Brace for Impact

 by

Anthony J. Tata

The hijackers were among the last to board. Three men in their twenties—sporting close-cropped hair, tactical gear, and carrying small duffel bags—stood out immediately. Alongside them was a sharply dressed Chinese businessman in a $3,000 Zegna suit, also under suspicion. Minutes before takeoff, Zara Sheridan, a newly appointed air marshal and former military police NCO on her first assignment, is scrambling to find their true identities when she receives a disturbing alert from the regional office . . .

An experimental fighter jet, the Hyperion X, has crashed near Sheridan’s North Carolina home. One of the jet’s senior engineers is on board Sheridan’s flight, en route to Taiwan to close a multibillion-dollar deal for Blackwood Aviation. His presence is not a coincidence. But by the time Sheridan realizes who he is—and what’s going to happen—it’s too late . . .

The plane is in the air. The hijack team takes over.

The lives of 350 passengers and 14 crew members are at stake. As tensions rise and the violence escalates, Sheridan uncovers shocking information about the new weapons technology the hijackers are after—and how it could change the course of global events. In the wrong hands, it could trigger a third world war. And she’s the only one who can stop it . . .

Terrifying, tense, and all-too-possible, Brace for Impact delivers a masterfully crafted scenario ripped from tomorrow’s headlines.

Crafting a story confined to the skies could easily feel restrictive, but Tata avoids that trap by splitting the action between Zara Sheridan in the air and her son on the ground. Add in a lethal assassin and shadowy private contractors, and the tension only escalates.

This marks a strong launch to a new series—tight writing, relentless pacing, and suspense that rarely lets up. The action unfolds so cinematically that it practically begs for a film adaptation, one that might even outshine the book itself. If high-octane thrillers packed with danger and intrigue are your thing, this one should be at the top of your list.

Thank you to Kensington and Net Galley for an ARC of this book.