Before the Fall by Noah Hawley

This is a new author for me. Mr. Hawley has written four other novels and this book has been promoted extensively on Facebook.

The book opens with the crash of a small plane enroute from Martha's Vineyard to New York. Eleven people were on board and the only survivors are a struggling artist and a four-year old boy. The boy is heir to a massive fortune. The other people on board the plane include a Wall Street broker, his wife and daughter, a career pilot, a stewardess and others. The succeeding chapters give the reader some background information about each of the passengers and why they were on board.

Several governmental agencies are brought in to figure out what happened and why. The author goes to great lengths to portray the sometimes deterimental effect that media can have on an incident such as this. As a result, the public is not often able to determine the facts of the case. Scenarios presented as innocent and having nothing to do with what happened are often blown out of proportion. On the other hand, as is portrayed in the character of Scott Burroughs, what is shown is actually the truth and has no hidden adgenda.

The simple story that emerges in spite of the tradgedy is the relationship between the artist and the boy. The boy is immediately drawn to the hero that saved him although he is not that familiar with Scott. Interestingly the boy's aunt and uncle have taken him into their home but have difficulty communicating with him. The artist feels called to help the boy deal with what happened. His intrinsic nature is kindness and he is willing to risk his own reputation to help the boy.

While the scope of this story has been offered by other authors under different titles, the unique aspect that Mr. Hawley gives his readers is an opportunity to look at the situation from vairying viewpoints. He also encourages readers to examine motives which may or may not be realistic.

Ladybookbug!