Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty
A tense psychological thriller that makes the reader question what they would do if they knew their days were numbered.
Bestselling author Liane Moriarty returns with a gripping story of love and loss in Here One Moment.
On a delayed flight from Hobart to Sydney, Australia, Cherry Lockwood is a nondescript passenger who does something out of the ordinary. Forty-five minutes into the flight, she unbuckles her seat belt and wanders down the aisle. Out of the blue, she predicts the cause of death and the age of death of her fellow passengers. Initially, everyone believes she’s crazy, but one by one, their outlooks on life have been changed by this chance encounter.
“The Death Lady” Reveals All
Allegra, the flight attendant, is told she will die at age 29 and her birthday is quickly approaching. Leo, the workaholic civil engineer, who is frustrated by the flight’s delay causing him to miss his daughter’s play, is told he will soon be the victim of a workplace accident. Sue, a middle-aged nurse returning from a vacation in Tasmania, will succumb to pancreatic cancer next year.
Eve, the newlywed, still wearing her wedding gown, is told she will die in a domestic row, and millennial Ethan will be beaten to death in a fight on his next birthday. Another passenger, Paula, an attorney and mother with two toddlers, is told her infant will drown at seven. However, some folks are told they will live to be one hundred.
Cherry cannot stop herself. The death list goes on and on, and restricted by a back injury, Allegra barely stops Cherry before she has made predictions for the entire plane.
No one is laughing about these prophecies. Cherry has delivered them with such conviction that she has convinced her fellow passengers of the truth of her words. They are all scared to death. “Fate won’t be fought,” Cherry announces to the doubters.
Free Will vs. Fate
Upon landing, Cherry goes on her way to visit friends, leaving the passengers and crew with questions. Who was she? Was she a psychic? Will her predictions come true? What can I do to prevent them from coming true?
Of course, word of “The Death Lady” spreads like wildfire on the news and social media, and Cherry’s fame becomes elevated when, a few months later, one passenger dies as she predicted. Then two more.
The novel cleverly toggles back and forth between Cherry’s backstory, and those of Ethan, Paula, Allegra, Leo, Sue and Eve. In classic Moriarty style, she infuses her characters with humor and sympathy, even Cherry. Some of her characters are trapped in lives where they lack control, while others seemed happily living their lives in an uncertain world until Cherry came along.
A Well-Woven Mystery
To reveal more about the mystery or the characters would ruin the plot, which unfolds like a beautiful rose. Each character and episode is a lovely petal composing the entire flower. However, the overarching theme in this tense narrative is the struggle between free will and fate. How much control do we possess over our lives or is our fate preordained?
No doubt, the main character in this book is DEATH — that big, black shadow that hangs over us all. We never know when it will arrive or under what circumstances. All the reader can do is enjoy the well-woven web of another Moriarty mystery that skewers our social norms and asks what would we do if we were told our expiration dates and the cause?
Moriarty’s Here One Moment is a tense psychological thriller that makes the reader question what they would do if they knew their days were numbered.
Liane Moriarty is the Australian author of nine internationally best-selling novels, including multiple number one New York Times bestsellers. Her books have been translated into over forty languages and sold more than 20 million copies.
Her books Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers and Apples Never Fall were adapted into popular television series with star-studded casts including Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Melissa McCarthy and Annette Bening.
Liane lives in Sydney, Australia, together with her husband, son and daughter.
Publish Date: 9/10/2024
Genre: Fiction, Thrillers
Author: Liane Moriarty
Page Count: 512 pages
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 9780593798607
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