I chose not to find out more about Before the Fall before I started it. I had only a basic idea of the plot, but I had noted the fine reviews and recommendations. I was immediately caught up in the story, the characters, and the central mystery. After one chapter, I told my wife how impressed I was with the concept and the careful writing of the opening chapters. I found that I could not guess where the story was going, and I continued to be delighted with the twists and turns right up to the end of the book.

Before the Fall won the Edgar Award and the International Thriller Awards in 2017 and has been widely praised:

• “a readable page-turner”
• “riveting and mesmerizing”
• “compassionate…and insightful”
• “a gritty thriller”
• “interesting characters and their stories”

 

The story can be divided into three parts. The first chapters are suspenseful and absorbing. The mystery of the crash , the recovery of the wreckage, and the recovery of the survivors fills the middle part of the book. Themes of bravery, heroism and humanity permeate the narration, but without a sense of the cause of the crash, rumours and conjecture start to creep in, fuelled mainly by a Fox News-like anchorman. The characters face a media barrage that includes conspiracy theories, accusations, and unfounded inferences.

What caused the crash? Chapters provide details of the follow-up investigations, leaving the reader to decide the likely cause. The final chapters provide a satisfying resolution to the media attack, and a possible future for those who loss because of the incidents.

Life is made of these moments – of one’s physical being moving through space and time – and we string them together in a story, and that story becomes our life.

Everyone is from someplace. We all have stories, our loved unfolding along crooked lines, colliding in unexpected ways.

A top-notch book. Highly recommended.  4.8 out of 5.0 stars4.8

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