Customer Reviews

After the Fall

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

"After the Fall" did not live up to the write-ups listed on the book. There was a lot of promise in the story line and the first few pages grabbed your interest of things to come, but the book fell flat. The author started to develop some of the characters and then just stopped. The prologue seemed to be written by someone other than the person who wrote the story. I finished the book on a recent flight and just left it in the seat pocket. I would not purchase another book by this author and I am even disappointed in the publisher!

I checked this book out of the library and after I had finished I checked the book spine. Lo and behold it was NOT catalogued as a mystery, only fiction. That'll teach me. By the end of page 9 I was expecting a real thriller with a completely different plot twist, but it never happened! The end of "After the Fall" was a total letdown. It was as if Kelman got tired of writing. A pity. It could have been so much better.

I picked this book up at the library, and have to admit, at first I was intrigued by the synopsis of the book. The book was made out to be something that it was not. I expected something fantastic to happen mid-book, but it just fizzled out! I read this book in 2 days, and I will say it really pulls you in at the beginning, but I guess I was looking for Danny's (the son, and problem child) story to be more compelling. The mystery was lagging, but the writing was very good. I would give this book 3 stars. I would even reccomend it, I just wouldn't pay full hardback prices for it.

Started off with lots of steam, but somehow lost it. The ending was disturbing - what happens to Lisa? Also, what if it wasn't for grandpa's tens of thousands of dollars needed to get him off? Also - the mental image of the sister sitting on her brother's lap with him kissing her and seeing him with a huge erection sticking out of his underwear - this is passed off as 'normal' by the mom?! I don't think so - confirms my views of mental health providers - more nuts than the patients, sometimes.

Imagine you are home with what you believe to be your normal, loving family, when suddenly the police arrive to arrest your son, charging him with a heinous crime. What would you do? This is the crisis facing Jessie Magill and her family. It is any parent's worst nighmare. What follows is a beautifully crafted psychological study of a family's unraveling and their attempts to re-weave the fabric of their existence in the face of almost overwhelming odds. Kelman has created some unforgetable characters, both likable and despicable. One of the most memorable is Dr. Chow, a pearls-of-wisdom spouting forensic genius. I gave this book a 4 star instead of a 5 star rating, because, like others who reviewed it, I was disappointed by the ending. It wound down too quickly, leaving the reader less than satisfied. Overall, however, it is well worth reading, and I enjoyed it tremendously.

The book had tons of suspense and I couldn't wait to finish it, but I was terribly disappointed with the ending! It seemed like the author decided the book was long enough and finished writing in about 20 pages. I do not recommend reading After the Fall; it was a waste of my time.

I agree with some of the other readers about this book too when they say it started off well. The first few pages really had me hooked and the book moved along quickly near the end. I also thought some of the dialogue and character's thoughts were pretty funny. But the author really dropped the ball on outcome of Lisa and her father. I really thought he should have been punished for the sick things he'd been involved with and certainly for abusing his daughter ! I also was very suprised Jess, the mother showed so little concern when she learned her son had basically molested their daughter when they were younger. Also, her denial that her husband had treated her roughly, practically raped her that one night, surprised me, too.

I expected at least a shocker or two to be revealed about her husband and/or son..something that would almost surely threaten to tear the family apart as the summary of the book hinted at, but that didn't happen. Very baffling disappointing ending.

Let me preface my review by saying that I read the whole book and was really interested to see how it ended. However, I was annoyed the entire time I read this book. Jess, the main character, is a pyschologist? She is a nuerotic mess who is bullied by everyone in her life, including her three rotton children. Her teenage daughter tells her that her brother molested her, and she just brushes it off as normal behavior? I could go on and on.
Some plot points were so ridiculous I couldn't believe they were on paper. Deloros gets caught giving false testimony to a detective and then physically attacks him THREE timesand he sends her on her way.The same veteran detective lets a rent-a-cop security guard put a gun to his head and threaten to kill him and also sends him on his way. terrible dialogue.This is the 1st and last book i will read by the author.

This book has a good story line which is wasted by events throughout the book that just don't make sense, and by only average writing.

If you're looking for an easy, easy summer read, you'll probably like this book. But be prepared for several unrealistic, silly events to occur throughout the story--a man falling and hitting his head on the ice, who with a bleeding head goes inside and fixes himself a drink. No hospital, no doctor, no ice. The main character is raped by her husband and claims "it wasn't romance, but I wouldn't call it rape" and after the perfect, charming, athletic and intelligent son attempts suicide in the family bathroom by slashing his wrists, the psychiatrist mom puts him to bed for the night, claiming a hospital would be the worse place for him.

The best and most believable character in this book is the dog, Prozac. Usually when I finish a book I'm sad, because I know I'll miss the characters. After finishiing "After the Fall" I thought to myself, "Boy, I'm really going to miss that dog."

I turned the book over and over searching for the final chapter. Did the author just get tired and quit? Where's the ending? Author Judith Kelman leaves at least one major clue unresolved (Ryan's whispered cryptic statement), and frustratingly provides no resolution to some of the book's major plot twists. It's a cruel blow to the reader to simply abandon Lisa to her father without attempting some closure and justice. I forced myself through the amateurish prose and the predictable plot hoping for some sense of unity toward the end, only to throw the book down in disgust. Someone take this woman's laptop away from her before she writes another book!