Fault Tree

by Mickey Friedman (Pseudonym), Michaela Thompson

HELLO, IT’S YOUR PAST CALLING…

“Placing blame” thinks Marina Robinson, “is my life’s work. And why?” There’s a lot in her past to account for—nightmares and terrors, crimes and betrayals that happened half a world away, ten years go. Now she’s an engineer with a great job. She’s a failure analyst, an investigator who figures out what causes accidents, and she’s working on her most fascinating case--the fatal crash of a roller coaster--when suddenly the phone rings. And her world tilts…

The elusive, unidentified caller can be only one person—Catherine, her beloved younger sister who supposedly died in a fire ten years ago. Once again—for the moment abandoning her case--Marina is inexorably drawn back to India, the country that seduced her so long ago in so many ways, where something unspeakable happened to a child, and where she herself participated in misdeeds so shocking she can’t forgive herself. She starts by tracking Catherine’s lost lover, Nagarajan, the irresistibly charismatic guru under whose spell Catherine fell those many years ago, a man so dangerous, so full of hubris he took his name from Indian snake gods, and who at times seemed more serpent than human. But who is also reportedly dead—a suicide in a jail cell.

Thus begins an odyssey of fear and danger--far from dead, Nagarajan seems to be everywhere, and so do his disciples (at least those who haven't gone mad from guilt). Nowhere, it seems, is Marina safe, nor is anyone who knows anything about the young victim of Nagarajan’s atrocities. Wherever she turns, the path seems strewn with fresh bodies. Just when the jig seems up, Marina calls on her skills as a failure analyst and Thompson pulls off a surprise ending that will leave you gasping.

Fault Tree is that rare novel that pulls us into the exotic experience of a stranger in a strange land, much like Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's Heat and Dust or Gregory David Roberts' Shantaram.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Suspense

242 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 28, 1984

About the author

Books are now republished under the name of Michaela Thompson.

Reviews

[Donadee's Corner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another new place with Michaela Thompson, I can see the place so well with the vivid descriptions that our author has given. I'm meeting new friends because this author can make them so real to her readers. The story line is very well developed and you can see the research that she has done to make you feel this way. Marina is first on the scene of the accident at The Fun World. She is put in an awkward position by the aging Mr Bolton owner, also known as Bobo the clown, requesting that she be the lead person on this case. Marina has secrets that have haunted her for the last 10 years and then the phone rings, her world turns upside down.. all those years she was never sure her sister was dead..she has to know. Her quest takes her back to India and puts her in great danger along with her new friend from the embassy. This story is one of those that grab you on page two and won't let go till the last page. I could not turn them fast enough. I was so wrapped up that I did not expect nor see the ending. This is to be expected, Michaela is so great at keeping the suspense high and the ending a secret till the last pages. Another really good read. She's done it again, so don't miss out.

[Frances I. Guempel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fault tree

It took me awhile to get into this book but I persevered and was glad I did. after it gets going it is a fun ride

[Susan Katz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read it two weeks ago on a flight from Raleigh to Maine, and I have no recollection of the story! But I do remember that I liked it.

[Nira Ramachandran · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marina and Catherine orphaned at an early age in a tragic plane crash, pull together their lives with elder sister Marina giving up her dreams of Stanford and enrolling in a state college to see her sister through school. But Catherine has other inclinations, and is attracted to spiritualism and gurus, and soon takes off to India with the mesmerizing Nagarajan, to live as an acolyte in his ashram. Marina, now an engineer follows her sister in the hopes of bringing her back home, but things take a tragic turn and she returns home empty-handed and desolate. Now ten years later, another tragedy takes place and Marina is called in to investigate an accident at Bobo’s Fun World, where a rollercoaster crashes causing death and injury, the owners facing a major lawsuit. Marina, now working as an investigator for Break Down Inc. is totally focused on discovering the truth and seems to be getting somewhere, when strange phone calls and letters begin to arrive from Bombay, mostly indecipherable but containing references to her childhood memories of life with her sister. Freshly aroused hopes of finding Catherine safe and well, lead Marina to drop her assignment, take a few weeks off and rush back to India with nothing but a few flimsy clues. Undaunted she sets off on an arduous adventure into the small towns and remote villages around Bombay accompanied by a personable assistant, assigned to her by the American embassy. And the long tangled mystery is finally resolved.

[Alan Colclough · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good book by Michaela Thompson and probably my favourite out of the 'International' series. The characters are well crafted and the story romps along at quite a pace. My only quibble is that it feels very much like 2 shorter stories that have been forced together to make a novel - the opening section is the weaker of the stories, it rather runs out of steam, as is evidenced in it's rushed resolution in the final 4 chapters. The Indian section is far more of an enticing read and reminds me somewhat of Agatha Christie's stand alone novels set in the middle east, 'They Came to Baghdad' and 'Destination Unknown'.

[Antigone Walsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

An engineer investigating the failure of an amusement park ride is lured to India. Years earlier her sister died in a fire related to a disgraced guru. Marina will finally make sense of the tragedy and if she survives will be able to use her insight to solve the mystery of the amusement park.

This novel picked up once Marina went to India. The opening was slow and dragged. But the atmosphere is well conveyed. The story of what happened to the guru was predictable but still fun to watch unfold. Decent read.

[Dawn Ireland · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little confused at the beginning of the book, but then it took hold and galloped the chapters away. I like how everything came together in the end, but to be honest, I suspected the two separate characters of their crimes and guessed the identities way before the end of the book.

[Patricia Ferreira · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like this book very much, because of the subject matter. Not my cup of tea.

[Martine · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5

Five things:
- International travel
- Mystery in a mystery
- Finding legal fault
- Cultish religious leaders
- Reemergence of old trauma

[Lloyd G. Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent international thriller with characters who come alive on the page

I love this book because the characters were so fascinating everyone of them and because there were always surprises around the corner of her books I loved Riptide I did not like the second one in that series but I'm looking forward to more books in the international thriller series she's a very good writer !