Review: The Falling Woman by Richard Farrell

The Falling Woman

by Richard Farrell

Publisher: Algonquin

Pages: 336

Format: eARC 

Buy the Book: Amazon 

Goodreads:  Tragedy strikes during a cross-country flight when sudden turbulence causes the jet to come apart in midair. The odds of anyone surviving are nearly impossible. Charlie Radford, a young National Transportation Safety Board investigator, is part of the team sent to determine what caused the crash. When he hears a rumor of a survivor, he assumes it is a hoax. As word of this “miracle” reaches the media and Congress, Radford is forced to track down “the falling woman,” said to have been found in a barn still strapped to her seat.

The woman at the center of the mystery, Erin Geraghty, was facing a losing battle with cancer when she embarked on her flight. With diminishing hope of a full recovery, she had considered herself essentially dead to her loved ones. Now, after the plane crash, she is intent on remaining dead to the world and to her family, to live out her final days in peace. And then Agent Radford arrives at her doorstep. Can he convince her to come forward, and does he have any right to?

Kritters Thoughts:  Charlie Radford works for the NTSB and recently it has been quiet with very minimal accidents, until one night when a major commercial flight goes down, but it seems as though there could be one survivor who literally fell from the sky.  At the same time, the reader meets Erin Geraghty who has been fighting cancer for a long time and it doesn't seem like there is an end in sight.  She boards a flight for a retreat and . . . 

I love when a story is told through multiple perspectives, it makes the story more dynamic.  I also love when the reader knows early on how all the storylines connect, so the mystery is about the characters arc, not why they are together in a book.  

Richard Farrell really wrote a great yin and yang with these two characters.  With both second guessing their life decisions, but for very different reasons.  Charlie wonders if he can do fatherhood and Erin wonders if she is doing what is right for her children.  Charlie seems at the beginning of a career and trying to find his footing, where Erin is wanting to button things up as she sees her life ending soon.  I loved the back and forth of these two and I wondered where they would end up.  

There was one part of the plot that I didn't love and as I am not a spoiler, I won't be too specific about it here.  I felt as though it didn't completely fit, but I understood why it had to be included for some parts of the story to work.  It just felt at times a little out of place.  

This was my first encounter with Richard Farrell and it looks as though he has quite the eclectic backlist, where should I go from here?

Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 58 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Algonquin.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.