Chris Bohjalian, the acclaimed author of The Flight Attendant, returns with The Skydivers, a short thriller that explores the fragile bond between brothers, the weight of inheritance, and the moral ambiguity that comes with loss. Set against the quiet rural backdrop of Vermont, this compact story delivers a fatal plunge into rivalry, guilt, and deception though not all readers may find the landing satisfying.
The story begins with a striking image: two brothers, Pete and Leo Hamilton, skydiving over their late father’s dairy farm to scatter his ashes. It’s a grand gesture that speaks of both love and ego, a symbolic act meant to honor the man who raised them. But as they descend, something goes horribly wrong and one brother won’t survive the fall.
The narrative alternates between “The Day It Happened” and “The Night Before,” slowly revealing the tangled emotions that led to the tragedy. Pete, an aspiring musician, wants to preserve the farm that represents their family’s legacy. Leo, a successful aerospace engineer, wants to sell it and move on. Their conflict over the property becomes a metaphor for everything they’ve inherited resentment, rivalry, and unresolved love.
A third voice joins the story: a woman cycling through the Vermont countryside who happens to witness the jump. Her perspective grounds the narrative, providing both a moral compass and an outsider’s view of what really happened. As Jonetta from Blue Mood Café notes, “She comes from a background that makes her an exceptional witness and knows something was off.”
While the setup is brilliant a skydiving accident witnessed from afar, a suspicious death, and a farm divided the execution has divided readers. Rosh, an avid follower of the Alibis series (of which this story is a part), found it “the weakest of the collection,” criticizing its lack of suspense and thin character development. “No thrills, no surprises, not even any alibi,” she wrote, summing up her frustration with its pacing and predictability.
Jonetta, however, appreciated its brevity and cinematic potential, especially the opening scene. The audiobook narration, performed by Eric Altheide, Soneela Nankani, and Pete Simonelli, brought life to the characters and added tension to the otherwise subdued narrative. She wished for more depth “just a smidgen longer” to better understand the brothers before tragedy struck.
Ultimately, The Skydivers feels like a sketch for a larger novel haunting in concept but fleeting in impact. Bohjalian’s talent for setting mood and crafting moral tension is evident, yet the story doesn’t quite soar to the emotional heights his longer works achieve. The first chapter captures the thrill and danger of the jump beautifully, but the story’s momentum falters once it hits the ground.
For fans of Bohjalian, this short story offers a quick, atmospheric read and a glimpse into his fascination with human frailty and ethical gray zones. For others, it might serve as an intriguing but incomplete addition to the Alibis collection.
The Skydivers reminds us that family ties can be as perilous as freefall and sometimes, the hardest part isn’t the jump, but what comes after.
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