Before the Fall
By Noah Hawley
- Release Date: 2016-05-31
- Genre: Mysteries & Thrillers
Description
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 the painter Scott Burroughs and a four-year-old boy, who is now the last remaining member of an immensely wealthy and powerful media mogul's family.
Was it by chance that so many influential people perished? Or was something more sinister at work? A storm of media attention brings Scott fame that quickly morphs into notoriety and accusations, and he scrambles to salvage truth from the wreckage. Amid trauma and chaos, the fragile relationship between Scott and the young boy grows and glows at the heart of this stunning novel, raising questions of fate, morality, and the inextricable ties that bind us together.
Kristin Hannah raves, "Noah Hawley really knows how to keep a reader turning the pages... a complex, compulsively readable thrill ride of a novel."
Winner of the 2017 Edgar Award for Best Novel and the 2017 International Thriller Writers Award For Best Novel
From the Award-Winning Creator of Fargo Comes "One of the Year's Best Suspense Novels" (New York Times).
Reviews
Before the fall
2By zinger 13Overwrought. Story line was not well developed.Ended Too Soon
4By AlabamI loved the twist, turns, and thrills. But the story ended with a lot of loose ends the reader deserved to see tied up. Of course we can assume what the future holds but a little justice would have been nice to see.Fun Read
5By avid reader232323Hard to stop reading…compelling plot that mixes enough real life events into the story to make it seemed real. So glad that the hero continues to be hero as new challenges are put in front of him.An incredible read
5By Birdgirl2016I have never read a book by this author, but Noah Hawley’s writing had me mesmerized. Yes, it’s a “who-done-it,” along with a “how” and “why” but it’s also a fascinating exploration of how different people react to heroism and jealousy. I can’t wait to read another book by Hawley.Simply BORING AND TRITE
1By ListeningLegallyMisogynistic and anti conservative. Flash backs merely used because the author could not tie characters to the plot. Pure rubbish. Forced myself to finish it but will never read another piece written by this unimaginative author who needs to pluck his stories from true tragedies.Wasted time
1By XMCUToo long-winded, boring actually.Good storyline
3By rhsforestIt was a compelling story but the writer is at times hard to follow. His characters all spoke in fragmented thoughts and sentences. ALL the time. It became a distraction for me.Hated it…..
1By Moscow MissyMade it all the way to the end and thought “what”?? Why did I waste my time? I really hated this book. Unrealistic characters and the main character is not likeable. Story lines that didn’t make sense. A jummble of unrealistic plots that end with a thud. Don’t waste your time.Nice Read
3By SdfrdeghfrjedI would’ve given 5 stars if the ending was better. It just kinda ended. Great character development!Zzzzz
1By RaftbumWorst book I’ve ever read. Extremely weak storyline, too many useless words, details, and descriptions of characters that were not relevant to the story. Terrible ending. I FORCED myself to finish the book simply to finish the book.Great Book!
5By FluffysebIntense, suspenseful, creative, satisfying thriller. Couldn’t put it down!Before The Fall
1By sameyeam14This was a book in the book club I belong to. I read it for that. I didn’t enjoy it at all! Way too many words and not enough substance. It took forever to find out what was going on.Couldn’t put it down
5By MjoypickGot this recommendation from the ladies of My Favorite Murder podcast. They were right- page turner, phenomenal writing and interesting story line that makes you think about life and the sequence of events. The ending was a twist and I was a little let down, however, I ended satisfied and glad the mystery was solved!Juvenile and anticlimactic
1By Ssaarraahh2277I have to think that the positive reviews for this book were mostly paid or in exchange for a free product. It really is that bad. The author clearly represents himself through the main character, who has little to no impact on the plot in the end. He just rambles through the story aimlessly, becoming increasingly more unlikable until you really can’t stand to hear what he has to say anymore. After finally deciding to give up and just skim my way through the last 50 pages or so, I have to laugh because the ending has nothing to do with the buildup, but at the same time, it’s also not a twist or a surprise. In that, the book is truly original. I feel like I’ve just read someone’s journal of miscellaneous, unedited ponderings and high school-level “story” ideas. I’m not usually so mean, but I feel insulted that I was lead to believe this would be a good read and wasted my money and time on it, and that apparently ratings can’t be trusted at all anymore.Generally good, but begged for a seasoned copy editor.
4By InvictusRoseMany annoying and distracting errors that should have been caught in the editing process. i.e. A funeral takes place in a Jewish cemetery (Mount Zion), complete with a rabbi presiding, as the reader is instructed to notice the many statues of the Madonna, as well as a large Friar wielding a cross, all occupying the same space. Just a lot of small errors of characters contradicting themselves or behaving in ways that seemed arbitrary. I found myself paging back too many times to see if I might have misread, only to find otherwise. Other times I felt, as many others have noted, that the author fell in love with the sound of own voice (metaphorically speaking), writing ponderous descriptions of relatively minor subjects or scenes. This is a very good book. It could have easily have been a great one.Loved it, read it
5By Cool applesI recognized the strong writing in this book immediately. From the very first page you're pulled into this cast of characters who just live in your brain until its end. I specifically liked how we were introduced to the catastrophic event before we knew the characters. Most writers would have adopted the opposite flow but because Hawley's choice in my opinion really made the book more interesting. I never guessed "who did it" even though there were a limited amount of characters to choose from. I now want to read all of Noah Hawley's novels. Thank you for the entertainment Mr. Hawley!Do Not Waste Your Time
1By S in AustinRead all the bad reviews. They describe it quite well. Wordy, superficial, slow and unbelieveable. Unfortunately, I did not read them before I bought it.Before The Fall
1By Sawdustmaker100Not what you I've come to expect from an Edgar winner. It lacked originality, suspense, and plot twists. Disappointed.Strong start, then dies a slow boring death...
2By Longhorn5555Enjoyed the beginning fine, but the middle was absolutely mind numbingly boring... chapter after chapter of irrelevant insight, background and musings with as much appeal as reading the phone book... maybe it finishes with a bang, but I'll never know, because I simply couldn't finish it... and, importantly, I couldnt care less... because the characters were boring.
