The premise for Before the Fall by Noah Hawley, also writer and producer of the Fargo television series, has a real hook. A private plane crashes into the sea and there are two survivors, JJ Bateman, a four-year old boy, and a man who rescues JJ and swims miles to reach land. This is a private jet plane in an alternate world of seriously wealthy, important people. The boy is the sole heir to his father’s huge media company. Scott, who rescues JJ, is a struggling artist. Also on board was a dodgy businessman about to be indicted for a criminal offence. Pressured to fill 24 hours of live news broadcasting, David Bateman’s own reporters start speculating about the crash, was it an accident or a terrorist attack. They also bug phones. News anchor Bill Milligan preys on the vulnerable. Scott, because his is poor, turns overnight from hero to suspect. Why was he on the plane in the first place? JJ is unable to talk, his Aunt Eleanor [his mother’s sister] who is caring for him refuses to talk to the press. The air and sea search for wreckage continues without success. The problem for the television channels is the void of things to say while rescuers search the seas. And so Milligan starts making things up, ‘…what we’re talking about here is nothing less than an act of terrorism, if not by foreign nationals, then by certain elements of the liberal media. Planes don’t just crash, people. This was sabotage. This was a shoulder-fired rocket from a speedboat. This was a jihadi in a suicide vest on board the aircraft, possibly one of the crew. Murder, my friends, by the enemies of freedom.’
Before the Fall is about suspicions, the spreading of false news online and television by disreputable media, the suppositions made by modern news gatherers and the public’s demand for salacious gossip, whether it is proven or not. And all of this amid tragedy.
Told from multiple viewpoints, the story of the flight from Martha’s Vineyard to New York gradually unfolds and some of the worst assumptions made by the media, and by people who thrive on gossip, turn out to be wrong. Some may be correct.
A character-led suspense thriller that I read in three days, racing through to the rather limp ending. Some of the phrasing is overtly American and I skipped the sections about American sport, but the emotions are universal. A morality tale for the modern world; beware the conspiracy theorists and television channels which run news stories based on speculation not fact. Often the simplest answer is the true one.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK AT AMAZON

If you like this, try:-
‘Never’ by Ken Follett
‘Panic Room’ by Robert Goddard
‘The Partisan’ by Patrick Worrall

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#BookReview BEFORE THE FALL by Noah Hawley https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-77I via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:-