All That Fall
By Kris Calvin
As a standalone book, All That Fall is an intriguing book. As the start of a new series, it’s far more than that.
Calvin introduces us to Emma Lawson, a young lead government ethics investigator. She takes Friday off to help friend Kate put the final touches on their preschool opening set for Monday. The book shows the crazy events of 48 hours loaded with murder, kidnapping, police investigations, and life-and-death situations.
As a standalone book, All That Fall is an intriguing book. As the start of a new series, it’s far more than that. Share on XAs the main character in a thriller series, Emma Lawson is an appealing character. She’s not perfect. She’s no superhero. She makes mistakes, acts impulsively, and puts blinders on that lead her to poor decisions. But she doesn’t panic in a crisis and is determined to save herself and those she cares about while getting answers.
Learning the book is the start of a series explains why the beginning of the book is bloated with character introductions and establishing connections between them. As the book continues, some characters are introduced that don’t really play much of a role in All That Fall. Some of the motivations are sketchy at best, such as a person Emma barely acknowledged in high school suddenly appearing in her story. His introduction doesn’t make sense. But the main characters are well-developed and interesting.
Is this thrilling 48-hour snapshot worth reading? Yes. Is it worth reading more books in the series as they become available? Definitely.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing an advance review copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.