Before the Fall

by Noah Hawley

Overview

2017 Edgar Award Winner for Best Novel
2017 ITW Thriller Award Winner for Best Novel

New York Times Bestseller

From the Emmy, PEN, Peabody, Critics' Choice, and Golden Globe Award-winning creator of the TV show Fargo comes the thriller of the year.

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780594829768
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	06/06/2017
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	13,460
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.40(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Noah Hawley is an Emmy, Golden Globe, PEN, Critics' Choice, and Peabody Award-winning author, screenwriter, and producer. He has published four novels and penned the script for the feature film Lies and Alibis. He created, executive produced, and served as showrunner for ABC's My Generation and The Unusuals and was a writer and producer on the hit series Bones. Hawley is currently executive producer, award-winning series, Fargo, and Legion from FX Productions and Marvel Television.

What People are Saying About This

Michael Cunningham

BEFORE THE FALL is a ravishing and riveting beauty of a thriller. It's also a deep exploration of desire, betrayal, creation, family, fate, mortality, and rebirth. It's one part Dennis Lehane, one part Dostoevsky. I was spellbound from first page to last; I haven't fully recovered yet. --MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM, PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE HOURS

Editorial Reviews

…ingeniously nerve-racking…If you didn't already know that Mr. Hawley is a celebrated storyteller, you'll know it before you finish the first page of [Before the Fall]…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 does a beautiful job of turning his book into an extended tease, with separate chapters about each passenger and revelations about why each could have been a target…Mr. Hawley has made it very, very easy to race through his book in a state of breathless suspense.

The New York Times - Janet Maslin

Hype and advertising and celebrity can certainly get a reader to pick up a novel and read the first few pages. After that, it's all about the words and the characters, the heart and soul of the story. I had no doubt that Hawley could write, that he could create amazing characters, that he had an ear for dialogue and a unique point of view—but could he write a successful novel? The answer, as readers of his four earlier books probably know already, is a resounding yes…Noah Hawley really knows how to keep a reader turning the pages, but there's more to the novel than suspense. On one hand, Before the Fall is a complex, compulsively readable thrill ride of a novel. On the other, it is an exploration of the human condition, a meditation on the vagaries of human nature, the dark side of celebrity, the nature of art, the power of hope and the danger of an unchecked media. The combination is a potent, gritty thriller that exposes the high cost of news as entertainment and the randomness of fate.

The New York Times Book Review - Kristin Hannah

★ 02/01/2016
Emmy-, Golden Globe–, and Peabody Award–winning television producer and screenwriter Hawley’s fifth novel is a masterly blend of mystery, suspense, tragedy, and shameful media hype. When a corporate jet carrying 11 crashes into the ocean just 16 minutes into a nighttime flight from Martha’s Vineyard to New York in August 2015, only two people survive—Scott Burroughs, a middle-aged former drunk and minor artist, and a four-year-old boy. Scott saves the boy, swimming to shore and into a frenzy of media-shaped hero worship, federal investigations of terrorism and criminal activity, and sudden media-driven accusations of financial exploitation. Hawley cleverly uses flashback chapters for each of the passengers to reveal that one victim was a wealthy mogul, head of a 24-hour cable news network that didn’t just report the news, but proudly manufactured it; one victim was a Wall Street financier about to be indicted for money laundering; and the other victims, including an armed bodyguard, also had curious pasts. Scott’s life is an escalating nightmare of media hounding and federal suspicion. His only salvation is a thoughtful, deliberate NTSB investigator who focuses on facts, not speculation. This is a gritty tale of a man overwhelmed by unwelcome notoriety, with a stunning, thoroughly satisfying conclusion. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"A riveting summer read...the author manages to draw out beauty from the heartbreak embodied within the characters. BEFORE THE FALL poses ubiquitous questions about existence, while maintaining a fast-paced, fascinating, and ultimately life-affirming plot."—Woodbury Magazine

"A captivating study of human nature."—New Orleans Advocate

"[An] intelligent and majestically paced story... Hawley has provided his fans with the ultimate irony: a best-seller that is also a Marxist critique."—Dallas Morning News

"A taut and expertly paced suspense novel. Hawley's fifth book delivers in so many ways: a cast of well-drawn characters, feints, red herrings and dogged investigators who eventually uncover the truth...this one keeps readers guessing until the final, tragic unveiling....in nerve-racking and poignant detail."—RealClearBooks, "This Summer's Best Thriller"

"A thoughtful and compelling page-turner....Hawley's writing is taut and clear, his characters richly developed...Readers may be moved to stand up and cheer."—New York Journal of Books

"Excellent premise and clever plotting."—Florida Times-Union

"A literary suspense novel with both a brain and a heart, Before the Fall is a searing examination of the nature of truth. With masterful character development and a well-sculpted plot line, Hawley takes us on a thrill ride of a story while raising vital questions about the role and responsibility of the media today."—Powells, "1 of 10 books sent to President Elect Trump"

"A big-brained why-, how-, and whodunit."—GQ

"This fast-paced suspense novel by the creator of Fargo will keep you on the edge of your seat."—People

"Brimming with three-dimensional characters, BEFORE THE FALL leads the reader down rabbit hole after rabbit hole in an electrifying mystery."—PasteMagazine.com, "Best Novels of 2016"

"Noah Hawley's BEFORE THE FALL isn't a typical mystery. Perhaps that's why I couldn't put it down."—TheAtlantic.com

"Mystery, conspiracy and a plane crash on a foggy night...juicy."—Parade Magazine

"A read-in-one-beach-day kind of book...A true page-turner, BEFORE THE FALL will leave you guessing until the final moments of the crash, and the final pages of the book."—Bustle

"The story's utterly engrossing plot that twists between past and present, ultimately heightening the mystery and suspense, is practically made for the big screen."—Domino Magazine

"The best mystery I have read this year...extremely intense...a page turner...a carefully crafted character study...[that] delivers far more than a plot driven thriller. We get an insight into the workings of the minds of all the characters, and indeed, the workings of Noah Hawley's mind as well."—Cyberlibrarian

"[A] soapy, scary, ripped-from-the-headlines story...The answers are ultimately satisfying and heartbreaking."—The Plain Dealer Online

From the Publisher

09/01/2016
A private jet carrying 11 people crashes off the Atlantic coast. There are only two survivors—struggling artist Scott Burroughs and the four-year-old he saves, the son of a powerful network executive. Chapters alternate between the present-day investigation of what happened and the backstories of all those who were on the ill-fated flight. The stories of the passengers, pilots, and flight attendant, plus the investigators and surviving relatives, provide acute character studies that complement the brisk storytelling. As Scott develops a bond with the boy, events begin to spiral out of control as accusations fly and the media spin their tales. Robert Petkoff's narration is engaging and effectively portrays a diverse set of characters. VERDICT A great summer listening experience that will be popular with fans of mystery and suspense fiction. ["Rich with a compelling narrative, suspenseful plot twists, and engaging characters, this fourth novel…by an Emmy Award-winning producer…promises to be the must-read thriller of the summer": LJ Xpress Review 4/15/16 starred review of the Grand Central hc.]—Phillip Oliver, formerly with Univ. of North Alabama, Florence

Library Journal

2016-03-03
In the latest by TV writer and novelist Hawley (The Good Father, 2012, etc.), a struggling artist becomes a hero twice—first by saving a young boy's life, then by outsmarting the anchor of a Fox-like conservative TV network. A small charter plane mysteriously crashes into the water off Martha's Vineyard, leaving only two survivors: the painter Scott Burroughs and JJ, the young son of the network owner who chartered the flight. In a well-turned rescue sequence, Scott braves the waves and sharks and makes dry land with JJ on his back. From there, the book is part whodunit and part study of Scott's survivor's guilt. Flashbacks trace the back story of each doomed passenger: network head David Bateman and his wife, Maggie, who may have had a thing for Scott; financier Ben Kipling, about to be tried for laundering terrorist money; flight attendant Emma Lightner, who recently jilted co-pilot Charlie Busch. While the rescue team works to figure out who crashed the plane, Scott struggles to get his bearings—no small feat when wealthy socialite Layla Mueller is trying hard to get him into bed and when O'Reilly-like anchorman Bill Cunningham is harassing him for an interview. Like the successful screenwriter that he is, Hawley piles on enough intrigues and plot complications to keep you hooked even if you can spot most of them a sea mile away.

Kirkus Reviews

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