A plane falls out of the sky. A woman is murdered. Four people all have something to hide.
Jim is a retired police officer, and worried father. His beloved daughter has disappeared and he knows something is wrong.
Tom has woken up to discover that his wife was on the plane and must break the news to their only son.
Cecilia had packed up and left her family. Now she has survived a tragedy, and sees no way out.
Freya is struggling to cope with the loss of her father. But as she delves into his past, she may not like what she finds.
'Before the plane crash, after the plane crash, such a short amount of time for the world to turn on its head...'
I remember seeing this book a few months ago and mentally adding it to my TBR, but it was only when I was asked to be part of the blog tour that I eventually received a copy and got round to reading it. I finished it asking myself why I hadn't read it sooner. It is an incredibly addictive read from the start, and deserves all the praise that some of my favourite bloggers, whose opinions I really trust, have given it. I'm extremely excited to read more from Emma, she is definitely an author to watch who is destined for great things. This book is a hard one to review really, reading books from this genre works best when you know very little about the plot. So read the blurb, as nothing is being given away here!
The book opens with a plane crash and a murder. I'm not afraid of flying, except when I went to Malta and had a bit of an iffy experience, the rest of the time I'm that person telling you why you have to adopt the brace position if the plane is about to crash. That said the opening to this book is quite scary and very atmospheric, those who do have a fear of flying might never get over it if they read this book, but don't let that put you off! It's one of the more haunting openings to a book I've read in a while, and is one that stays with you throughout the course of the novel.
I'm not crazy about books written from different perspectives, here we get a few alternating points of view which in the beginning was a little bit confusing but which soon had me hooked and thinking that it was a really clever way to tell a story. Falling is one of those books where you really need to pay attention to what you are reading. Something you read might not become relevant until later in the novel so you really have to take in what you are reading.
The characters are all very well created, not likeable all of the time but all of them believable and realistic, making this a very human story with characters most readers will be able to relate to in one way or another. My emotions were played with many times over the course of the novel, and some of the events and revelations left me reeling. The characters all feel real, which allows me as a reader to feel more of an emotional connection to them, as I can imagine them existing. Falling is one of those books that you will think about long after you've finished reading it and if like me you read 200 plus books a year, it's one that will stick out vividly in your mind more than the others.
It's no surprise then that this books comes highly reccommended by me. I will say though do not start reading this book unless you have a clear schedule, you will get nothing done and you will end up hating the person or thing that makes you have to stop reading. A very impressive debut and I'm so excited to see what Emma writes next.
Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
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