Walking On Air

Christina Jones

Average Rating 7/10 (1 Review)

Billie Pascoe knows what she wants - and it isn't a designer wardrobe, a nifty sports car, or even a suitable man. No, all Billie wants is a chance to escape from her past mistakes, her present job, and her very uncertain future.

So will the ramshackle warehouse on the edge of a run down airfield be her salvation? Doubtful given that Billie is the world's biggest aerophobe who doesn't have a clue what to do with a warehouse. But what is life without a challenge?

And there are plus points: the warehouse is home to a gorgeous 'plane and its even more gorgeous pilot - so what if his love life is unbelievably crowded? Love is strictly not on Billie's agenda. She has enough to worry about from her ex-boss who has turned stalker, her man-eating flatmate, and her mother who thinks she can give Poirot a run for his money.

While everyone may think that her fortunes are about to take a nose dive, Billie is sure that she will soon be walking on air.

Filled with a great cast of characters from the flightcrew of the shoestring airline company to the owners of the neighbouring warehouses, from the tequila-slamming hairdressers to Billie's sprawling family, Walking on Air is Christina Jones' most exhilarating - and high-flying - novel yet.

Review by Chrissi (300401) Rating (7/10)

Review by Chrissi
Rating 7/10
Now, wing walking is not something that I have ever been tempted by, and although I have enjoyed flying, and been tempted by the idea of parachuting, I have never been so keen as to actually do anything about it.

I just look at films such as Point Break, and watch people floating through the sky at the local airfield on a sunny afternoon, hearing them calling to each other, and I think Wow, I would love to try that. Billie, I am sure, would not think as I do, as she starts the book finding it difficult to fly on holiday without a very stiff drink and the promise of yet more to come on landing.

Billie lives with her friend Miranda, and works as a taxi driver for Reuben, a strange bloke who helped her out when she was involved with a married man. She didn't know he was married, and he panicked and left her in a flash when it seemed as though anyone would find out, leaving her needing to be helped by Reuben.

Billie has tried to hide all of this information from both her family and people where she now lives, as she feels that they would think less of her if they knew. Only now, she feels that it is too late, and besides, it is almost irrelevant. Unfortunately, her mother has decided that she wants to know what took her daughter to London from the family farm in Devon. She starts to investigate, thinking it all much more sinister than Billie has let on.

Billie doesn't want to work for Reuben as a taxi driver forever, and one day picks up a lady who wishes to go out to the warehouses on the airfield. Billie decides she wants to work for herself and buys one of the warehouses. There is just the small problem of what she could do, but whatever she is going to do, she has a warehouse to do it in.

Billie starts out feeling that she only wants to work for herself but finds that she really wants a lot more, especially when she meets the boss of the small company also based on the airfield. He, however, is only interested in aeroplanes, although he finds that he needs to use Billie's new business, and a bit later, finds that he needs her as well.

I could not imagine standing on a plane, but that is probably part of the charm of the story, Billie does not want to have anything to do with all of this, but when she feels that she has to, she gives it all she's got.

I suppose that a greater part of the charm of the story is about someone wanting and succeeding in changing their life, from working in a job that they do not enjoy, to being self employed, and enjoying the other challenges that they find themselves facing. You just can't help but root for her...
Chrissi (30th April 2001)