Turbulence, by Jordan Castillo Price

TITLE: Turbulence
AUTHOR: Jordan Castillo Price

COPYRIGHT: 2013
PAGES: 261
PUBLISHER: Self-published

SETTING: Contemporary
TYPE: Romance
SERIES: None

The foundation of superstition is ignorance. First Officer Paul Cronin has no use for magical thinking—he’s a logical guy, a skeptic who only believes what he can see. When a new assignment on Flight 511 takes him directly through the legendary Bermuda Triangle, he’s not concerned about losing his aircraft to supernatural forces. He’s busy trying to hook up with handsome flight attendant Dallas.

Dallas seems eager to oblige at the airport, but his ardor cools quickly when he finds out he and Paul are now on the same crew. Then the turbulence hits, and Paul soon discovers there’s more to the Bermuda Triangle than made-for-TV movies.

While trying to decipher his cryptic predecessor’s notes and guide Flight 511 around the Triangle phenomenon, Paul attempts to piece together a relationship with Dallas. It seems that forces—both paranormal and mundane—are stacked against them. Can Paul navigate a successful course through the turbulence while he finds a way into Dallas’ heart?

Turbulence had a really fun setup. Paul Cronin is a pilot who has just been given a new assignment. It's a regularly scheduled flight out of Miami that goes right through the Bermuda triangle. Paul doesn't even bat an eyelid at the idea. Everyone knows the whole Bermuda Triangle thing is just silly superstition.

But it turns out there really is something supernatural going on, involving alternate realities. Paul is determined to get to the bottom of it and understand how the phenomenon works, and with the help of handsome flight attendant Dallas Turner, he begins to investigate. Might his predecessor, a pilot who died mysteriously not very long before, have hit on something?

Turbulence was originally published as an 8-part serial, and that's how I read it. It started out really strongly. The setting is cool, and the supernatural mystery is really good fun. What's going on is quite unique, much more interesting than the simple "Planes disappear in the Bermuda Triangle" thing. It's all very Twilight Zone, and I loved the idea of it. I couldn't wait to see how Castillo Price would resolve it and what the explanation would be.

I also really liked the romance. It's not hugely developed, but Paul and Dallas clearly share a connection and it's not just chemistry (which is definitely there, by the way). Before too long believed that these two were just right for each other. I also liked how the author dealt with the realities of an interracial relationship. It's subtly done, but it's clear that it's not all plain sailing. It's also just as clear that these two can and will work past any problems.

So far, all good. The problem is that Castillo Price chose to explain the supernatural in her story through half-baked metaphysical crap. And the more we got into the story, the more this metaphysical crap piled up. Worse, we were clearly supposed to take it seriously. I just couldn't. I found it all kind of laughable. So by the time we got to the end, I basically had no idea what the hell was going on. I read the final episode twice, and I still can't figure it out. I'm not an idiot, and I was paying attention, I promise!

MY GRADE: I enjoyed a lot of it, but in the end it was somewhat of a disappointment. C-.