THE SKIES BELONG TO US: A PREVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY ENDED
THE SKIES BELONG TO US

Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking

BY BRENDAN I. KOERNER

ABOUT THE BOOK:

In an America torn apart by the Vietnam War and the demise of sixties idealism, airplane hijackings were astonishingly routine. Over a five-year period starting in 1968, the desperate and disillusioned seized commercial jets nearly once a week, using guns, bombs, and jars of acid. Some hijackers wished to escape to foreign lands, where they imagined being hailed as heroes; others aimed to swap hostages for sacks of cash. Their criminal exploits mesmerized the country, never more so than when the young lovers at the heart of Brendan I. Koerner’s The Skies Belong to Us pulled off the longest-distance hijacking in American history.

A shattered Army veteran and a mischievous party girl, Roger Holder and Cathy Kerkow commandeered Western Airlines Flight 701 as a vague protest against the war. Through a combination of savvy and dumb luck, the couple managed to flee across an ocean with a half-million dollars in ransom, a feat that made them notorious around the globe. Koerner spent four years chronicling this madcap tale, which involves a cast of characters ranging from exiled Black Panthers to African despots to French movie stars. He combed through over 4,000 declassified documents and interviewed scores of key figures in the drama—including one of the hijackers, whom Koerner discovered living in total obscurity. Yet The Skies Belong to Us is more than just an enthralling yarn about a spectacular heist and its bittersweet, decades-long aftermath. It is also a psychological portrait of America at its most turbulent, and a testament to the madness that can grip a nation when politics fail. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

BRENDAN I. KOERNER is a contributing editor at Wired and the author of Now the Hell Will Start, which was optioned by filmmaker Spike Lee. A former columnist for both The New York Times and Slate, he was named one of Columbia Journalism Review’s “Ten Young Writers on the Rise." Visit him at www.microkhan.com and follow him at @brendankoerner. 

PRAISE FOR THE SKIES BELONG TO US:

"A star-crossed, anti-hero love story that will transport you back to the '70s."–New York Post

"The true story of young lovers who commandeer a flight from LAX to Seattle and get away with one of the biggest skyjackings in American history." –Los Angeles Magazine

"A riveting, highly readable tale of terror in the skies." –Kirkus Reviews

“Koerner crafts thorough research into a perceptive, riveting presentation.” –Booklist

“Gripping… A fascinating look at the history of skyjacking. The odyssey of Holder’s life before and after his act of terror, aided by his lover, Cathy Kerkow, makes for a compelling read.” –Publishers Weekly

“Brendan I. Koerner has meticulously reconstructed one of the maddest and most fascinating crime stories in American history.  The result is a riveting and illuminating book that will hold you in its spell.”– David Grann, author of The Lost City of Z

“The Skies Belong to Us is one of the most exciting and fascinating books that I've read this year.  It recreates a time when American skyjackings were so common – and casual – that they occurred every week, and brings you into the thrilling heart of one of the most audacious hijackings in history.  I couldn't stop reading, and what's most amazing is that it's all true.”– Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit

“Brendan I. Koerner has turned an odd, nearly forgotten aerial-hijacking episode into an astonishing, hilarious, and un-put-downable true-crime narrative. I had no idea that any story could connect the Eldridge Cleaver of the Sixties with the TSA miseries of today's air travel, but The Skies Belong to Us does that and much more. This is a marvelously entertaining, instructive, and humane book.”– James Fallows, National Correspondent for The Atlantic and author of China Airborne

“Besides being a can't-put-it-down page-turner and an evocative recollection of a forgotten slice of history, The Skies Belong To Us feels uncannily relevant today in its depiction of how political forces can impede rational solutions to criminal violence.” – Benjamin Wallace, author of The Billionaire’s Vinegar

“A thrill ride through the turbulent times when airline hijackings were a weekly occurrence, The Skies Belong to Us is true-crime writing at its best.  Fast-paced and hard to put down, Brendan I. Koerner’s historical page-tuner artfully reconstructs one of the most astonishing skyjackings of Vietnam War era while telling a larger story of politics, money, and how air travel became what it is today.” – Nick Turse, author of Kill Anything That Moves

   GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO JESSICA AND THE GOOD FOLKS

AT CROWN PUBLISHING WITH RANDOM HOUSE,

I HAVE ONE COPY OF THIS AMAZING NON-FICTION

THRILLER, THE SKIES BELONG TO US, TO

GIVE AWAY TO ONE VERY LUCKY READER

  

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GIVEAWAY ENDS AT 

6 PM, EST, JUNE 28

GOOD LUCK!