Before the Fall
Fiction
Grand Central Publishing
May 31, 2016
Hardcover
400
Publisher
On a foggy summer night, eleven people—ten privileged, one down-on-his-luck painter—depart Martha's Vineyard on a private jet headed for New York. Sixteen minutes later, the unthinkable happens: the plane plunges into the ocean. The only survivors are Scott Burroughs—the painter—and a four-year-old boy, who is now the last remaining member of an immensely wealthy and powerful media mogul's family.
With chapters weaving between the aftermath of the crash and the backstories of the passengers and crew members—including a Wall Street titan and his wife, a Texan-born party boy just in from London, a young woman questioning her path in life, and a career pilot—the mystery surrounding the tragedy heightens. As the passengers' intrigues unravel, odd coincidences point to a conspiracy. Was it merely by dumb chance that so many influential people perished? Or was something far more sinister at work? Events soon threaten to spiral out of control in an escalating storm of media outrage and accusations. And while Scott struggles to cope with fame that borders on notoriety, the authorities scramble to salvage the truth from the wreckage.
Amid pulse-quickening suspense, the fragile relationship between Scott and the young boy glows at the heart of this stunning novel, raising questions of fate, human nature, and the inextricable ties that bind us together.
My review:
Great premise and plot for a book! I was hooked from the beginning as we follow the story from just before take-off to the crash and subsequent rescue of the only remaining survivors. It was well written, it was suspenseful, it had me turning pages to find out what would happen. I was completely absorbed in the story, but then about halfway through, it lost my interest. It wasn't so terrible that I didn't want to finish, but I was a bit let down when the intensity fell away. I think I would have liked more interaction between the two survivors instead of the parts where we learn about their lives separately. I also did not enjoy the flashbacks to the victims on the plane. There was not enough information for me to really care about them, and I think enough about the cause of the crash could still have been gleaned from the recovered plane. I would have preferred to have more story about them, or none at all. The ending was satisfying enough although perhaps wrapped up a bit quickly.
All in all this is worth the read. The first half is wonderful, the ending is satisfying, the middle is a bit weak, but not enough to not recommend it.
This book is one of the She Reads books of summer. Visit this link to find out more about their picks. Thanks to the publisher for sending me this book to review. As always, my opinions are my own.
Interesting, this is the one I didn't pick out of the three as I am not much into thrillers. A pity it lost some intensity for you because really it needs to build not lessen!
I think maybe it was partly my problem in that I wasn't invested in the back stories of the various people, and that was the part that slowed down for me.
I'd heard about this book and was definitely intrigued but wondered how the reading experience was. That's too bad it lost the intensity halfway through but very good that it did keep you reading. I definitely want to read this but I'll be prepared for the weaker middle.
I've read lots of glowing reviews from others, so maybe it was just me. Hopefully your experience will be positive all the way through.
I just got my copy of this one in the mail the other day from my subscription package. I'm sorry to hear that about the middle but if it can grab me in the beginning, then I can trudge through the middle.
I really loved the beginning. Maybe it was my fault that I expected the intensity to stay the same throughout.