In the Blink of an Eye

In the wake of the terrifying explosion of TWA Flight 800 on July 17, 1996, which killed 230 passengers and crew, speculation ran rampant as to the cause of the tragedy. Was it a bomb? A terrorist's missile? Did "friendly fire" from the U.S. government play a role? Rumors spread like brush fire while investigators laboriously fished the pieces of the huge 747 out of the waters off Long Island and began putting the plane back together, piece by piece, to find out the truth. Pat Milton takes us into the world of the FBI agents responsible for investigating Flight 800's horrific last flight. As the days and weeks dragged on for the investigators, public clamor turned up the heat for a suspect, or at least a final determination, one that wouldn't come for months. Milton's protagonist, FBI assistant director James Kallstrom, took the heat and shouldered the blame for a string of false leads, working the public as much as he worked the case--either way, it was a full-time job--and Milton captures the noble spirit of a dedicated man way past his breaking point and then extended further. In the Blink of an Eye works both as an exhaustive, exhausting memoir of a terrifying disaster and an elegant tribute to the dedication of the FBI and all the men and women who helped sort through the pieces to try to put some of Flight 800 back together again. --Tjames Madison