Summary

Chapter 1 opens with the protagonist, Henry Perowne, waking up in his bedroom on the morning of Saturday, February 15, 2003. Henry is an English neurosurgeon living in London. His wife, Rosalind, is still asleep in the bed. Henry walks to his bedroom balcony and looks down at the street below. He briefly thinks about his daughter, Daisy, who is in her twenties and loves to read and write. Henry has the day off from work, and he briefly reflects on his work from the previous day. He performed several surgical procedures, including the removal of a tumor from a 14-year-old, Nigerian-born girl named Andrea Chapman. While on the balcony, Henry sees something moving through the sky. At first, he thinks it is a comet or a meteorite. However, it soon becomes clear that it is an airplane. Part of the airplane is on fire, and the...