🪂 Book Review: The Skydivers by Chris Bohjalian (Kindle Edition, Alibis Collection)
A taut, emotionally charged short thriller that explores family loyalty, betrayal, and the deadly consequences of unresolved tension—Chris Bohjalian delivers a compact but powerful story that dives deep into the human psyche.
🧠 Overview
Published in June 2025 as part of Amazon Original Stories’ Alibis Collection, The Skydivers is a 49-page short story by Chris Bohjalian, the bestselling author of The Flight Attendant and Hour of the Witch. The plot centers on two estranged brothers, Pete and Leo Hamilton, who inherit their late father’s sprawling dairy farm in Vermont. Pete, a struggling musician, wants to preserve the land. Leo, a successful aerospace engineer, wants to sell.
Despite their differences, the brothers agree to one final tribute: skydiving over the fields to scatter their father’s ashes. But what begins as a symbolic gesture quickly spirals into a dark and deadly confrontation—one that only a single, unexpected eyewitness can truly understand.
🔍 Key Themes & Highlights
- 🧬 Sibling rivalry: The tension between Pete and Leo is palpable, rooted in years of resentment and contrasting values
- 🪂 Symbolic skydiving: The act of scattering ashes from the sky becomes a metaphor for release, reckoning, and risk
- 🧠 Moral ambiguity: Bohjalian explores how grief and greed can twist even the most heartfelt intentions
- 👁️ Unreliable perception: A mysterious witness adds a layer of suspense and uncertainty to the narrative
“All the embattled brothers can agree on is to skydive over the fields and sprinkle their father’s ashes—a grand gesture the old man would have loved. But when the plan goes terribly wrong, only one unexpected eyewitness can see what’s really going on.”
💬 Reader Reception
- ⭐ Goodreads rating: 3.01/5 from over 7,500 ratings
- 📖 Readers appreciate the story’s emotional depth, tight pacing, and unexpected twist
- 🧾 Some felt the ending was abrupt or ambiguous, but many praised Bohjalian’s ability to pack tension into a short format
- 💬 “A masterclass in compact storytelling. Bohjalian proves you don’t need 300 pages to deliver a gut punch.” — Reader comment
⚠️ Considerations
- 📄 Short format: At 49 pages, it’s a quick read—best approached as a character-driven vignette
- 📚 Part of a collection: One of several stories in the Alibis Collection, each exploring deception, truth, and what people can get away with
- 🧠 Dark tone: Includes themes of death, betrayal, and moral compromise—recommended for mature readers
🏁 Final Verdict
The Skydivers is a lean, emotionally resonant thriller that showcases Chris Bohjalian’s talent for crafting suspenseful, character-driven narratives. With its blend of family drama, symbolic action, and a chilling twist, this Kindle edition is a compelling pick for fans of psychological suspense and literary short fiction.
