NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERBarnes and Noble Best Book of the YearBookpage Best of 2017Booklist Best Crime NovelPopSugar Best Book of 2017The 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 FlynnSince We Fell follows Rachel Childs, a former … 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.
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It took too long to develop characters that I then really didn’t care about.
Admittedly, for me, this book was somewhat slow starting. Once it took off, WOW!
Dennis LeHane can really spin a yarn. During the first third of the book I remarked to my wife that Dennis LeHane had actually written a love story that she would appreciate . . . then, the story turns. Love story turns to an action packed thriller full of seamy, yet human, characters. I couldn’t stop reading. This is one of those books that you lament coming to the ending. The thing that separates LeHane from other mystery genre writers is that there are always two to three passages that stop you cold. You read the passage again. Then once more. You write it down to share with your children or a troubled friend in need. I haven’t read a LeHane novel without finding these serious glimpses of truth. It makes the ride that much more memorable.
This book has the best opening line I have read in a long time. Unfortunately, after the first scene it was like watching paint dry. I love this author’s books, as a rule, but not this one. If you want a gripping novel from Lehanne, you will love Mystic River.
The first half of the book seemed much slower than the second half where the pace picked up and became a page turner. It was entertaining.
This was not one of his finest.
A great book with many twists
Amazing read start to finish. I didn’t want it to end.
This was a change of pace for Dennis Lehane featuring a woman in search of her birth father but instead embarking on a new life. Realistic characters and plot twists kept me engaged until the final page. I kept thinking about the woman long afterward, wondering what became of her, her husband, and the baby.
Great story line and unpredictable. Dennis Lehane always keeps you guessing.
This story made me question myself, at first I said “unequivocally I would not do this” but by the end I wasn’t so sure.
I have yet to read a bad book by Dennis Lehane.
His writing is so intense its hard to put the book down. This is the second book I read by Dennis and I’m so impressed. Love them.
I listened to this book. The narrator, Julia Whelan is wonderful and the story was great with twists and turns. Great character development and a story that could’ve have continued for another few chapters. Best summer read so far in 2018!
Hard to get going, but then takes off in a direction you did not anticipate at all. i love reading Dennis Lehane’s books, so was not disappointed. surprised, yes. Not my favorite of his, but if you are a fan, don’t turn it down.
More like several books in one. The story line takes a lot of turns. Great book.
(This review also appears in GoodReads)
The inimitable Dennis Lehane continues writing stories that are just incredible. I have a list of books I need to get working on, and reading, and simply starting a Dennis Lehane book guarantees I will get nothing done.
I may have to ban his books from my domicile.
My only complaint of this otherwise stellar book is that it starts out as a deeply moving book about a young woman and the emotional pain she bears as she struggles to come to grips with a life filled with unknowns, and then suddenly becomes more of a genre mystery where her emotional journey takes an odd turn just when her life appears to be stabilizing.
I thought it was going to be more of a family drama, so its shift to a genre mystery left me confused. That did not stop me from devouring the book and enjoying every word of Mr. Lehane’s story.
Yes, the writing alone pushed me to honestly give it 5 stars.
Amazing story. Could not stop listening to this book (audible). Left me sad that I finished it as quick as I did. Wild ride.
I’m giving it 4 stars because 3.7 isn’t an option. I’m willing to round up because there were a few spots that made me laugh.
(‘”But you’re Canadian.” “Yes,” he admitted, “but I’m not very good at it.”” — Ha ha ha! Loved that.)
The first half of this book (or the Necklace chapter and everything before it) most definitely felt like literary fiction. I just couldn’t get into it, and couldn’t figure out the purpose of most of it. I suspect that the more social anxiety a reader has experienced, the more they could enjoy Rachel, the main character. I was not especially fond of her. But I hung in, because the book was raved about as a psychological thriller mystery, so I figured it’d get better.
Which it did, for a while. And then it slowed again. And then it rocketed off and abruptly ended with barely any conclusion. At that point, I was left wondering if the author wrote the last 60% of the book first, and then some readers said they couldn’t understand how the main character could change so much, what her motivations were, and suggested that she didn’t feel real; at which point the first 40% of the book was written. I don’t know, but that’s how it felt to me, personally. On the other hand, the first part is like a literary reflection of the second part.
I’m also not sure if I should recommend this book to friends with social anxiety (“Look! A character with whom you can identify.”) or not (“She gets over it using good old-fashioned outrage. Have you tried just being really pissed off?”). I can’t tell if Rachel would be relatable or offensive, honestly.
It’s interesting that Rachel’s mother considered her own book to be a “con job.” Worrying about not being able to write a worthy follow-up caught my attention.
The description of living with someone who one has to fight with every day, the state of perpetual war, I’ve known too many people who could relate to that bit. Knowing someone as well as anyone does, and yet not knowing someone at all, that too I can totally understand. In the chapter titled “Refraction,” where Rachel thinks about her book, and it describes good and bad writing days, that scene I found extremely relatable and enjoyable.
“She’d woken this morning in a great mood. All she’d wanted since was to keep that mood alive. She just wanted to stay happy for a day.” — Those lines really got to me. There’s a whole star earned just for that part, as far as I’m concerned.
There’s a character in the book who is described as smelling like Lightning, which I found interesting. And the mention of tragedy fatigue, how difficult it is for journalists to keep people caring about a subject after weeks, or days, of things getting worse instead of better– that part I found thought-provoking. I’m also wondering if everyone really does have a fixed age for themselves in their mind’s eye. In the “Safe House” chapter, the origin of the title of the book seemed to become clear.
But then there were parts I didn’t care for at all. A page or two of untagged dialog that I found irritating to follow. And parts like, “He raised her gun. At least she thought he raised her gun. No, he did. He raised it.” made me roll my eyes. And scenes she imagines, though it isn’t ever mentioned they’re imagined (though it’s easy to conclude), took me out of the story.
“It was the voice of home, but not home the reality, home as a construct, home as an ideal.” That line was one of my favorites from this book.
And I enjoyed the line with “discarding of American industry, this switch from a culture that made things of value to a culture that consumed things of dubious merit.” It reminds me of something the “civilized” elders I know are always going on about.
I’ve read a lot of Mr Lahane’s books and this is the first one I would rate less than four or five. The plot is so unbelieveable and the characters undeveloped that it is hard to believe this work is by the author of”Mystic River” and “Shutter Island”.