Customer Reviews

Falling Bodies

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I tried to like this book. It had a great little quip on the cover by Nicholas Sparks stating it was "lyrical and powerful" but I found no power and nothing lyrical. Jackson, a professor of physics, is mourning the death of his wife and 2 children, killed by a drunk driver. He meets an innkeeper and starts to fall for her. I was ok with the story until Jackson described the accident to his new friend using PHYSICS terms. He described the car accident by saying "What can I say? Matter impacts with antimatter all around us in billions and billions of atomic collisions every second." If that weren't bad enough, his new friend responds, "Some matter matters more, though, doesn't it?" That was enough for me. Physics and grief don't mix for me. Skip this one!

I guess I'm the odd (wo)man out here, because I believed Mr. Mark's book to be quite intriguing. Having always had an acute interest in the sciences (an avocation rather than occupation, lending to the fact that I'm not keen on all the technical facts..), I found the author's use of scientific quotes, theories, and terminology relatable, interesting, and magical. Yes, maybe the plot is lacking in originality, but considering the odd-numbered "basic" plots rumored to be the only thing is use, a writer has to make up for the "used" plot in an appealing story. I think this was done. This is the only book I have read of Andrew Mark's (and the only he's written, to my knowledge) but I wonder if he wrote again that it might be better than the Nicholas Sparks' used used used plot I keep seeing? I'm probably the odd man out there, too.

In Illinois, Physics professor Jackson Tate fully comprehends the modern theories on the workings of the universe. He understands the systematic natural laws that govern everything. However, he can not grasp the random act of a drunken driver killing his spouse and children.

Unable to cope with the trauma, Jackson tries to run away from his grief by hitting the highways. He eventually ends up in Maine where he meets a fellow sufferer, Olivia Faraday, whose husband has been lost to Alzheimer's. Jackson accepts a job as her handyman and soon they fall in love with one another. However, with all the grief, guilt, and rage this couple carries around, chances of a happy ending seem remote.

FALLING BODIES is overwritten, extremely melancholy, and at times very depressing. However, anyone who enjoys an old fashioned tear jerker (like LOVE STORY) will take great pleasure from this novel. The lead protagonists' struggles with their losses are real and the audience will grieve along with them. Has Andrew Mark pulled all the strings of a major cry? Absolutely! That is what makes the novel so poignant and worth reading by the soap crowd.

Harriet Klausner

I have seldom read any book with so little sense of place. This is particulary ironic since most of the book was set in Maine, certainly a picturesque state. This book is completely lacking in "magic"--both in writing style and content. With so many books, and so little time, I say: pass on this one.

I picked this book up off the shelf at my local book store because the cover and title caught my eye. The story, however, was not so great. Jackson Tate, the main character, lost his wife and two children in a terrible accident. The story starts with them already gone and goes on to tell about his life the during the following year. They do flash back a few times to talk about the accident and funeral so you know what how it all happened. Overall, the story is a little bland and you don't feel like you really get to know any of the characters. I finished the book but it definitely wasn't a page-turner.

This is one of the worst books I have ever read. In addition to a plot that was anything but intristing and creative it was slow and seemed to drag on forever. The charictors lacked anything that would make you believe they could actually be real people and the entire story, overall, was too depressing. I do NOT recomend this book to anyone.

I picked up this book because it had blurbs from Nicholas Sparks and Richard Paul Evans. Those 2 authors are sometimes criticized but at least write books that can pull you into a mood and carry you along with a plot. I read half of Andrew Mark's book before I put it down, and I'm a very patient reader. This has far too much introspection by the main character, especially in repetitive themes. A dull plot (barely a plot at that), watery, lackluster characters, and a narrative that is slower than a slug slithering up a mountain will make you put this book down--if you don't throw it down.

In FALLING BODIES, the author takes us to an emotional place that readers haven't been in since THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY.

I'm a little bit embarrassed at how much I enjoyed this book. The plot is predictable and more than a little bit sappy. But something about the development of the mood and of the characters pulled me in. I read it a week or two ago, and keep thinking about it. Anybody who loves a highly emotional story will surely enjoy this book.

I liked this book a lot, I really did. I wasn't sure I was going to-I usually read more "boy" books, but a friend told me about it and I bought it and couldn't put it down. I read it in about two days, I was so drawn into it. The characters seem to be real people, rather than people invented for the plot (I especially liked the priest) and the plot had some surprising twists. This is going to be one of those books, like The Reader, or the Patrick O'Brian books, that people like to claim to have read first. I recommend it.