Point of View

The narrative is told from the first-person point of view of the protagonist John Corey, although the story also contains omniscient narrative in the first chapter, when Bud and Jill videotape the crash. The story also offers another omniscient perspective to the reader, in that the reader already know exactly what happened at the World Trade Center on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, but John and the other characters clearly do not. This builds classical suspense. The reader is drawn into trying to figure out exactly when John and the others will arrive at the North Tower on the morning of September 11, 2001, and whether they will be in the Windows on the World restaurant when the first plane hits.

Setting

The story is set in Manhattan, where John Corey and Kate Mayfield live and work at FBI headquarters. The setting also extends to nearby Long Island...