BEFORE THE FALL
Noah Hawley
Hachette
A private jet goes down in the sea on what should be a short and safe trip home.
Most of the dozen or so passengers and crew are killed, but one man - a middle-aged artist who's been struggling with his demons and finally seems to be back on his feet - survives, along with a little boy.
The question soon arises, given the backgrounds of those on board the plane, as to whether this was an accident, or something more sinister.
The rest of the story is a kind of whodunnit, with enough red herrings to last nearly 400 pages.
I mention the number of pages because Noah Hawley (Fargo creator) takes us into the histories of all the characters on board, in a way that frequently digresses from the prime mystery.
This sometimes undermines the tension, as does the author's unnecessary philosophising about his characters and the culture.
Nevertheless, Hawley writes well, and there's more than enough here to satisfy those who like a good mystery.
Mike Crowl is a Dunedin author, musician and composer.
Win a copy
The ODT has three copies of Before the Fall, by Noah Hawley, to give away courtesy of Hachette.
For your chance to win a copy, email helen.speirs@odt.co.nz with your name and postal address in the body of the email, and ‘‘Before the Fall Book Competition'' in the subject line, by 5pm on Tuesday, June 21.
LAST WEEK'S WINNERS
Winners of last week's giveaway, All the Birds in the Sky, by Charlie Jane Anders, courtesy of Newsouth Books, were: Sue Swan, Lynne Ryder, Robin Gauld and Bruce Scott, all of Dunedin, and Neil Callick, of Otematata.
