Here One Moment

Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty
9/10/24; 512 pages
Crown Publishing

Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty is a very highly recommended psychological thriller that explores existential questions regarding free will versus destiny. Here One Moment asks the questions: What would you do if you knew when you were going to die? Would you do things differently? Would you try to dodge your destiny?

After a long delay, a short domestic flight proceeds smoothly from Hobart, Australia, to Sydney. This ordinary flight turns extraordinary when an unremarkable older woman wearing a brooch stands up, counts to three, and then proceeds to walk down the aisle while proclaiming the cause of death and age at death for each passenger she encounters before the cabin crew intervenes. She also states, “Fate won’t be fought.”

For some passengers the date is far in the future and they laugh it off, but for some passengers their predicted deaths are not far away at all. Allegra Patel is predicted to die at 28 from self-harm on her 28th birthday. Ethan Chang, 29, will die at age 30 from assault. Leo, 42, will die at age 43 in a workplace accident. For Dom and Eve, a young couple on their honeymoon, she is predicted to die young at 25, from "intimate partner homicide." Sue and Max O’Sullivan are told he will into his 90s while she will die soon from pancreatic cancer.  Paula Binici learns her baby Timmy will die at age 7 from drowning.

A few months after the flight one passenger, Kayla, dies exactly as she predicted. Then two more passengers die as she predicted. The woman making the predictions is now nicknamed “The Death Lady” and no one is laughing off her predictions. In fact, they are trying to find out who she is. Her real name is Cherry Lockwood. She grew up with a mother who was a psychic who went by the name of Madame Mae, but does she actually posses any psychic ability?

Here One Moment is a well-written, intriguing, articulate, and compelling novel that follows a series of characters as they deal with the predictions handed to them by The Death Lady. It is a long book, but the short chapters make the length feel more reasonable and the pages fly by quickly. The chapters alternate between the point-of-view of the different characters, keeping the tension is high throughout the novel as you wait to see if someone dies and how they are dealing with everything.

The diverse cast of characters are all fully realized individuals whose flaws and strengths are clearly developed realistically as they deal with their predicted demise. I was invested in the lives of these characters. Cherry's life and background is also presented in much detail, making her a real person and not the horrific Death Lady that she is presumed to be from the flight. Her chapters could have been edited a bit to lessen the length of the novel. And, in actuality, I was more interested in the other characters dealing with the question of their impending fate.

The final denouement of Here One Moment is pitch perfect and pulled it all together nicely. Thanks to Crown Publishing for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.