Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jun 2009
368 pages
Genre: Mysteries
Publication Information
From an internationally acclaimed, prizewinning author, whom critics have compared to Dave Eggers and Michael Ondaatje, comes a tour de force: a mesmerizing novel that is at once a spellbinding psychological thriller and a brilliant portrait of adolescence that goes deep into the heads of two very different boys.
Awkward Noel thinks he’s been allowed into the inner circle of his elite boarding school when he discovers his senior-year roommate is to be handsome, athletic Julius. Julius, in turn, cares only for the fleeting joys of teenage life: sneaking out to parties, playing pranks with friends, and most of all, spending the night with his girfriend, Fall. As Noel narrates this fateful semester from a perspective of many years, interwoven is Julius’s own in-the-moment experiences of first love and male camaraderie.
Always an outsider, Noel develops an unhealthy fascination with Julius, and his crush on Fall begins to border on a dangerous obsession. As Julius experiences all the pleasures of an eighteen-year-old in love, we watch as Noel self-consciously analyzes his interactions with Julius and Fall, convincing himself of a deep connection that might not exist. When Fall disappears close to winter break, Julius and Noel are forced to face their own inner desires, a confrontation that ushers the two boys out of the innocence of adolescence and into adulthood.
A tremendous literary page-turner that perfectly captures the agonies and delights of adolescence, Fall is the exhilaration and angst of teenage love and friendship— and the ultimate transience of those feelings.
"[V]ery dark—too dark for some, though others will be fascinated by McAdam's calculating study in abnormal psychology." - Booklist
"The book is pleasingly paced and absorbing, and likely to appeal to fans of Arturo Perez-Reverte and Jess Walter. " - Publishers Weekly
"Smart and fitfully chilling, but puerile St. Ebury school sometimes seems less like a setting than a wallow." - Kirkus Reviews
"Fierce, dark, and disturbing—Fall is a journey into obsession and desire. The characters are complicated, real, and passionate. I read this novel from cover to cover in a single sitting, then told everyone I know to do the same. A haunting, memorable book." - Aryn Kyle, author of The God of Animals
"This book tells a riveting story that breathlessly and beautifully swallows the reader, so there is the sensation of being in there and not just observing what happens. McAdam's style is perfect for his subject: the intensity of young love and the intensity of self-hatred. Reading it is a marvelous experience." - Elizabeth Strout, bestselling author of Olive Kitteridge
This information about Fall was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Colin McAdam is the award-winning author of Some Great Thing. He grew up in Hong Kong, Denmark, England, and Canada, was educated at McGill University and Cambridge.
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