My Blog List

Monday, February 22, 2016

Before the Fall by Noah Hawley




The book was a bit eerie as it brought back rather terrifying memories of Germanwings and the utter randomness of the crash. It also brings very much to light that however rich you are, you cannot provide for all eventualities and some things are very much your fate.

Six rich people, and one unemployed painter along with a very knowledgeable crew depart for a very short flight to Martha's Vineyard. The invitation for three of them was random and offered by Maggie as she felt that the private jet was flying with just four of them and why not offer a free ride to those who also wish to go there. Maggie was simple and straight forward and offered this out of the goodness of her heart.

The crash and the subsequent story is looked at from several points of view. The media is in a frenzy as one of the people on the flight was to be arrested the next day and did this point out to some attack by someone who wanted to silence him. On the other side David Bateman was a millionaire several times over and did someone try to silence him. The media company that David runs seems to think that the unemployed painter's presence was very suspicious and goes all out to paint him as the villain and there is the terrorist angle to think of as well.

The twists and turns in this thriller are just that. You literally have to turn the page to know what is going to happen next and the outcome is strange - for me it was an anti climax and so fantastic, that it of course was absolutely believable.

The power of the mind, the psyche and how we think and the unfortunate invitation to people out of the blue changed the lives of so many forever. Wrong place at the wrong time.

Going back in time, tracing history of each and every person on the flight, unravelling personal and family secrets, exposing all to the media to the FBI, to the NTSB - nothing is sacred to an investigation of this kind.

This was a marvelous read.

Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Grand Central Publishing. 

6 comments:

  1. I hadn't heard of this. Thanks! It sounds very good.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This sounds very interesting! Will have o look for it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hmm sounds interesting, a little like the one I read recently on another flight disaster. Glad you enjoyed it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This sounds good - I like a book told from multiple viewpoints - I recently read Falling by Emma Kavanagh which had a similar premise and was an exceptionally good read.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This sounds fantastic. I'll have to make sure I order a copy for my library. Great review!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ooh! This looks exactly like what I need right now! Thanks for the recommendation!

    ReplyDelete