Before the Fall

★★ 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.