Friday, January 24, 2025

Falls to Pieces

Falls to Pieces by Douglas Corleone
4/1/25; 285 pages
Thomas & Mercer

Falls to Pieces by Douglas Corleone is a recommended novel of psychological suspense.

Two years ago Kati Dawes and her teenage daughter, Zoe, fled the east coast and started living under new names and off the grid in Hawaii. When Kati's fiancĂ©, attorney Eddie Akana, disappears while they are hiking, she is a suspect. Kati is desperate to find Eddie because she can't have any media attention or photos of her publicized. Noah Walker, Eddie’s law partner, agrees to help her while Kati is the main suspect, but then Zoe disappears and Kati is frantic.

The novel, which is divided into three parts, starts out at an even pace as Kati is worried about finding Eddie and also concerned about hiding her real identity. There are switches in the narrative between Kati, Zoe's private thoughts, and flashbacks to the past they are running from. The pace takes off and explodes during the last part of the novel when the number of secrets and twisted ties between characters and the action increases.

It does feel like the story was being told rather than naturally developing during several sections of the narrative. Part of the novel also ties in a wide variety of different subjects and current buzz words while following several different trails. There are numerous twists at the end, some of which readers might have suspected and some were surprises.

I actually enjoyed the novel more at the beginning and my enjoyment lessened as I kept reading. It could be over the massive amount of disbelief that kept creeping into my thoughts while reading.
Thanks to Thomas & Mercer for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

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