It is a beautiful night, balmy breeze, cool waters of the Atlantic, a starlit sky with occasional clouds. The only problem is you are barely afloat with a burning debris around you. There is no rescue, you don’t know how far you are from a coast and you can’t find any of your fellow passengers around. This terrible accident is at the center of Before the Fall by Noah Hawley.
Before the Fall
Author: Noah Hawley
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1 edition (May 31, 2016)
ISBN-10: 1455561789, 978-1455561780
Scott has hitched a last minute ride on a private jet to the mainland from Martha’s Vineyard. He has a slew of meetings lined up with gallery owners, which may give him the break he has been looking for so long. Now, he is fighting for his life.
Noah Hawley builds an interesting mystery as he moves from a tale of heroic survival to a baffling mystery. With no debris available or no last minute May Day calls, the final moments in the private jet from Martha’s Vineyard are puzzle that agencies are desperate to solve.
The passengers are no ordinary citizens. A media baron and one of the Wall Street wealthiest ensure that the agencies are kept on their toes by the powers in D.C. After the shock of tragedy subsides, theories and questions plague Scott – the Hero of the hour. Why was he- an nobody painter – on the flight with the country’s privileged?
Noah Hawley floats many plausible theories and keeps the reader interested till the end. He begins with a bang and weaves in his characters’ stories as the investigation progresses to keep the readers invested in the book. While this to and fro works for the most part, the back stories feel like a drag toward the end of the book. All the interest that the author builds is lost during the back story and I found myself skipping pages of character back stories as the end neared.
However, Before the Fall is a thriller and the author will keep you guessing till the end. The author also takes a jab at the current state of media and its endless hunger to keep the viewers thrilled and stretch the facts as much as they can. His characters are likable and also evoke dislike where needed. You root for the protagonist even when you know there might be more to his presence on the plane.
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