Jaclyn’s Review: Before the Fall by Noah Hawley

Before the Fall
written by Noah Hawley
published by Grand Central Publishing, 2016

find it here: (affiliate links) Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo, Target, Book Depository, Goodreads

Did I enjoy this book? This book started out promising–a bunch of shady characters get on a private plane and it mysteriously crashes (all in the first chapter!). The rest of the book is told through alternating chapters of current events (trying to figure out what went wrong) and events leading up to flight (how did these people end up on this plane and what is their backstory). Every chapter unveiled a little more information, and unfortunately, every chapter made the story a little worse. The characters were each independently interesting, but adding them together became too predictable and the ending was very unsatisfying. As the book moves along, you can absolutely tell that the author is actually a screenwriter and the book has already been optioned for a movie. Perhaps it will make an entertaining movie, but the book fell flat.

Would I recommend it? I can’t lie, I couldn’t put this one down because I really wanted to know why the plane crashed. For that reason, as well as the originality of the story, I gave this 2 stars. If you want a book you can’t put down, go ahead and read this one. Overall, I struggle to recommend this book because the ending was so very predictable and boring. I think it could have been done better.
 

 

About the book – from Goodreads: From the Emmy, PEN, Peabody, Critics’ Choice, and Golden Globe Award-winning creator of the TV show Fargo comes the thriller of the year.

On a foggy summer night, 11 people – 10 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.

 

 

 

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** This post first appeared on Every Free Chance Books (everyfreechance.com) on March 9, 2020.