I've always been a big fan of Priest's writing and Airside is one of his more intriguing speculative fiction concepts.
After an actress disappears from a flight between New York and London, no clues as to what happened are apparent and she soon fades into obscurity. Many years later, a prominent film critic and reviewer stumbles upon the mystery of his childhood screen crush and embarks on an investigation to dsicover what happened, picking up on loose threads and connections along the way.

The book is fascinating because it blends fact and fiction seamlessly - a style of storytelling I have always enjoyed and Priest achieves it masterfully here. Weaving in big name actors, directors and even films amongst counterparts invented for the story, he paints an intriguing picture of the Golden era of Hollywood filmaking. Much of the book is the story of the film critic as he talks about his own obsessive note making, his knowledge of films, the interviews he conducts and his critiques of various films like La Jette (a wonderful film by the way) and Casbalanca. It was these deep dives which I loved the most as it sent me on a research ride outside of the book, but at the time it isn't clear how these subtle seedings are progressing the investigation, until you start to notice the subtle connections he is interweaving throughout everything.

Intertwined with the films is the idea that constantly traversing airports with their monotonous, labyrinthian setups, work against exhaustion and jet lag to trap unsuspecting travellers into liminal zones, lost in a madness of time and space

A gripping book for me and one that reads fluently without trace of the over indulgent writing and metaphors that much of so labelled lterary fiction can get bogged down in. The subtleties are there though linking everything together and the references should appeal to anyone with interest in films of the first half of the twentieth century. However, the book doesn't always feel like it is keeping itself on track and will likely struggle to hold the attention or the patience of readers who prefer a tighter leash on their mysteries and speculative fiction. ( )