Before the Fall
Ratings100
Average rating3.7
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 THE YEAR'S BEST SUSPENSE NOVELS" (NEW YORK TIMES). 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."
Reviews
Popular Reviews
Reviews with the most likes.
Loved the book, thought-provoking and genuine. Basically, private plane crashes shortly after take-off and 2 survive– a 40ish man and a 4 year old boy. Noah Hawley beautifully captured me from the first page with his prose and kept me reading by weaving stories of each of the victims with the struggle of the survivors in dealing with their own feelings AND the imposition of the outside world. What holds the story together is the bond that develops between the two survivors. Hawley writes about what we all face in our life: the paths we follow, the choices we make, the synchronicity of events, fate, and survival.
★★ out of 5 stars at spikegelato.com/2016/06/25/review-before-the-fall/
A private plane leaving Martha's Vineyard crashes under mysterious circumstances. The backstory of each passenger is chronicled, while also telling the story of the two survivors.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
For a novel generating a lot of summer buzz, this was a bit of a letdown. “THE thriller of the year” the description proclaims. In my eyes, I wouldn't even describe it as a thriller, but more of a plodding mystery novel. Providing such deep backstories on each plane passenger would've been a more compelling tool if hints or red herrings had been dropped about why each person might seek to crash the plane. Without this, the time spent on the backstories seems wasted, especially once you find out the true reason for the plane crash. All of this is sandwiched between Hawley's attempt at telling a deeper story about the pitfalls of the 24-hour news cycle and why wild public speculation can be counterproductive. In a way, it accomplished that, but it did so at the expense of weaving a compelling mystery tale.
