This thriller will keep you on your toes from start to finish as you try to figure out whether what you’re reading is what’s really happening or whether the protagonist is just as confused as you are.

About the Book

How many bad decisions does it take to go from doting father to travelling down a very dark path? Not as many as you’d think . . .

Adrian Smythe is just a regular guy. He is employed, married, and loves his daughter Grace. He even has a dog. But he can’t shake the feeling that something is missing.

So, in an act of rebellion, Adrian quits his job and moves out of the family home. After disconnecting from everything in his past, he believes he is finally free from the constraints he resented so much.

But Adrian’s new life may not be exactly what he bargained for. It could all end in murder.

My Thoughts

This book is billed as a crime thriller and mystery, but it definitely has hints of domestic thriller about it. And if I’ve ever read an unreliable narrator, this has to be one. But, then, that’s the thing about unreliable narrators, you’re never quite sure whether you’ve read one or not. You’re also never quite sure how much of the story you’ve just read is accurate. With this one, you can kind of tell as you’re going along – as the story unfolds – that things seem a little off. Things start to sound a little weird, people start to point out differences.

I have really mixed feelings about our protagonist. It somewhat feels like we’re slowly watching him lose his mind. We’re definitely slowly watching him lose a whole lot of other things. This is definitely a lesson in the butterfly effect, where one choice can affect the entire course of your life. It’s a little bit mindblowing just how much the one decision affects Adrian’s life. However, there were a few decisions when you really dug in. The relationship with his daughter is so beautiful and so heartbreaking, which is true of so many real familial relationships. It also mirrors his entire story. He seems to lose his footing at one point and barrel to inevitable loss and horror.

This is a unique book that will definitely leave you wondering what in the world you just read, and will absolutely leave a huge impression on you long after you’ve turned the last page. It will make you question every decision you’ve made that’s for certain!

I haven’t read a book by Bloodhound Books that I haven’t thoroughly enjoyed, and of course, they’ve hit it out of the park again. I’m so grateful to the author, publisher, and Love Books Tours for including me on this tour.

Who’s It For?

If you love thrillers that leave you questioning and thinking, this is a great read for you. But it does deal with some gruesome and mature topics so consider your mental health.

Content Warnings: SI, Adult Situations, Adult Language, Drug Abuse, Alcohol Abuse, Infidelity, Animal Death, Child Abandonment, Graphic Death, Violence

Question of the Day

Do you enjoy stories with unreliable narrators?

About the Author

Alan Feldberg is the author of Fall From Grace.

His writes literary fiction and psychological crime, with a keen focus on the human condition and the hidden, underlying motives that drive conventional people to do unconventional things.

His influences include John Banville, Richard Ford, Iris Murdoch, M.J. Hyland, Elizabeth Strout, Flannery O’Connor, Sebastian Faulks and Roddy Doyle.

Alan has travelled extensively, living in South Africa and Canada, and now lives in Yorkshire with his wife and daughters.

His second novel will be published in June.

Amazon US: https://a.co/d/d0NYibk
Bookshop US: https://bookshop.org/a/25511/9781916978485
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CQM6SZRC?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_F5E5D2R2T51E4BGV8A06
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/204902289-fall-from-grace

As a Bookshop.org (US) Affiliate, I may earn on qualifying purchases.