Featured Debut Author Book Giveaway: Falling by Emma Kavanagh

[TinaMumsnet]

This week we're giving away 50 copies Falling, the brilliant psychological thriller by Emma Kavanagh, our featured debut author for this month.

A plane falls out of the sky. A woman is murdered. Four people all have something to hide.

If you're a fan of Nicci French, Tana French or S. J. Watson, Falling could be right up your street.

Click here to find out more and apply for your free copy.

This giveaway is sponsored by Random House. If you're luck enough to receive free copy, please do tell us what you think about it on the thread below, or in our Book review section.

I, too, enjoyed it. Not the kind of novel I'd normally choose, but found myself captivated and read it very quickly. I'd recommend it. Great plot and taut writing. I'll be interested in reading the author's next book.

Great book really enjoyed it, was very believable , really felt like I was part of the story , great book

A great book. You have to pay attention to start with to remember all the characters (or is that because I'm old?!!) but the ending is great. So good to see how it all fits together. I'd recommend this read to anyone. I lent it to my Mum (77yrs old and an avid reader of books [not e-books though!] and she loved it too! Thank you for my free copy.

My copy must have arrived well after the previous reviews because when I started reading I couldn't stop. I loved the way the book follows a short timeline narrating the effects and consequences, in a circular loop, of the crash, the death, and all that preceded.
I can understand why Cecelia was a difficult character to empathise with but I felt that was the point -she couldn't relate to herself, constantly overwhelmed with guilt and pain. If she had been more likeable her story would have been less believable.
I really enjoyed the way each character's story overlapped, coincidences and chance meetings suddenly having far more significance as the story developed, and the awakening, in each of them, of reality and how different it is from their perception of memory.
I wouldn't have chosen this book based on the cover but after reading it I can't wait to read more from Emma Kavanagh.

Thanks for the book Mumsnet and Arrow Publishing. Fantastic debut novel by Emma Kavanagh the devastation of a plane crash entwined with a murder and a father waiting to discover who the killer is. Loved the way the story unfolds through the different character perspectives. Felt great empathy towards Jim trying to find out what has happened to his Daughter who has disappeared handled really sensitively and as a parent makes you experience his nightmare too uncover the truth. Several themes tackled Freya experiences the grief of losing a parent and finding hidden skeletons in the family closet.Great twists and turns keep me interested wouldn't like to read this book as a holiday read on an airplane. Told from various points of view, chapter by chapter, follow the aftermath of a plane crash alongside the aftermath of a murder. Falling is a perfect title and a theme throughout the story in the literal sense of falling from the sky in a plane.
Cecilia is a wife and mother, she is torn between wanting and needing things she cannot have and bonds more with crash passengers than her own family. Some great characters with plenty heart and soul. The various strands of the story are brought together in an adept and fascinating way to deliver the ultimate conclusion. This book left me wonder for a long time afterwards what may have happened to these characters next. I imagine them out there…somewhere…Looking forward to Emma's next book Hidden out in April.

Thank you for the book - only just finished reading it so apologies for the late review! Brilliant debut novel; well written with plenty of twists and turns. Fantastic characters and I liked the way each character's story entwined making the book a real page turner. Thoroughly enjoyed this novel and would highly recommend it. Can't wait for the author's next one!

Have only just been able to read the book and so sorry for late review. I liked the way that the story unfolds from the point of view of the different characters but had guessed the ending about two thirds of the way through. Not one of my best reads but would recommend it to others and will definitely look out for her next novel.

I started this book (one of the few things I’ve ever won – thankyou MN Towers!!) with a slight scepticism. It looked like one of those Richard and Judy-type first-novels from an amateur author. Not by a professional writer, but someone like me, a teacher or a nurse who happened to like writing and latched onto a good story. But could they write? Was there beauty or poetry here?
Well, within a chapter or so, I was hooked. This was a nicely structured story, with pace. It was easy to read, and the pages were turning themselves. There was tension, and it had that most important of factors for me – I looked forward to getting time to sit and read it.
The story is an interwinned rope of 3 stories, centered around a terrible airplane crash in a small Welsh town. And a murder. So, a thriller and drama combined. Cool.
But soon a problem emerged.
The central theme involved death. OK – its a thriller, so I’m expecting that But there’s also a terrible disaster. All the characters are suffering grief, and pain, and loss. But also there is deceipt, and pain and betrayal. And grief. And pain. And there’s the problem. Unrelenting raw, grief and pain.
On. Every. Page.
And Emma Kavanagh’s profession shines through. She’s not a nurse, or teacher. She’s an (ex) psychologist. So she is well able to uncover and reveal her characters emotions and spill then on the page. But this uncovering of pain and grief, over-eggs the omelette for me, and it quickly just became a very unpleasant read. I’d have liked a little dark humour to break the monotone of pain.
Sadly, then some slightly corny or clunky wrinkles in the plot began to creep in – a few days after her daughter is killed, mum remembers in an off-hand way when interviewed by a cop – her daughter was seeing someone who said he Would Never Let Her Go...She didn’t actually say – Do you think that might be important?? But I said it to my self in an ironic tone...This bombshell is delivered using the classic final-sentence-of-the-chapter cliffhanger. Dah, dah, DAHHHHH!No-really. It really is.
So, that was it for me. Over the years, I have become increasingly unforgiving of poor writing, and don’t feel I need to finish a book if it is not passing muster, so I left this one unfinished. Its now at Oxfam.
So, closing the circle , perhaps I was right with my initial prejudices. For me, this has an interesting premise, with likable, sympathetic characters, and likely a good story. But for me, the raw emotional grief and pain are too overdone, to the point of making the book unpleasant, and the plotting needs work. There needs to be more of an emotional range. However, I do admit that not having finished it, perhaps it improves??
Perhaps you might need to make up your own mind....

Naice

First book never turned up. Replacement book received thank you.
A very good read, clearly an author worth following. Characters were quite plausible with story lines being feasible.

I have only recently had a chance to read this book after snatching it from the grasp of my "bookworm" husband. I found the storyline pretty gripping and struggled to put it down. I don't read nearly as much as I used to and this has got me going again. I'm looking forward to Emma's next book.

It was different to what I usually read at first it was a little bit confusing that it was in four parts like 4 different people telling the story which took a bit of getting used to was getting a bit lost throughout the story as it was switching from one to the other but overall it was a interesting and innovative read

Sorry for the very late review I've have only just found this book due to a house move which I thought I had lost it I'm so glad I found it