Fall from Grace: A Novel

Written by Richard North Patterson

Narrated by Dennis Boutsikaris

The mysterious, violent death of a prominent New England patriarch exposes a nest of dark family secrets in New York Times bestselling author Richard North Patterson’s twentieth compelling novel.

From #1 bestselling author Richard North Patterson comes a spellbinding psychological puzzle filled with unexpected legal twists, potentially criminal turns, and one family’s shocking fall from grace.

After ten years away from home, Adam Blaine returns to Martha’s Vineyard to attend the funeral of his estranged father, Ben, a famous and charismatic writer who was fond of sailboats, good wine—and women other than his wife. When Adam learns that Ben disinherited his family in favor of his mistress, he begins to wonder if his father’s death—caused by an inexplicable fall from a cliff—might have been suicide or murder. Using his training as a CIA operative, Adam unearths some shattering revelations about the mistress’s past. But even more disturbing are the family secrets that can’t stay buried any longer—secrets that make Adam question everything he thought he knew about every player in this fateful game. Even himself...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Mar 20, 2012
• ISBN: 9781442344389

Richard North Patterson

Richard North Patterson is the author of over twenty bestselling and critically acclaimed novels. Formerly a trial lawyer, he was the SEC liaison to the Watergate special prosecutor and has served on the boards of several Washington advocacy groups. He lives in Martha's Vineyard, San Francisco, and Cabo San Lucas with his wife, Dr. Nancy Clair.

Reviews for Fall from Grace

[kmmt48 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Fast paced procedural. I wanted to like the characters but the family was so dysfunctional and very unpleasant to each other. One son returns home at the mysterious death of his father after a 10 yr absence. He finds that his very unpleasant, dictatorial father has disinherited his brother and mother. The mystery begins as to WHY and there is a question that the father was murder. Interesting story line but each character is more and more unlikeable. There was no sympathy for the father - he was very unpleasant to most people he met. Our hero was likable to a point but his family continued to jerk him around as he tried to help them. Just never clicked for me but it is a fast read and a so-so tale of woe.

[johnwbeha · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As always Richard North Patterson makes you want to read, and makes you want to keep turning the pages. This isn't one of his best, but even his average is higher than most. I've griped about the star ratings before; this is a 7 . It's a clever "was it murder, if so, who-dun-it and why, and given a limited list of candidates, there are enough twists, turns and red herrings to satisfy. Patterson also provides a fair dose of legal stuff to remind us of some of his best stuff. By the way if you have not read "Eclipse" yet, I urge you to seek it out!

[rhactor · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Interesting story of family and how it is affected by death of father. Is it suicide or murder?

[bohemiangirl35 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Adam Blaine is summoned from his job as a covert agent in Afghanistan when his father dies unexpectedly. Even in death, his narcissistic father manages to give the middle finger to the family one last time. Adam, the runaway son who left home 10 years before and never looked back, is named as executor of Ben's estate. In addition to the shock of his father's final disrespect, Adam is disturbed that the police think the death was a murder. When the police suspect his family, Adam doesn't really care if one of them did it, he just doesn't want them to be punished. They suffered enough when his father was alive. This is classic Richard North Patterson. I loved it from beginning to end. Dennis Boutsikaris is an excellent narrator. Even though his voice is sort of nasal, it works. :)

[bitsy08_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

There are authors you read that give you a good story and then there are authors like Richard North Patterson, James Lee Burke, Lee Child and Vince Flynn (to name a few) who you KNOW that no matter what subject they choose to write about, you will be capitavated until the bitter end. I say "bitter" because you don't want these stories to end. Fall from Grace flows from the first sentence to the last. Writers of this caliber know how to write a story you've never read before and write it well. I believe he's left this main character to return another day. More to which I can look forward.

[bdouglas97 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

lots of twists that make this a very good plot. although I can't believe Adam will hold his secrets much past the last pages...

[beamis12 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I first started reading this author many years ago when he wrote mystery suspense. I remember being blown away by Eyes of a Child. He than started writing political novels often with a moral dilemma and I absolutely loved his Protect and Defend. In Fall from Grace he writes about the psychological peeling of a narcissist, the sons who hate him, a murder or suicide and the secrets of a sorely dysfunctional family. Found this novel to be absolutely fascinating.

[mikedraper · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When a famous novelist in New England dies violently, family secrets begin to unravel.Benjamin Blaine is about to be burried. His son Adam returns from Afghanistan where he is with the CIA. He arrives for his father's funeral and shortly thereafter learns that his father changed his will and removed his wife and Adam's other brother from the will.Adam is asked to be the executor and police want to know if Ben fell from a cliff on his property or did he commit suicide or was he murdered.In working with the police, Adam feels that he also has to protect his mother and brother from the investigation.This is a slow moving story that can be discouraging. Benjamin Blaine was an unlikable character and most of the other characters aren't that much better. I found the dialogue didn't match the characters where even people in a fishing village spoke with the same educated vocabulary as a Yale graduate.The author did keep my curiosity as I wanted to see how the story would end.

[bookmagic_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Adam Blaine is a CIA operative working in Afghanistan when he is called home to Martha's Vineyard for his father's funeral, the great author, Benjamin Blaine. Adam hasn't been home nor spoken to his father in 10 years. When he arrives home, he discovers the police believe his father was murdered by his brother, Teddy and he discovers his father's new will completely cuts out Adam's mother and older brother Teddy. Ben left the bulk of his estate, about 8 million dollars to his latest girlfriend, Carla, some money to a young author who is a family friend and $100,000 to Adam. He also made Adam executor of this will that will leave his mother homeless. Adam decides to use his skills to break the will and protect teddy and any member of his family from going to jail.As Adam searches for the truth so he can manipulate it, the story flashes back to the relationship between Adam and his father eventually leading us to why Adam left and joined the CIA.I was into the story for awhile, it's a pretty decent mystery but Adam is quite cold and there aren't a lot of interactions with his family. There are a few too many threads and it gets convoluted. By the end, I wasn't as into it and ended up feeling a little disappointed.