Since We Fell: A Novel (Paperback)

Staff Reviews
Mystic River and The Given Day displayed the scope and talent of Lehane’s writing, with Since We Fell he shows us he can have a lot of fun writing a rip snorting story that starts with a bang and doesn’t let up. The story opens with Rachel, a former journalist, shooting her husband, who clearly has done her wrong in some way, wrong enough to anger her into raising that gun. Rachel was quite a rising star as a TV journalist when she had an on air melt down while reporting on the devastation in Haiti. Something happened in that troubled land that left Rachel damaged in a deep way. Out of a job, her career in taters, she retreated to her home, becoming agoraphobic. While her professional career is in ruins, and she is a virtual shut in, the rest of her life is pretty good. She has a loving relationship with her husband who clearly adores her, that is until he makes her mad enough to shoot him. Then things really get out of hand. Bad men with a predilection toward murder are hunting her, and the police may take a very dim view of the husband shooting episode. Rachel has either gone stark raving mad or has to run for her life or possibly both. Either way this is a wild ride with twists and turns coming fast and furious. I suspect Dennis Lehane had way too much fun writing this one and grateful to him I am, because I had just as much fun reading it.
— Deon Stonehouse
Mystic River and The Given Day displayed the scope and talent of Lehane’s writing, with Since We Fell he shows us he can have a lot of fun writing a rip snorting story that starts with a bang and doesn’t let up. The story opens with Rachel, a former journalist, shooting her husband, who clearly has done her wrong in some way, wrong enough to anger her into raising that gun. Rachel was quite a rising star as a TV journalist when she had an on air melt down while reporting on the devastation in Haiti. Something happened in that troubled land that left Rachel damaged in a deep way. Out of a job, her career in taters, she retreated to her home, becoming agoraphobic. While her professional career is in ruins, and she is a virtual shut in, the rest of her life is pretty good. She has a loving relationship with her husband who clearly adores her, that is until he makes her mad enough to shoot him. Then things really get out of hand. Bad men with a predilection toward murder are hunting her, and the police may take a very dim view of the husband shooting episode. Rachel has either gone stark raving mad or has to run for her life or possibly both. Either way this is a wild ride with twists and turns coming fast and furious. I suspect Dennis Lehane had way too much fun writing this one and grateful to him I am, because I had just as much fun reading it.
— Deon StonehouseDescription
The new novel from New York Times bestseller Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River and Shutter Island
“Lehane is the master of complex human characters thrust into suspenseful, page-turning situations.” —Gillian Flynn
Since We Fell follows Rachel Childs, a former journalist who, after an on-air mental breakdown, now lives as a virtual shut-in. In all other respects, however, she enjoys an ideal life with an ideal husband. Until a chance encounter on a rainy afternoon causes that ideal life to fray. As does Rachel’s marriage. As does Rachel herself. Sucked into a conspiracy thick with deception, violence, and possibly madness, Rachel must find the strength within herself to conquer unimaginable fears and mind-altering truths. By turns heart- breaking, suspenseful, romantic, and sophisticated, Since We Fell is a novel of profound psychological insight and tension. It is Dennis Lehane at his very best.
About the Author
Dennis Lehane is the author of thirteen novels—including the New York Times bestsellers Live by Night; Moonlight Mile; Gone, Baby, Gone; Mystic River; Shutter Island; and The Given Day—as well as Coronado, a collection of short stories and a play. He grew up in Boston, MA and now lives in California with his family.
Praise For…
“[Lehane] remains one of the great, diabolical thriller kings who seems intimately acquainted with darkness and can make it seep from the page.” — New York Times
“A pleasantly twisted character study and a love story. . . . Lehane is in command of what he’s doing.” — Washington Post
“A pleasantly twisted character study and a love story. . . . Lehane is in command of what he’s doing.” — Tampa Bay Times
“Lehane has written two books-one, an insightful examination of the search for identity and belonging, and two, a thriller that constantly leaves you guessing-and then smashed them together into one terrific read.” — Gillian Flynn
“A riveting exercise in psychological suspense.” — Providence Journal
“Endlessly surprising. . . . [A] twisty tale.” — Wall Street Journal
“Lehane writes expert, compelling thrillers. . . . He’s one of the game changers who smashed the imaginary boundary between genre and literature, proving that we can have the best of both at once.” — Tana French, Washington Post
“Make no mistake, Since We Fell is crime fiction, filled with con men, murder, greed and revenge. But the love story gives this novel its heart.” — Associated Press
“[Lehane’s] work always combines pulp thrills with literary heart and sophistication.” — Entertainment Weekly
“The most thrilling novel I’ll read all year. Since We Fell is simmering with emotion, menace, and humor. I loved it.” — Kate Atkinson
“Complex, tense, compelling, and an emotional and strategic hall of mirrors, where nothing is what it seems—but I would follow Dennis Lehane anywhere.” — Lee Child
“Another winner from the author of Mystic River. . . . A raucous mix of lust, greed, and betrayal.” — AARP Magazine
“The surfeit of plot twists and emotional baggage are buoyed by Lehane’s hard-boiled lyricism and peerless feel for New England noir.” — USA Today
“One doesn’t ‘read’ Since We Fell so much as plunge and tumble through its pages like a raft in white water. A sweet bullet of a book.” — Richard Price
“Once you pick up a Dennis Lehane novel, you’re hooked. It’s just that simple. Since We Fell is a complex, compelling, page-turner of a novel from a master storyteller at the top of his game.” — Kristin Hannah
“[Since We Fell] should have crime fiction fans busting out the bottle rockets and champagne. . . . It’s impossible not to succumb.” — Lithub
“With sharply acute characterization, this is classic Lehane.” — The Guardian
“A ride you won’t want to miss.” — New York Journal of Books
“The mystery and intrigue never let go; the twists and turns are engaging and unexpected all the way down the track.” — James Lee Burke