Review: Before the Fall

Before the Fall by Noah Hawley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A tragic plane crash. A man and a young boy the only survivors. In Before the Fall by Noah Hawley, the mystery isn't so much why those two survived, but what seemingly random events in the lives of two families, a private jet flight crew, and a single, mostly unknown artist, led to the point where a plane crashes in the ocean.

The book switches between the present just after the flight crashes with the immediate aftermath of the investigation and the back stories of all the major players of the novel. While much of the background seems to have nothing to do with the main plot of the novel, the author is meticulous in providing this background, leaving the question in the reader's mind, “Could it be this person that caused the crash?” While in the present moment, most of the investigation through the NTSB and FBI, as well as in the media, are centered around the artist—the only adult survivor of the crash.

This is one of those books that leaves you guessing right up until the end—you don't know who really is to blame for the crash or the motivation behind it until then because everyone seems to have something that could have been a factor. It's definitely a book you want to start on a weekend if you want to have a few hours of uninterrupted entertainment.

*Received a copy of this book through NetGalley

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