Before the Fall

by Stephen Romano

“I do my ghost number around back, hop a three-foot fence, and the kitchen door is wide open. Imagine that. Don’t even need my tools for this one. Still, I slip on my gloves from the kit and test the perimeter for heat signals with my night-vision specs. Never can tell, right? And it feels comforting somehow to break out the old school—my snoop gear from a long-gone life. The batteries are still good, even after so many years.”

Joe Casey, a private detective turned disillusioned, wandering itinerant, kills his oldest friend in an act of mercy, little suspecting that the act will draw him into a web of violence and intrigue. No good deed goes unpunished and before long, Joe stumbles into a billionaire scientist’s plan to destroy and replace the human race.

Another installment in the mind-bending Wayward Pines series, action master Stephen Romano’s Before the Fall follows reborn, rebooted, and ready-for-action private detective Joe Casey as he pursues megalomaniac genius David Pilcher and his army of followers into the mountains of Wayward Pines. Joe must be getting rusty, though, because before too long he finds himself in the crosshairs of Pilcher’s most sinister agent, the beautiful and deadly Pam Prescott.

Genres: Horror, Fiction

219 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 29, 2013

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I began hearing about the Wayward Pines series online during discussions of the upcoming "Twin Peaks" like TV show produced by M. Night Shyamalan. So far this is the only related story I've read, but I am super interested in reading the others as well as the source books, if they are anywhere nearly as interesting.

This book chronicles events that take place before, and indeed events that turn out to be the source of what's happening in the Wayward Pines universe. It's a personal chronicle of one man's extraordinary journey. Part noir mystery thriller, part revenge story. It take a few chapters to really get going, laying the groundwork of who this person is and how he ends up involved in this bizarre conspiracy. But it lays a solid foundation for what comes later. It felt like the narrative literally picked up steam, as they say, as I progressed from chapter to chapter. And it pulled me into the story in an interesting and subtle way. Once I was about halfway through it was extremely difficult to stop reading.

I've read one other novel by Stephen Romano, Resurrection Express, and it had a similar effect on me. Starting slowly with foundational character stuff and picking up steam as it drew to it's fascinating, and unexpected, conclusion. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good mystery, crime or Sci-Fi genre story!

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book. It starts off slow and I almost gave it a pass while reading the first few chapters. You just have to stick with it. After the first few chapters it gets a lot better. The book is very well written and easily readable even though it jumps in to flashbacks. I want more out of Joe's character, depth, growth, likability... just more. However, the Wayward Pines series continues to keep me interested!

The story is dark. It is set in Idaho and the characters are odd to say the least. Joe is a private detective and he learns of a plan to destroy mankind. Joe hasn't evolved as much as a character as I have wanted him too.

I would have rated this higher if the first couple chapters hadn't seemed so dull.

[William Holloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Stephen Romano. I can't figure out if his prose is more akin to an icepick or a sudden slashing scalpel. Some people spend their entire lives trying to write action scenes and gritty narration but it comes natural to Stephen Romano. He bleeds this stuff, and this one is no exception.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was a kindle worlds book, so maybe i would have enjoyed it more had i been familiar with the "world" before i read it. it was enjoyable enough on it's own until it started getting weird at the end, and that's when knowledge of the "world" would have been helpful. lesson learned i guess.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prequel