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Before the Fall: The year's best suspense novel Paperback – May 31, 2016
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- Print length390 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHodder & Stoughton Ltd
- Publication dateMay 31, 2016
- Dimensions6.02 x 1.18 x 9.17 inches
- ISBN-101444779761
- ISBN-13978-1444779769
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Product details
- Publisher : Hodder & Stoughton Ltd (May 31, 2016)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 390 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1444779761
- ISBN-13 : 978-1444779769
- Item Weight : 1.15 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.02 x 1.18 x 9.17 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #4,504,151 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Visit his website www.noahhawley.com and follow him on Twitter @noahhawley and Facebook facebook.com/noahhawley1
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The story: a rich family summering on Martha’s Vineyard charters a private jet to fly them to Teterboro. They are accompanied by a member of their security detail and they invite another rich couple and an artist with business to conduct in Manhattan to join them. The artist is poor compared with the mega-rich others. The plane crashes and the artist (Scott Burroughs) survives, along with the 4 year-old son of the charterers. Scott swims to Montauk in the dark in what may be shark-infested waters and saves the little boy, JJ. The novel then principally consists of the back stories of the people who drowned and about 40% of the way into the novel we begin to realize that the crash may not have been an accident. The other rich invitee aboard the plane was about to be arrested for money laundering. The charterer runs a conservative television network and may have been targeted for political reasons. His head of security is an Israeli with a complex, bloody past. The co-pilot has had some sort of relationship difficulty with the flight attendant, and so on. Hence the mystery elements—what really happened? Why did the plane crash? And the thriller element—if this was a revenge or terrorist (or some other form of) plot and the son and painter survived, perhaps they will be targeted again (except that there is no plausible reason to expect so, since the painter was invited aboard at the last minute and no long-term planner would have been expecting him to be there).
There are several related plots. JJ’s aunt, who will serve as his parent now, is married to a troubled, addled writer/cook; they disagree on the uses of the considerable inheritance that the aunt will manage. The charterer’s television network includes one host who has stepped over the line and wiretapped prominent individuals. While he draws huge ratings he is a loose cannon. (Perhaps he engineered the crash, since the network chief was leaning on him?) Toward the end of the book the aunt’s husband agrees to go on the loose cannon’s show, with possible fireworks to follow. Interestingly, the loose cannon’s name is Bill Cunningham; one wonders if the conservative Cincinnati talk show host, Bill Cunningham, is offended by this.
The writing is wonderful and the book examines the psychological and philosophic aspects of all of these actions, results and circumstances in depth. The artist, e.g., has recently produced some large paintings of individuals caught in unanticipated scenes of destruction. One, for example, is a portrait of a woman on a farm who does not see the tornado in the background which is coming for her. This all sparks the interests of the FBI, but the painter himself is much more fixated on the meaning of life and the manner in which violence intrudes, unexpectedly. He broods about such things, even as a mega-rich gallery owner/heiress attempts to charm him sexually. The aunt broods over questions of justice and whether or not all of the inheritance should be preserved for JJ, while she and her husband continue to live austerely.
Bottom line: the entire ‘feel’ of the book is philosophic and the mystery/suspense elements are secondary or even tertiary. The book seizes your attention and will take you into the late hours, reading, but prospective readers should be aware that this is not a conventional mystery story. It is, however, a very fine novel.
P.S. For admirers of the author’s wonderful series, FARGO, this book has nothing in common with the series, neither in the nature of the characters, plots and themes, nor in the narrative ‘ethos’.
When the author is performing at his best, he does a great job of interpersonal relationships, and particularly failed relationships. The characters (mostly) seemed very real and their stories rang true. It really made me take a break and appreciate the good people in my life. The lead character seemed realistic, neither heroic nor fatally flawed. And I liked the sudden switches of perspective between characters' stories.
But there are two huge problems with the book. First, while the author did a decent job on most of his research, the book had some glaring errors that should have been caught by an editor. Amtrak trains with cabooses? Sometimes I think the author had just smoked a few and was coasting to his next relationship insight.
And then there was the ending. Hey, it's a thriller, I can't give anything away. But the book would have been far better if the last two chapters had just been ripped out and thrown away. I'd rather have a Soprano's cut to black than have to wonder why the author couldn't some up with something more interesting. I really tried to see some depth in it, some hidden meaning of meaninglessness that I just didn't get. But it wasn't there. The author just didn't give a damn about delivering a real thriller, after my investment of three evenings and $15.
The book isn't a waste of time. It has some really good relationships that will stick with me for a while. But if this were a movie, I'd say wait for Netflix.
Top reviews from other countries
Scott almost misses his ‘lift’ when the taxi fails to collect him, but he actually gets there in the nick of time. The jet is luxurious and the short flight is soon ready for takeoff. The two men are watching the game on TV, the daughter of the Bateman’s is listening to her music on her headphones, the toddler JJ is asleep with his mother looking over him, so Scott lifts his pencil to do a sketch of the scene. Minutes later there is banging and screams as the jet suddenly plunges downwards into the sea below, and only Scott and JJ bob up out of the sea after they ditch. Scott reassures JJ that they will be able to make it to the shoreline and he starts to swims miles through the dark night, hampered by the debilitating injury to one shoulder, with JJ holding tight and shivering on his back They eventually see and make for the beach as daylight has broken, exhausted but mightily relieved. They are rescued and taken to a nearby hospital. Then the furore begins.
Scott’s life is changed forever in a blink of an eye. The investigation quickly gathers pace and he is hailed a hero, but as time goes by questions are raised about why he was a passenger on the private flight. He cannot believe he is under suspicion. He is forced to abandon his home and leave his dog with a neighbour. His artwork is seized and everywhere he goes he is recognised. It is like a nightmare that has become true. Painstakingly the search for bodies goes on and everyone on the jet comes under scrutiny. One by one the eight passengers and three crew members are scrutinised to determine how and why the jet ditched – whether it was an accident, a terrorist attack, and act of revenge; the questions go on and on. Scott cannot help but feel disappointed and frustrated.
‘Before the Fall’ is a scintillating crime thriller full of tension and mystery. The story is fast paced with well crafted characters, each with their own personal story under investigation. Suspicions bubble and simmer as one by one each person on the fated flight is eliminated from the investigation. Wreckage and bodies are brought up from the sea bed or washed ashore as the waters become turbulent under the threat of storms; each discovery adding to the story of the plane that fell from the sky until at last the grisly realisation of what happened is revealed. I enjoyed this novel and would like to thank NetGalley and publisher Hodder & Stoughton for my copy, sent out to me in return for an honest review. This is a really good read within the genre, but I would have liked the ending to have been expanded for perhaps another chapter or two - or perhaps an epilogue added - so that my last questions about the story were answered. Nevertheless, my congratulations go to Noah Hawley and his publisher for a sterling and thought provoking thriller.