Flight Across Waters


Fiction - Thriller - Psychological
287 Pages
Reviewed on 07/15/2023
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

I grew up in a small city in northern Sweden where the sun never set in the summer and barely showed up in the winter. I couldn't wait to go to Stockholm, the big city where exciting things happened. Once there, I soon realized that the size of the city wasn't what I longed for; it was another place altogether where everything was new and foreign to me. I turned my eyes to Canada. I attended art school in Toronto, then ran my commercial art business until I retired to Vancouver Island in BC.
The main characters in my books (a series) are moving around in a province twice as large as Sweden. It's my pleasure to learn more about this vast place and its people and to show it to the world through my writing.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite

Flight Across Waters by Ulla Håkanson tells the captivating story of Amy and Ben, a couple plunged into a complex criminal web after witnessing a plane crash on their honeymoon on Galiano Island. The crash victim, architect Eugene Sokalsky, is discovered to be the father of Mark Sokalsky, who has entangled himself in illegal gambling. As Ben, a detective, probes into the circumstances surrounding Eugene's death, his investigations uncover Mark's criminal activities, leading to his abduction by Mark's underworld connections. Concurrently, Amy, ignorant of her husband's peril, conducts her own parallel investigation. A tense cat-and-mouse game unfolds, with Amy narrowly escaping Mark's clutches, receiving crucial leads, and penetrating the murky depths of the criminal world. Amy's determination and courage ultimately lead her to a potential rescue operation, forcing her to confront an array of risks and dangers head-on. Her tenacity to find her missing husband and resolve the complex mystery defines the thrilling narrative.

Flight Across Waters by Ulla Håkanson wastes no time in sinking that hook in by introducing characters and developing them as soon as newlyweds Amy and Ben attempt a rescue, only to discover it is futile and that the victim is kind of a big deal. The antagonists are wonderfully bad. Mark has a sliminess to him that made me want to wash my hands after reading his scenes and Luigi Alzaperi is just plain horrible. Håkanson knows exactly how to write a fantastic, strong, and capable female protagonist. Amy is relentless in her search and in her research and discovers what the criminal extremes of the gaming and blood sport-loving, coffee shop-owning Azaperi men are, or, in his father's case, was. The very best part is visualizing Amy going undercover in a blonde wig and tossing in a pack of cigarettes for good measure. And the action scenes! In her pure awesomeness, Amy can maneuver through a collapsed floor and go for the Olympic gold medal in steel bar transitions. Poor Ben. He's sadly pedestrian when compared to her but is still a likable guy, even when he is hobbling, in concealer, and wearing a slicked-back man-ponytail, a la Miami Vice. Overall, this is a really great thriller and I could follow Amy through several more books. Very highly recommended.

Antoinette Wessels

Flight Across Waters by Ulla Håkanson is an excellently written thriller about a young woman who goes all out to save the life of her abducted husband. When Amy and her husband, Ben, witness a plane crash on their honeymoon, their vacation is cut short when Ben, a police officer, needs to help with the investigation into the mysterious deaths of the plane’s occupants. One evening, Ben takes the drunk son of the deceased back home but he stumbles across incriminating evidence tying the son to his parents' deaths and also an unlawful gambling operation. This discovery ultimately leads to Ben being kidnapped. With little assistance from the police, Amy takes it upon herself to investigate the disappearance of her husband, unearthing police corruption and unlawful gambling in the process.

If you love thrilling and exciting novels, you will not be disappointed with Ulla Håkanson’s Flight Across Waters. This was a thriller I could not put down until the last page. The novel is written from different characters’ perspectives, giving you an in-depth understanding of them and experiencing the story from various viewpoints. With the fast-paced development of the plot, I was on the edge of my seat, consistently waiting for the next ball to drop. The concept that an everyday hairdresser goes on a mission to save her husband ensured that I could easily relate to the main character, Amy; this also ensured that the suspense increased as I was rooting for her. It is evident throughout the novel that the author did a lot of research when writing Flight Across Waters, and I applaud her for a fantastic piece of literature.

Essien Asian

Discover what happens in Ulla Håkanson's Flight Across Waters when newlyweds Amy and Ben Malik discover a body in the water while on their honeymoon. Ben, as a law enforcement officer, reports it, but when he learns the deceased's identity, Ben's new assignment is to investigate the case. Amy is unconcerned about it until Ben mysteriously vanishes. Amy suspects foul play, but without support from Ben's colleagues in uniform, she decides to investigate his disappearance with her limited resources. Amy has no idea that her husband has stumbled on a secret that could cost him his life. Will she locate Ben before it is too late?

Ulla Håkanson's Flight Across Waters is a beautifully crafted investigative mystery with a hint of romance. The characters are well-developed, and their origin stories flow smoothly so that the reader can understand each character's motivations. Flight Across Waters is the sequel to The Price Of Silence, but the impressive storytelling style makes it a compelling standalone offering. The characters' conversations are clear and direct. On the rare occasions when the author purposefully steers the discussion toward the increasingly technical aspects of police work, to appear as realistic as possible, the overall plot maintains the suspense the reader needs to stay engrossed. I particularly like how supposedly unrelated subplots intertwine seamlessly into one thrilling adventure. Amy's life-threatening altercation with Mark in the Sokalsky residence is an example of this. Mystery genre readers will enjoy figuring out the clues placed strategically throughout the novel. Flight Across Waters is an outstanding piece of work from a talented author.

Alma Boucher

In Flight Across Waters, an intriguing mystery by Ulla Håkanson, Ben Malik, a Vancouver police constable, took his new wife, Amy Robinson Malik, to Galiano Island for their honeymoon. While there, Ben and Amy witnessed a Cessna 172 crashing into the sea. The pilot was the rich Vancouver Police Department benefactor Eugene Sokalsky. Ben and Amy’s honeymoon was interrupted when his temporary boss, Koskinen, ordered him back to work. Sokalsky’s son, Mark, was working for gambling boss Luigi Alzaperi. During Ben’s investigation, he learned about Mark’s roles in his father’s death and Luigi’s gambling operation. Amy filed a missing person report after Ben did not return home and started looking into his disappearance independently. She discovered that a corrupt police officer had been following her, so she went off the grid while searching for Ben.

Flight Across Waters by Ulla Håkanson was so compelling that I was engrossed in the story from the beginning. The plot enabled me to become immersed in the mystery, offering a roller coaster ride of emotions such as fear, despair, and doubt. The story was jam-packed with action, and the tension kept me on the edge of my seat. I kept turning the pages as fast as possible! The twists and turns had me guessing until the very end. The story moved along quickly with never a dull moment. Each chapter presented new details and raised the stakes for Amy's investigation. I had chills down my spine reading this gripping mystery, which was masterfully crafted.

Rich Follett

In Flight Across Waters by Ulla Håkanson, Amy Malik and her husband Ben, a detective with the Vancouver Police Department, are in the middle of their honeymoon on a romantic island off the coast of Vancouver when they witness a plane crash over the water. They attempt to rescue the pilot, who is later determined to have died before the plane ever went down. When foul play is suspected, Ben is called back to work to investigate, thereby cutting the honeymoon short. Ben soon disappears under mysterious circumstances. Amy embarks on a tireless quest to locate him when the police investigation fails to produce timely results. Through all this intense action, Amy proves to be a true heroine, discovering skills and resilience that she never knew she had, driven by love to undertake the seemingly impossible task of saving her missing husband.

Flight Across Waters by Ulla Håkanson offers characters so real that they seem to pop up from the pages to speak, dialogue that is both imaginative and completely believable, and a masterful, thrilling plot chock-full of amazing and unexpected twists and reversals. What’s not to like? In a world where so many thrillers are testosterone-laden, it is a true pleasure to read a narrative featuring a strong, capable, and yet undeniably feminine protagonist. Amy’s journey is relatable, engaging, utterly believable, and truly inspiring. It should be noted that Flight Across Waters is a standalone sequel to Håkanson’s previous title The Price of Silence, so readers who will no doubt want more of her marvelous prose will find it easy to explore her prodigious gift for weaving a compelling tale. Flight Across Waters is a riveting, impeccably researched, and marvelously detailed thriller from a brilliant writer at the top of her game, worthy of being read even by those not usually drawn to the genre.

Emma Megan

Flight Across Waters is a gripping mystery novel by Ulla Håkanson. While enjoying their honeymoon, Ben Malik, a police detective, and his wife, Amy, see a plane crash into the sea nearby. Shortly after, Ben gets back to work to join the investigation into the plane crash, as it is believed it might have been suicide or murder. Soon, Ben discovers something that will make him and his wife the main targets of a group of corrupt gambling individuals. Mark Sokalsky thinks he can fool his wealthy father with his lies about why he once again needs money. His father has hired a private investigator to look into what he is doing with the money and has learned about Mark's involvement in a gambling business. To keep getting money from his father, Mark decides to find the PI report, get rid of it, and make sure his father will never change his will.

Flight Across Waters by Ulla Håkanson is a deeply suspenseful, action-packed mystery that makes you forget to breathe. It is carefully plotted and veers in unexpected directions. Full of fascinating and dangerous characters that enable you to get fully drawn into the story from the beginning, this outstanding sequel to The Price of Silence can be read as a standalone. It's very intense, about a second chance at life and the lengths a wife goes to protect her beloved husband, featuring perilous secrets, gambling, police corruption, and murder. This novel is for anyone interested in stories with strong female protagonists, mystery thrillers, and crime novels.