“There is a raw beauty to the sometimes horrifying emotions it lays bare”
THEY SAY
A psychological thriller for fans of Belinda Bauer, Mark Edwards, Clare Mackintosh – a dark and brooding tale about the horrors that can lurk within a family.
Ex-DI Rachel’s small son is missing. Then his body is discovered. Her cousin Michael is found guilty of his murder and incarcerated in a secure psychiatric unit.
Four years later, now divorced and back in the police force, Rachel discovers that Michael is being released to a less secure step-down unit, with his freedom a likely eventuality. Unable to cope with this, she decides upon revenge, assuming a new identity to hunt him down and kill him. However, as she closes in on her target, her friend Jonathan, a journalist, uncovers some unnerving information about her mother and others in her family and begins to suspect that Rachel’s perception of the truth might not be as accurate as she thinks – that she might be about to murder the wrong man…
I SAY
Wow! Falling Suns is a powerful and raw account of the impact the violent death of a child has on family and friends. The subject matter is tough, and it isn’t always easy to read, but my goodness it is always well written.
From the very first page, the characters come across with such strength – particularly Rachel, who is the missing child Joe’s mother. There is a wonderful part, right at the very start, where her son’s painting falls from the fridge. It is a very simple thing, but beautifully written, perfectly pitched, and almost had me in tears.
That is the real power of this visceral tale: its emotional punch. There is plenty of action, which sometimes made me want to read between my fingers as I tried to shy away from it. It is intricately plotted, with many layers, and boasts twists galore to keep the readers guessing. But more than anything, there is a raw beauty to the sometimes horrifying emotions it lays bare. Expect plenty of tears when you read this book.
It’s great to see such a strong female lead in Rachel. She has the heart of a lion, and is driven by love for her son, but also by the darkness consuming her since his death. Falling Suns in many ways is an exploration of motherhood in its good and bad forms. Along the journey, it takes the reader to some exceptionally deep and dark places. This is one compelling read.