Hard hitting and emotional story of a mother's revenge

There are some books that work best as audio books and I think for sheer shock value, Falling Suns is probably one of them. If I had been reading it on my kindle or in paperback then I think my eyes would have drifted over certain passages, finding them very hard to stomach emotionally. But by having those disturbing scenes graphically described in my ears, there was no way of escaping the horror of the themes addressed here. I did find Falling Suns utterly compulsive listening throughout and, although hard to listen to at times, I never felt like stopping as I just had to follow Rachel’s journey to its breathtakingly dramatic conclusion no matter what.

J.A Corrigan has written an incredibly dark thriller here that will make any parents blood run cold as she explores just how far a mother’s will go to avenge her son’s murder. The media often reports on how parents of missing or murdered children struggle with their own relationship after the loss of a child so I knew that Rachel Dunes family would likely fall apart after the brutal murder of Joe. However, Rachel’s extended family all seemed to have secrets of their own, especially her cousin Michael who was found guilty of Joe’s murder but maintained he has no memory of the vicious attack.

Once Rachel’s plans started to come together, I have to admit to being very shocked at the unexpected route her revenge was going to take! I did have to suspend belief at the actual plotline once it started to unwind but by that time I was totally wrapped up in Rachel’s fierce quest for some closure to her pain even though I disagreed with her way of finding it. But no one can say how they would react to a situation so horrifically heartbreaking so I loved seeing how J.A Corrigans imagination flowed into her narrative, trusting no one until those last final few twists.

There were some very unlikable characters here (pretty much all of them apart from Rachel and Jonathon!) so its a testament to the authors ability to keep her readers invested in her plot that I wanted to keep reading till the end. And it is a tough listen at times! Dark and disturbing with themes of child abuse, it isn’t one for the faint hearted but it’s also one that will stay with you long after you finish reading it.

This is an exceptional debut novel that felt very different to other books in its genre, well written with a cleverly crafted storyline that really tugged on the heartstrings at times as I watched a mother fall to pieces at the death of her only child. And although I thought a subplot was a little too obvious for my liking, I didn’t work out exactly what had happened to Joe or how it would end!

Definitely an author to watch out for in the future.

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2 people found this helpful

I really struggled with the narrator

I enjoyed the twists and turns in the story it's the only thing that kept me listening. I very much disliked the narrator and the way she delivered each line like she was describing a dish on master chef

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Good thriller

This is a good, but bleak thriller. The story is mostly well written, with well fleshed out characters circumstances. Many of the issues raised are quite orginal and it never relies on cliche. Nevertheless, although I cannot figure out where it could have been cut, as little if anything here seemed wasted, it felt too long. Perhaps this is only because the content of the story is unrelentingly soul destroying. It is very explicit in language and sexual content. Also be aware that it may well be triggering for the issues of sexual abuse, especially in respect of a female perpetrator.

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3 people found this helpful

Terrible narrator

Terrible narrator gave up after 15 minutes. Could not listen to her voice anymore. So cannot give an opinion of the story.

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Could not get past the narration

Retuned almost immediately as the narrator was so wooden. Just awful, a real disappointment for me.

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