The Fall

THE FALL is a cynical, tough-minded thriller that may unsettle some readers. I found it refreshing reading in this political season where all nuance is lost and only simplistic black or white is the order of the day. Joanne Lessing is a professional photographer on assignment in a Chicago suburb who snaps a picture of a hit-and-run driver who sideswipes a parked car. Though no one is injured, Joanne reports the incident to the Northbrook Police. Only later, when detectives and a gaggle of FBI agents descend on her, does Joanne learn that the driver was probably a Mafia hit man leaving the scene of his latest crime. She identifies the driver and is subpoenaed to testify at a hearing to get a wiretap on the suspect's telephone. A hit-and-run driver kills another supposed witness and a bomb is discovered in Joanne's car. The FBI insists that she and her son go into the Federal Witness Protection program. The Chicago FBI office is struggling to identify who is leaking information about its witnesses to the Mafia at the same time they are trying to nail the hit man known as "Mr. Million". To complicate matters further, Joanne and one of the FBI agents, Paul Minorini, fall for each other. One wonders what "fall" Dymmoch has in mind with her title. The story begins in the fall of the year, but I think she has a more Miltonian fall in mind. There are plenty of candidates: prideful, straight-arrow Minorini; Dossi, the untouchable hit man; or one of the several other characters who fall in one sense or another. PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY says THE FALL "...ends in a moral quagmire some readers may find unsatisfying". Many fine novels, from DON QUIXOTE to A S Byatt's POSSESSION, end in moral ambiguity. Most murder mystery plots do indeed end tidily with the scales of justice neatly balanced. Perhaps that's why they are so popular. Bravo to Ms Dymmoch for giving the reader something messier and closer to real life.