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Loading... Before the Fall (original 2016; edition 2016)by Noah Hawley (Author)
Work InformationBefore the Fall by Noah Hawley (Author) (2016)
  
No current Talk conversations about this book.   ) cspiwak | Mar 6, 2024 |  Media: Audio Read by:Robert Petkoff Length: `13 hours A private jet takes off from Martha’s Vineyard with a bunch of rich passengers on boards. Also along for the ride are an ex-Israeli security guard and an artist who was invited by one of the passengers. The plane crashes into the Atlantic about 20 minutes after take-off and only two of those on-board survive. It’s a 15 mile swim to shore and it’s night. There’s heavy fog and huge waves. Only two survive, the artist an a four year old boy. As the book rolls along we get to know the major players, and the suspense level is kept high as the authorities try to unravel the cause of the crash. We learn about the pre-flight lives and social circles of those on board. There is a crooked money-launderer with links to the baddies, a good-natured trophy wife, a beautiful Manhattanite, a ‘90s hippy loser, a cute kid, a drowned sister, a nice black cop, a nasty white cop and a farmers’ market. It sounds like the sort of novel I’d normally avoid. But Hawley/ pulls it off. Hawley is best known as a script write and his work for the U.S. film industry shines through in his highly visual writing style. He paints cinematic pictures of the crash, the passengers’ lives before, and the survivors’ lives after. Hawley’s exposure to big media is also evident in his depictions of the Murdoch media empire, specifically of right-wing hosts à la Hannity which are spot on. I can easily recommend this book. There are a couple of gray spots where chapters are devoted to some boring passengers and their sub-plots, but despite these the reader is kept in suspense through to the final pages. The ending was a little too “American”, but we can’t have it all. I enjoyed reading this book. ( ) kjuliff | Feb 27, 2024 | BooksInMirror | Feb 19, 2024 |  ) slittleson | Feb 2, 2024 | Story revolves around the crash of a private plane and the book takes a closer look at everyone on board as investigators try to figure out exactly what happened. ( ) hmonkeyreads | Jan 25, 2024 | no reviews | add a review
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On a foggy summer night, eleven people--ten privileged, one down-on-his-luck painter--depart Martha's Vineyard on a private jet headed for New York. Sixteen minutes later, the unthinkable happens: the plane plunges into the ocean. The only survivors are Scott Burroughs-the painter-and a four-year-old boy, who is now the last remaining member of an immensely wealthy and powerful media mogul's family. With chapters weaving between the aftermath of the crash and the backstories of the passengers and crew members--including a Wall Street titan and his wife, a Texan-born party boy just in from London, a young woman questioning her path in life, and a career pilot--the mystery surrounding the tragedy heightens. As the passengers' intrigues unravel, odd coincidences point to a conspiracy. Was it merely by dumb chance that so many influential people perished? Or was something far more sinister at work? Events soon threaten to spiral out of control in an escalating storm of media outrage and accusations. And while Scott struggles to cope with fame that borders on notoriety, the authorities scramble to salvage the truth from the wreckage. Amid pulse-quickening suspense, the fragile relationship between Scott and the young boy glows at the heart of this stunning novel, raising questions of fate, human nature, and the inextricable ties that bind us together. No library descriptions found. 
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.75)
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