Before the Fall - Hardcover

[A] Literary thriller of genius. -- India Knight Hawley combines a thriller's tight structure and addictive narrative with characterisation and thematic richness reminiscent of Jonathan Franzen * The Sunday Times, Pick of the Paperbacks * A searingly told, multi-layered portrait of celebrity in the modern world with a tantalising mystery at its heart...Hawley's sublime prose glows on every page in this literary thriller of the highest quality, which never loses its grip. * Daily Mail * An addictive thriller whose thematic richness is reminiscent of Franzen. * The Sunday Times * Before the Fall is an astonishing, character-driven tour-de-force. The story is a multi-layered, immersive examination of truth, relationships, and our unquenchable thirst for the media's immediate explanation of unfathomable tragedy. -- Karin Slaughter There are some books...that stay with you long after you've read them. The characters are so real and because of this their fates matter. Before The Fall by Noah Hawley is one of these books. * Irish Independent * I started and finished Before the Fall in one day. That begins to tell you what kind of smart, compellingly dramatic read it is. So read it. -- James Patterson This is one of the year's best suspense novels, a mesmerizing, surprise-jammed mystery that works purely on its own, character-driven terms...Mr. Hawley has made it very, very easy to race through his book in a state of breathless suspense. * New York Times * As a pacey whodunit...this is the perfect summer read. * The Times * High-class entertainment. -- John Williams * Mail on Sunday *

Sunday Times top thriller read of the year 2016 The rich are different. But fate is blind. Down-on-his-luck artist Scott Burroughs would usually take the ferry back to New York from Martha's Vineyard, but he is unexpectedly offered a spare seat on the Bateman family's private jet. Then just minutes after take-off, the plane crashes into the ocean and of the eight passengers and three crew, only Scott and the Batemans' small son, JJ, are left alive. The extraordinary nature of their survival, combined with the fact that David Bateman was CEO of a populist TV news channel, means that Scott will not be returning to anonymity. Along with the orphaned boy, he is engulfed by a maelstrom of speculation, which soon overtakes the official investigation into the tragedy. Who else was on the plane? Was there a bomb, a missile? Who is Scott Burroughs? As the chapters drive towards their heart-stopping conclusion, weaving with ever-increasing suspense between the shocking aftermath of the crash and the intimate backstory of each of the passengers and crew members, Noah Hawley creates a searching, thrilling novel of love, fame, wealth, art, entertainment and power.