Exit Row: The Inside Story of Flight 965, Four Miraculous Survivors and What Airlines Do When Disaster Strikes

In response to doubletrouble... I read in a newspaper article that the author is giving 100% of the proceeds of this book to a children's charity. So, anyhow, I felt the book very interesting and a great testimony about airplane crashes and crisis workers! Everyone involved in the Sept 11th activation should read it. It was very moving.

Review for Exit Row and response to doubletroublefive-o I was deeply touched by this book, and surprised to find it contained much more than the title and subtitle hinted at. Not everyone is going to get the same thing out of a book, but in all fairness and honesty, I can only conclude that doubletroublefive-o did not read to the end of the book. Had he or she done so, the full picture would have come clear. In a serendipitous way, two survivors of Flight 965 (one of the actual crash, the other the aftermath) meet and allow their lives to be enhanced by the other. Together they create a project to benefit orphans around the world, building swingsets as evidence of their love and concern. In truth, Mercedes became an orphan as a result of the crash, even though she was an adult by then. I can attest to that, because it's the way I felt the day my second parent died and I was already an adult and parent of several children myself. The loss of parents, so closely allied with our past, helps us empathize with those who are orphaned in a more profound sense as children. Connected with this is the fact that the author mentions (to me a foreshadowing) the loss of her father at age 7, the details of which she doesn't learn for many years. I applaud the writer of this book and her close ally and friend who helped inspire it. This book is one more proof that mankind has the capacity to turn tragedy into a lasting expression of gratitude for life.

I picked this up at the bookstore and read it in one sitting. The cover attracted my attention, but the story is very well written and centers on an unlikely relationship between a crisis worker (the author) and the crisis victim. Everyone can relate to it though, because everyone has some sort of tragedy in life, and be it small or large - it must be addressed sooner or later. This book shows how two people from different worlds formed a friendship that changed their lives. I also liked the details on the airplane black box - very informative.

Having adopted two children, I loved Tammy's other book, "Searching for a Piece of My Soul" - her own account of searching for her father and the experience of others who have also searched for family members. I personally used it as a guide and have recommended it to scores of others. Now Tammy's back with a new book that chronicles another of her personal experiences -- this time leading an Emergency Response Team that helped the families and survivors of an airline crash cope with the tragedy. The book is well written, very touching and a must read for nervous airline passengers such as myself -- the final chapter gives some good, practical advice about "flying smart." Tammy Kling is fast becoming one of my favorite authors, not just because of her great skill as a writer but also due to her gift for taking her extraordinary experiences and relating them to readers so that they come away not only entertained but informed and indeed moved.