Casey, Tom 1950-

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Casey, Tom 1950-

PERSONAL:

Born July 4, 1950, in New York, NY. Education: Attended college.

ADDRESSES:

Home—NY.

CAREER:

Writer and pilot. Has flown commercial airliners for American Airlines, c. 1978—. Military service: U.S. Air Force pilot, served in the Vietnam War.

WRITINGS:

Human Error (novel), St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1996.

Strangers' Gate (novel), Forge (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Tom Casey is a professional airline pilot and author. His first book, Human Error, revolves around an airplane crash that kills forty-five people and places pilot Hugo Price under investigation. At the same time, Price questions his role in the crash as he was under pressure from an impending divorce, which might have affected his judgment. The novel follows Price as he begins an affair with copilot Sarah McClure, after saving her from the wreckage. "Casey's charged description of the crash investigation illuminates the workings of commercial airlines and their inquiry boards," wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor. In an editorial in Monitor, Geoff Taylor wrote: "Tom Casey's novel Human Error is a good read, weaving into a romantic plot a serious discussion of some critical facets of safety."

Strangers' Gate tells the story of Jason Walker, a former dot-com executive who opts to become a charter airboat pilot in St. Croix. However, Walker's attempt to escape to an easier life is thwarted when his ex-lover Charlotte Lansing and her husband, Alan, an unscrupulous Wall Street banker turned drug dealer, show up on the island. Before long, Walker finds himself once again caught up with Charlotte and subsequently involved in a dangerous drug deal as he tries to help Charlotte escape from her fiendish husband. A Publishers Weekly contributor referred to Strangers' Gate as a "lyrical novel of love, violence and drug-fueled treachery." Writing on the Flying Magazine Web site, Les Abend noted: "The dialog is lively and introspective. It is a style that makes us wish we could converse with such instantaneous forethought."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Monitor (official publication of the Mining and Resource Contractors Safety Training Association), September, 2005, Geoff Taylor, "Editorial," discusses Human Error.

Publishers Weekly, October 21, 1996, review of Human Error, p. 70; April 17, 2006, review of Strangers' Gate, p. 167.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 20, 2006, John Marshall, review of Strangers' Gate.