-of-your-seat story.