Before the Fall begins with a private plane crashing into the sea. Scott, our main character, and a little 4-year-old boy survive, only because Scott swims with him (with an injured shoulder) for miles and miles. It's truly a miracle.
The rest of Before the Fall introduces us to the other people on the plane who perished, as well as a news reporter and an NTSB investigator as we slowly piece together exactly what happened. Was it an accident? Murder? The families on the plane are extremely wealthy, and one person is about to be indicted. The media (one reporter in particular) go after anyone connected, and soon are targeting Scott, a struggling artist, as someone who might be responsible.
Each person is meticulously described, And, while I sometimes feel overly descriptive texts to be annoyingly slow, I just found myself grabbed by the descriptions of characters and settings. You get these people. You understand them. And I felt so sorry for Scott. He really is a nice, honest person. And he becomes a target of the media.
As a side note, I love the cover. I think it's perfect for this book. And the audio version, narrated by Robert Petkoff, is excellent.
I was worried that I wasn't going to be happy with the ending. After all the curiosity I had, I wanted to KNOW. Well, I now know. It's not that it mattered what happened, I wanted to know what happened and, more importantly, I wanted to know that Scott was going to be okay. I can enthusiastically recommend Before the Fall to adults, as well as teens who would appreciate this atmospheric story.
Published by Grand Central, 2016 (audio by Hachette)
Audiobook obtained from the library
400 pages
Rating: 5/5
5 stars from you and I am all over this book! Thank you!
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