Katherine 'Casey' Singleton

Casey Singleton is a divorced mother of a six-year-old daughter. Casey shares custody of her daughter with her unemployed ex-husband, a man who goes out of his way to cause tension in Casey's relationship with her daughter. Casey is also the head of quality control for a major airframe manufacturer, Norton Aircraft. As head of quality control, Casey is a member of a select group of engineers and investigators who are charged with learning the cause of malfunctions and/or accident involving Norton Aircraft. On the morning the book opens, Casey has just sent her daughter to stay the week with her ex-husband when she gets a message that she is needed in the office immediately. It seems one of Norton's airframes has been involved in an accident that has claimed three lives and injured dozens of passengers.

Casey rushes to the office and sits in...