(Book review)

“Life is a series of decisions and reactions. It is the things you do and the things that are done to you.
And then it’s over.”

‘Before The Fall’ is a thriller novel written by American writer Noah Howley in 2016.

It follows a story of a private jet that takes off from Martha’s Vineyard on a foggy August night and right after 15 minutes of flying plunges into the ocean. Out of 11 people on board, the only survivors are Scott Burroughs — the painter — and a four-year-old boy who becomes the only heir of a wealth that his father possessed.

The investigators think that is a very sad accident but what if it`s not? As they proceed, they discover different things about people on board and not all of them are things the deceased wanted the world to know about.

“We all become caricatures of ourselves, if we live long enough.”

I didnt enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. I bought in on sale so I dont really regret reading it. Still I cant tell you the exact reason why I dislike it but while reading I figured that there were a lot of unnecessary details and flustering flashbacks and startling stuff. Sometimes I felt bored and couldnt chase the idea the author was trying to develop. The main characters were well written, yet I was a bit disappointed in the characters of investigators. I didn`t manage to figure out the spheres of responsibility of some of them. It felt like the author himself got trapped in the understanding which department of transport took care of situations involving plane crashes. And the biggest disappointment was the finale. I thought of something big and shocking but it turned out to be neither big, nor shocking. Yet, now I think that most spine-chilling situations are caused by the stupidest mistakes.

However, I loved the interaction between Scott and the boy. While reading the part where they finally got to the shore and headed to a hospital I was amused by Scott`s ability to calm the boy down and to act naturally even though their worlds just fell apart. And there were some quotes I find incredible. “…people can say all kinds of things without ever opening their mouths…”or “Life is made of these moments — of one’s physical being moving through time and space — and we string them together into a story, and that story becomes our life.”

To sum up, I can say that ‘Before the fall’ is an average thriller and if you dont read it you wont miss anything.

I give it 5/10.