As Jammer Davis lands the seaplane, he sees his boss, Larry Green, standing on the dock. He knows that only means one thing. There has been a plane crash somewhere in the world, and Jammer is going to be the one to investigate it. But Larry has far more to tell Jammer. One of the names on the manifest is Jammer's nineteen year old daughter, Jennifer. Jennifer was headed to Cila, Columbia for a summer internship.

When Jammer lands in Bogota, he is immediately whisked away to a make-shift office. In no time, satellite data is sent from Washington D.C. and the crash site is found. Even more quickly, a helicopter is ready to take Jammer to the site where an Army detail, who just happened to be in the area, is already securing the area. The first thing Jammer learns is that only nineteen bodies have been found of the twenty-one on the manifest. His daughter and another young lady are missing.

Everything seems to be moving so fast, maybe too fast. Jammer is a real detail person and begins to uncover some very interesting inconsistencies. Was this really a plane crash due to mechanical failure, or was it a hijacking? Perhaps it was neither. Perhaps something else entirely is in play here. Is PASSENGER 19 the key?

I hesitate to jump into the middle of a series after it has already begun. But PASSENGER 19 sounded too good to miss. I have read Ward Larsen's books before and know he's a great author of espionage thrillers, one of my favorite genres. This one did not disappoint! Jammer is a very strong main character, extremely focused and methodical. He doesn't miss a thing. His supporting characters are a sordid crew, and we're not sure which side they're really on. The storyline is fast-paced, shifting from the crash investigation, to discussions in Washington D.C. and then into the jungles of Columbia. PASSENGER 19 is a story with a tangled web of conspiracy, tainted with politics. If thrillers are your genre, pick up a copy.

Book Summary

Jammer Davis has spent most of his life investigating aircraft accidents. When a small regional jet disappears over the jungles of Colombia, it is a tragedy like dozens of others he has seen…but for one terrible detail―his young daughter, who was enroute to a semester abroad in South America, is listed on the passenger manifest.

A distraught Davis rushes to Bogotá and bulls his way into the inquiry. When the wreckage is located, it becomes clear the crash was unsurvivable. As the investigation gains momentum, the facts go astray. Two pilots had been shot before the crash, along with one passenger. The possibility of a hijacking looms large as the search begins to focus on two passengers who boarded the plane, yet their remains cannot be found.

Davis uncovers an even more sinister plot behind the entire disaster―one that goes to the highest levels of the United States government. But how could it possibly involve his daughter?