A Thriller Inspired by the World’s Greatest Aviation Mystery
On March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished without a trace, along with 239 souls aboard. No distress call. No confirmed wreckage. Just silence—and a thousand unanswered questions.
In Dark Open Sky, award-winning author and journalist Tom McAuliffe peels back the official story and dives into the chilling possibilities behind the world’s most haunting aviation disappearance. Combining real-world detail, classified whispers, and heart-pounding suspense, this high-octane thriller delivers a gripping reimagining of what may have really happened in the skies that night.
Veteran pilot Zaharie Shah climbs into the cockpit for what should be a routine red-eye from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. But he’s carrying more than passengers—he’s burdened by secrets, political betrayal, and a silent mission that will never show up on any flight plan.
Within hours, the transponder goes dark. Radar tracks the plane veering sharply off course. Then—nothing. Across the globe, intelligence agencies scramble. NSA code-breaker turned rogue signal analyst Samira Holt intercepts a rogue satellite ping where no signal should be. CIA operative Julian Cross digs into a shadowy operation involving next-gen computer engineers, exotic chip technology, and a chilling phrase buried in redacted files: “Remote-Assisted Flight Termination.”
As theories multiply—terrorism, pilot suicide, electronic hijack, covert exfiltration—Cross and Holt risk everything to uncover a truth more disturbing than fiction. Their investigation leads them deep into a web of conspiracies, from a secretive U.S. base in the Indian Ocean to a dark program once designed to prevent hijackings but capable of stealing a plane in midair. Someone wanted the world to forget Flight 370.
But the sky keeps secrets only for so long.
Packed with geopolitical intrigue, cutting-edge technology, and pulse-pounding twists, Dark Open Sky is a thriller for our era—where surveillance is silent, war is digital, and the truth disappears faster than an aircraft over open water.
Fans of Tom Clancy, Michael Crichton, and The Bourne Identity will be riveted by this fast-paced, chillingly plausible tale.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Tom Patrick McAuliffe is a writer living on the Gulf Coast with my beautiful wife and cat.
A graduate of the DOD Program for Journalism at Syracuse University, Tom is a former Photojournalist with the US Navy's Combat Camera Group and he is a former magazine Editor and Writer with more than 25 years of by-lines. He is a musician and loves telling great stories.
Learn More at https://www.dkpwriter.com/indiereadsaloudseasonfour
