5 BOOKS TO READ DURING LONG HAUL FLIGHTS

Books have come to my rescue many times when I have been stranded in strange airports during long haul flights. And as a solo traveler, sometimes when I come back to my lonely hotel room after a long day of exploration, a good book offers comfort and company. Here are five picks, from the latest releases, that can give you company during those long haul flights and even longer transits.

Runner 
by Patrick Lee

This is my absolute favourite from this season's lot. Sam Dryden is a retired special forces man — a Ranger, a Delta, and had done five years of off-the-book black ops with an elite team. An extremely skilled man. He lives a quite life in a small town in Southern California, after losing his wife and young daughter in an accident. While out on a run in the middle of the night, 11-year-old Rachel runs into him on the seaside boardwalk. Barefoot and terrified, she's running from a group of heavily armed men who want to kill her. She has been kept in a secret prison by forces within the government. She only remembers the past two months of her life and that she has a skill that makes her very dangerous to the men who want to kill her. Dryden agrees to help Rachel. The duo go on the run to escape the killers. But can he escape the all-seeing Miranda, the latest satellite in-charge of tracking him and Rachel? This one is truly a page-turner. Doesn't let you pause for a minute. What makes it absolutely thrilling is that when you finish the book you realise that this is Sam Dryden's first outing and there's a promise of 'more in the the future'.

Life or Death
by Michael Robotham

This is another one of those utterly gripping, heart-stopping thrillers. Heart-wrenching too! Audie Palmer has spent a decade in prison for an armed robbery in which four people died, including two of the gang. 7 million dollars has never been recovered and everybody believes that Audie knows where the money is. For ten years he has been beaten, stabbed, throttled and threatened almost daily by prison guards, inmates and criminal gangs, who all want to know about the 7 million dollars.Suddenly, Audie vanishes the day before he's due to  be released. Everybody wants to find Audie, but he's not running. Instead he's trying to save a life — and not just his own. 


The Einstein Pursuit
by Chris Kuzneski

This one is what it says it is — high-octane action. An explosion in Stockholm claims the lives of an elite collection of scientists. Evidence suggests the  blast was designed to eliminate all traces of their research. It's up to Interpol director Nick Dial to uncover the truth about the lab and the attack. When Dr.Mattias Sahlberg learns of the incident, he knows his life is at risk. He turns to the only men he can trust: ex-Special Forces operatives Jonathon Payne and David Jones. As Dial's case intertwines with Sahlberg's past, Payne and Jones uncover hidden truths and secret agendas involving the world's greatest minds. But there are some who are desperate to keep such radical advances in the dark and will stop at nothing to have their way.  The writing is 'raw power'. 

Be Careful What You Wish For
by Jeffrey Archer

Archer's tales always make for a great on-the-road-read. This is no different.  Harry Clifton and his wife Emma rush to the hospital to learn the fate of their son Sebastian, who has been involved in a devastating car accident. But who died? Sebastian or his best friend Bruno? When Ross Buchanan is forced to resign as chairman of the Barrington Shipping Company, Emma Clifton wants to replace him. But Don Pedro Martinez intends to install his puppet - the devious Major Alex Fisher - in order ot destroy the Barrington family firm just as the company plans to build its new luxury liner, the MV Buckingham.  Meanwhile, in London, Harry and Emaa's adopted aughter wins a scholarship to the Slade Academy of Art where she falls in love with a fellow student, who asks her to marry him. Everything goes according to plan until her future mother-in-law hears things about the Cliftons. This is an epic tale of love, revenge, ambition and betrayal. Should keep you occupied during those long transit hours.

The Book Of Fate
by Parinoush Saniee

Now, this book is unlike the above four. It is not a thriller. But it will keep you enthralled throughout. It is an absolute favourite of mine. It is about fifty years of life in Iran. It was a banned novel that became a huge bestseller.  It spans five turbulent decades of Iranian history. A tale of friendship, passion, fear and hope — a rare insider's view of Iranian society. Massoumeh is an ordinary girl, passionate about learning. On her way to school she meets a local man and falls in love, but when her family discover his letters they accuse her of bringing them into dishonour, beat her and hastily arrange a marriage to a man she's never met. The years that follow Massoumeh's wedding prove transformative for Iran. Her husband Hamid is a political dissident and when the secret service arrest him, it is the start of a terrifying period for Massoumeh. Her fate so long dictated by family loyalty and tradition, is now tied to the changing fortunes of her country. 

Happy travels and happy reading, folks! :)