Before the Fall (Hawley)

Before the Fall
Noah Hawley, 2016
Grand Central Publishing
400 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781455561780


Summary
Winner, 2017 Edgar Award

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. (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
• Birth—1967
• Where—New York City, New York, USA
• Education—B.A., Sarah Lawence College
• Awards—Edgar Award
• Currently—lives in Austin, Texas, and Los Angeles, California


Noah Hawley is an American film and television producer, screenwriter, composer, and novelist, known for creating and writing the FX anthology television series Fargo.

Early life
Hawley was born and raised in New York City, New York. His mother, Louise Armstrong, was a non-fiction writer and activist, and his maternal grandmother was a playwright. His father, Tom Hawley, was a businessman. He has a twin brother, Alexi, who is a writer for the television show The Following and the creator of State of Affairs.

Hawley graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a degree in political science in 1989. He worked for Legal Aid Society in New York City, dealing with cases involving child abuse and neglect. He later moved to San Francisco and did computer programming work at law firms and worked as a paralegal.

Books, TV and film
His novels include Before the Fall (2016), The Good Father (2012) The Punch (2008), Other People's Weddings (2004), and A Conspiracy of Tall Men (1998). Sony Pictures has acquired the rights to  Before the Fall, and Hawly has been tapped to write the screenplay.

Hawley is the creator and showrunner for the television series Fargo (2014), based on the Coen brothers' 1996 film of the same name. Fargo won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries in 2014, along with 17 additional nominations. In total, the series has been nominated for 113 awards since its premiere, winning 32 of them.

Hawley resides in Austin, Texas, and Los Angeles, California, with his wife Kyle Hawley and their two children. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 6/9/2016.)

Book Reviews
Very often, we see what we want to see. As a young boy, painter Scott Burroughs was inspired to swim when he watched celebrity athlete Jack LaLanne stroke from Alcatraz Island to the shore, his wrists chained to a 1,000-pound boat. Sadly, Scott’s youth of championship swimming eventually gave way to an adulthood of alcoholism, failed relationships, and an art career that never quite got off of the ground.  READ MORE.
John Michael De Marco, author Book Club Widowerers - LitLovers

[I]ngeniously 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.
Janet Maslin - New York Times


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.
Kristin Hannah - New York Times Book Review


[A] terrific thriller...an irresistible mystery...a tale that's both an intriguing puzzle and a painful story of human loss.
Patrick Anderson - Washington Post


At first blush, Before the Fall appears to be on track to be a typical action-packed thriller.... But author Noah Hawley soon veers his highly entertaining novel into an insightful look at families, revenge and media intrusion by delving deeply into each character’s story. Hawley invests the same care with a soupcon of dark humor into Before the Fall as he does on the TV series Fargo, of which he is executive producer, writer and showrunner.
Associated Press - Oline H. Cogdill


(Starred review.) [T]elevision producer and screenwriter Hawley’s fifth novel is a masterly blend of mystery, suspense, tragedy, and shameful media hype.... This is a gritty tale of a man overwhelmed by unwelcome notoriety, with a stunning, thoroughly satisfying conclusion.
Publishers Weekly


[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.... 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

Discussion Questions
The questions below have been graciously submitted to LitLovers by Linda at Anaheim Hills Page Turners. Many thanks, Linda.

1. "Everyone has their path. The choices they’ve made. How any 2 people end up in the same place at the same time is a mystery." Or "everyone is from someplace. We all have stories, our lives unfolding along crooked lines, colliding in unexpected ways." Do you believe it is circumstance or fate or small decisions and chance encounters which have brought these people together ?

2. Jack LaLanne figures incidentally in this novel. Do you remember him from your youth? How do his philosophy and actions figure into the plot of this story?

3. The beginning of Chapter 3 begins with the plane in the Atlantic, after the crash. Were you surprised to have missed the crash? Why would the author handle this incident in such a sudden and unexplained way?

4. Scott Burroughs, our reluctant protagonist, saves himself and 4 year old. What motivated him to such a heroic act? Do you agree, "Once you become a hero, you lose your privacy"?

5. The first indication for Scott that his heroism was going to be a "messy situation" was his meeting with Gus Franklin of the NTSB, who asked him, "Were you sleeping with Mrs. Bateman?" What would have been your reaction if you were Scott? And how did his artwork figure into this story?

6. David Bateman’s philosophy of a news network was, "All other networks react to the news. We’re going to Make the News." He meant their network would "shape the events of the day to fit the message of their network." Do you think this is true of news stations today? What effect has it had on our culture?

7. Why did the Batemans have 24/7 security guards? Who was Gil Baruch and what was his story?

8. Bill Cunningham is a reporter-commentator on ALC. How does he impact the news and the story line? Was he "the raging voice of common sense, the sane man in an insane world?" Do you believe it is possible to be an impartial newsperson? And what did Cunningham do to collect news that was illegal? Does this remind you of any real news story?

9. What kind of business was Ben Kipling involved in? How might this have affected the future of the flight?

10. What theories were developed about the cause of the crash?

11. Finally we learn about Charlie Busch. What motivated him in his murderous actions? Is there any way to protect ourselves from people like this?

12. What tips the NTSB and the FBI that the plane had suffered neither mechanical nor pilot error?

13. How has experiencing the crash and subsequent investigations changed or altered Scott? What do you imagine or hope for Scott’s future?

14. What different meanings could the title BEFORE THE FALL signify?

15. Noah Hawley is well-known for his work in film and television. (Bones, Fargo, Legion, etc.) Did his style of writing help you, confuse you, or add to the tension of the mystery? Why did he use the flashback style of writing?

16. Did you enjoy reading this book? Did it keep you involved in the mystery? Did it challenge any of your ideas?

(Questions submitted to LitLovers by Linda of Anaheim Hills Page Turners. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

top of page (summary)