Since We Fell
A Novel
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4.0 • 562 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Barnes and Noble Best Book of the Year
Bookpage Best of 2017
Booklist Best Crime Novel
PopSugar Best Book of 2017
The new novel from New York Times bestseller Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River and Shutter Island
“Lehane is the master of complex human characters thrust into suspenseful, page-turning situations.” —Gillian Flynn
Since We Fell follows Rachel Childs, a former journalist who, after an on-air mental breakdown, now lives as a virtual shut-in. In all other respects, however, she enjoys an ideal life with an ideal husband. Until a chance encounter on a rainy afternoon causes that ideal life to fray. As does Rachel’s marriage. As does Rachel herself. Sucked into a conspiracy thick with deception, violence, and possibly madness, Rachel must find the strength within herself to conquer unimaginable fears and mind-altering truths. By turns heart- breaking, suspenseful, romantic, and sophisticated, Since We Fell is a novel of profound psychological insight and tension. It is Dennis Lehane at his very best.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
After spending time in the historical-fiction trenches, Dennis Lehane has crafted a thriller rooted in the present day. He comes out swinging, with a murder on page one. From there, Lehane hurtles back in time, telling the story of main character Rachel Childs’ upbringing (and uncertain parentage). Since We Fell moves fast—Lehane’s easygoing prose always makes the unspooling narrative seem plausible even as he sets up Rachel for big shocks. At one point, a character notes, “Secrets were power. Secrets were better than sex.” That line could easily double as Lehane’s artistic oath.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in contemporary Boston, this expertly wrought character study masquerading as a thriller from Edgar-winner Lehane (World Gone By) features his first-ever female protagonist. Once a star journalist, until something snapped during her TV coverage of the devastation in Haiti following the 2009 earthquake, Rachel Childs now barely leaves her house. Lehane portrays the frantic hamster wheel of waxing and waning anxiety with unnerving clarity. A lifetime of tension, much of it spawning from her now-deceased mother's refusal to disclose the identity of Rachel's father, weighs on Rachel. The quest to put a name to half her DNA is what first sets Rachel on a collision course with Brian Delacroix, a PI (or so he claims) who advises her against the whole thing. Fast forward several years, and Rachel and Brian meet again. Their eventual marriage is romantic and life-affirming, as Brian coaxes Rachel through the swamp of her psyche, until it's suddenly not. The book's conspiracy plot doesn't cut the deepest; it's Lehane's intensely intimate portrayal of a woman tormented by her own mind. 15-city tour.
Customer Reviews
Book takes your breath away
Reading this book is like riding a fast moving dangerous train.
Not One of Lehane’s Best
I really wanted to like this book. Part of it was so good that I couldn’t put it down. Other parts were very dull. And the rest was somewhat in between. And the ending??? Definitely not one of the author’s best.
Edge of your seat thriller
Dennis Lehane twists a tale like no other. I just can’t get enough!