Hawley, Noah. Before the Fall. New York: Hatchette 2016. Print.
First Sentences:
Description:
Vendela, Vida. The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty.
A private plane sits on a runway in Martha's Vineyard, forward stairs deployed.
Description:
Maybe you still need a solid summer read for the upcoming chilly fall months. If so, I can recommend Noah Hawley's novel, Before the Fall, a quick, absorbing read about a mysterious plane crash and the passengers aboard. Hawley is a television writer and producer who created, among other shows, the devilishly-intricate and dark Fargo series
In the opening pages the small private plane loads up with two families who know each other through business, their children, a stranger invited at the last minute, and the crew. Moments later the plane and all passengers plummet into the sea. Only one adult and one child survive the crash in the huge ocean. [Not really a spoiler alert since the crash happens in the opening pages]. The adult becomes a reluctant international hero, but the child refuses to speak to anyone except his rescuer. Do either of them know anything about the crash or the other passengers that might explain the deaths of nine people?
The rest of the book examines each person on board the fated plane. Who are they? What are their individual lives like? Are any under some sort of pressure that might make them want to harm others aboard? Or maybe the crash was simply no one's fault, just an accident, a doomed plane fated to fall to pieces.
As in any great mystery story, each adult seems a likely suspect. Reader suspicions jump from character to character as motivations and lifestyles unfold. But it is not until the final pages that the mystery is finally solved.
It's a page-turning read, an engaging mystery full of interesting characters with secrets that culminate in the plane crash. Exactly the type of book to plop yourself down in a favorite chair and wile away some hours with a mug of something hot on a cold, cloudy winter afternoon.
In the opening pages the small private plane loads up with two families who know each other through business, their children, a stranger invited at the last minute, and the crew. Moments later the plane and all passengers plummet into the sea. Only one adult and one child survive the crash in the huge ocean. [Not really a spoiler alert since the crash happens in the opening pages]. The adult becomes a reluctant international hero, but the child refuses to speak to anyone except his rescuer. Do either of them know anything about the crash or the other passengers that might explain the deaths of nine people?
The rest of the book examines each person on board the fated plane. Who are they? What are their individual lives like? Are any under some sort of pressure that might make them want to harm others aboard? Or maybe the crash was simply no one's fault, just an accident, a doomed plane fated to fall to pieces.
As in any great mystery story, each adult seems a likely suspect. Reader suspicions jump from character to character as motivations and lifestyles unfold. But it is not until the final pages that the mystery is finally solved.
It's a page-turning read, an engaging mystery full of interesting characters with secrets that culminate in the plane crash. Exactly the type of book to plop yourself down in a favorite chair and wile away some hours with a mug of something hot on a cold, cloudy winter afternoon.
Happy reading.
Fred
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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:
Vendela, Vida. The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty.
A woman traveling in the Middle East assumes the identity of another person via a found backpack she claims as her own. (previously reviewed here)
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