What do you think?
Rate this book
Don't Look Down
A BestThrillers Book Awards 2025 Finalist
The thrilling follow up to RUN.
Veronica Walsh’s meticulously created ‘normal’ life was torn apart by the public revelations about her past.
She is trying to put the pieces back together when a desperate Mikaela Alonso comes to her asking for help. She claims her husband Tony did not commit suicide–that maybe he isn’t even dead.
Dealing with domestic strife caused by her resurfaced childhood and happy with a distraction, Veronica jumps right in.
When they discover a connection between Tony and a recently murdered senator, Veronica realizes there is much more at play than she originally believed.
As Detective Emilia Brown investigates the Senator’s death with her new partner, Veronica and Mikaela dig into Tony’s past to try to uncover exactly what happened at a house that locals call World’s Edge, and who wants to unearth every last one of its secrets
The thrilling follow up to RUN.
Veronica Walsh’s meticulously created ‘normal’ life was torn apart by the public revelations about her past.
She is trying to put the pieces back together when a desperate Mikaela Alonso comes to her asking for help. She claims her husband Tony did not commit suicide–that maybe he isn’t even dead.
Dealing with domestic strife caused by her resurfaced childhood and happy with a distraction, Veronica jumps right in.
When they discover a connection between Tony and a recently murdered senator, Veronica realizes there is much more at play than she originally believed.
As Detective Emilia Brown investigates the Senator’s death with her new partner, Veronica and Mikaela dig into Tony’s past to try to uncover exactly what happened at a house that locals call World’s Edge, and who wants to unearth every last one of its secrets
353 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 14, 2025
45 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
Matthew Becker
3 books39 followersMatthew Becker is a former mathematician who worked as part of the national Covid-19 response. He has a doctorate in applied mathematics from the University of Maryland, College Park, and is published in the Bulletin of Mathematical Biology.
Matthew currently lives with his wife, a U.S. diplomat, and their two children in Nicaragua. An avid thriller reader, he loves stories with dense, twisted plots and emotional gravitas.
You can find him most active on Instagram, @ matthewbeckerbooks, and learn more on his website, www.matthewbeckerbooks.com
Matthew currently lives with his wife, a U.S. diplomat, and their two children in Nicaragua. An avid thriller reader, he loves stories with dense, twisted plots and emotional gravitas.
You can find him most active on Instagram, @ matthewbeckerbooks, and learn more on his website, www.matthewbeckerbooks.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 28, 2025
The ending killed me!!!!
January 13, 2025
Brimming with strong personalities, Don’t Look Down is a surprising and propulsive murder mystery, as well as a worthy follow-up to Run.
The follow-up to Matthew Beckers’ must-read debut novel Run opens on Theodore Roosevelt Island with the murder of a United States Senator. As homicide Detective Emilia Brown and her new partner begin investigating the Senator’s disappearance, she interviews Ben Walsh in an attempt to get insight into a meeting Ben’s boss, a congresswoman, and the late senator had prior to his death. If Ben doesn’t seem eager to help, it may be because has his own problems to deal with. At home, Ben is still wrestling with revelations of his wife’s long-hidden past.
But Veronica Walsh, who has started her own private detective firm, soon finds a welcome distraction from Ben’s ire. Shortly after being told by police that her husband jumped to his death from the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, Mikaela Alonso shows up at the Walshs’ doorstep, begging for Veronica’s help. It seems that Mikaela – who harbors a secret connection to the Walsh family – doesn’t believe her husband committed suicide. With the body still missing, she appears to believe that Veronica stands a far greater chance of finding him alive than the local police.
With Veronica and Emilia both working separate investigations, it’s only a matter of time before their respective worlds collide – and the body count rises.
Becker set a high bar with the concept for Run (one of the best thrillers of 2024), in which Ben Walsh was singularly focused on finding his wife. The more Ben dug, the less he liked what he found. With Don’t Look Down, Becker takes big narrative risks and defies the conventions typically found in a series sequel.
For starters, Ben’s role as amateur sleuth has lessened significantly, and the limelight is now shared by not one, but three other leads. Chapters are told in alternating points of view from Veronica, Emilia and Mikaela’s perspectives (a fourth character’s perspective is also added later in the book).
Becker’s attempts to make each chapter a kind of confessional for the three leads, while keeping the evolving murder mysteries moving, is largely successful. Similarly effective is the tension that arises from the secrets each keeps from each other. Of the three, Emilia proves to be the most sympathetic by far. Realistic about the emotional toll her job takes on her, and somewhat dissatisfied with her colleagues, she also leads through action with meticulousness, experience and heart.
In contrast, Veronica increasingly feels like the female version of Dexter – a born killer, shaped and guided by her father, who has been masquerading as something she isn’t for most of her adult life. Fleeting scenes of normalcy, such as watching the twins play in a jungle gym, only amp up the tension simmering beneath the entire story. Throughout, Veronica lays bare the pain of her past and present while seeming to relish the action her new life brings her. Will her foray into private detective work transform her into someone she and Ben are more at peace with, or will her new life finally shatter whatever’s left of her nuclear family? That’s the burning question simmering beneath the surface of this engaging trilogy, and it’s one that will keep us eagerly awaiting book three.
The follow-up to Matthew Beckers’ must-read debut novel Run opens on Theodore Roosevelt Island with the murder of a United States Senator. As homicide Detective Emilia Brown and her new partner begin investigating the Senator’s disappearance, she interviews Ben Walsh in an attempt to get insight into a meeting Ben’s boss, a congresswoman, and the late senator had prior to his death. If Ben doesn’t seem eager to help, it may be because has his own problems to deal with. At home, Ben is still wrestling with revelations of his wife’s long-hidden past.
But Veronica Walsh, who has started her own private detective firm, soon finds a welcome distraction from Ben’s ire. Shortly after being told by police that her husband jumped to his death from the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, Mikaela Alonso shows up at the Walshs’ doorstep, begging for Veronica’s help. It seems that Mikaela – who harbors a secret connection to the Walsh family – doesn’t believe her husband committed suicide. With the body still missing, she appears to believe that Veronica stands a far greater chance of finding him alive than the local police.
With Veronica and Emilia both working separate investigations, it’s only a matter of time before their respective worlds collide – and the body count rises.
Becker set a high bar with the concept for Run (one of the best thrillers of 2024), in which Ben Walsh was singularly focused on finding his wife. The more Ben dug, the less he liked what he found. With Don’t Look Down, Becker takes big narrative risks and defies the conventions typically found in a series sequel.
For starters, Ben’s role as amateur sleuth has lessened significantly, and the limelight is now shared by not one, but three other leads. Chapters are told in alternating points of view from Veronica, Emilia and Mikaela’s perspectives (a fourth character’s perspective is also added later in the book).
Becker’s attempts to make each chapter a kind of confessional for the three leads, while keeping the evolving murder mysteries moving, is largely successful. Similarly effective is the tension that arises from the secrets each keeps from each other. Of the three, Emilia proves to be the most sympathetic by far. Realistic about the emotional toll her job takes on her, and somewhat dissatisfied with her colleagues, she also leads through action with meticulousness, experience and heart.
In contrast, Veronica increasingly feels like the female version of Dexter – a born killer, shaped and guided by her father, who has been masquerading as something she isn’t for most of her adult life. Fleeting scenes of normalcy, such as watching the twins play in a jungle gym, only amp up the tension simmering beneath the entire story. Throughout, Veronica lays bare the pain of her past and present while seeming to relish the action her new life brings her. Will her foray into private detective work transform her into someone she and Ben are more at peace with, or will her new life finally shatter whatever’s left of her nuclear family? That’s the burning question simmering beneath the surface of this engaging trilogy, and it’s one that will keep us eagerly awaiting book three.
January 9, 2025
Applied mathematician turned novelist Matthew Becker, whose expertise shines through in his writing, wowed us with his smashing debut, RUN (Finalist for BestThrillers of the Year), and the kick-off to this exciting new series, RUN.
If you thought RUN was dazzling, wait until you read his thrilling follow-up, DON'T LOOK DOWN, #2 in the Run series.
"DON'T LOOK DOWN is a tour de force! This first-class, heart-pounding, unputdownable crime thriller series grabs you from page one to the unexpected jaw-dropping cliffhanger. Becker checks ALL the boxes with clever plot twists, highly relatable characters, political intrigue, and plenty of high-stakes action and suspense—leaving readers eagerly awaiting #3!"
Becker is an author to watch. DON'T LOOK DOWN will make my Top Books of 2025 List. Yes, it is that good!
About...
No secret stays buried forever...
An apparent suicide that a grieving wife cannot process.
A United States Senator murdered and dumped in the woods.
A cliffside mansion holding a decade-old secret.
How will these events affect Ben and Veronica Walsh's life?
From Chapter 1, you will be hooked when a man is running through the trees of Theodore Roosevelt Island, on the Potomac River across from Washington, DC, lit by the moonlight and the distant glow of the Kennedy Center.
He had persevered and survived more than this. How could he have been so naive that this source would provide him dirt on his enemies? He was terrified of death. He only wanted to go home to his wife. But he soon found himself looking at his assailant covered by a balaclava. Someone is out to make him pay. And now it will be too late. Has his past come back to haunt him?
A US Senator is MURDERED.
From here, we pick up from the last book after Veronica's dark secrets of the past, which she has tried to run from, that rise to the surface. After being shot and spending time in the hospital, she must rethink what she wants to do with her life.
Due to these dark secrets, Ben and Veronica Walsh's marriage and their family relationships are strained. She recently lost her position as a mathematics professor at Georgetown University.
Ben does not understand that his wife has spent her entire life running from her childhood. He is uncomfortable with her past as Alessandra/Alex with a crime lord father. He is struggling with this and returning to some sense or normality.
Ben wants to protect his family and his children, Nico and Maria, from getting caught in the crossfire. Can their family be saved? Where do they go from here?
Veronica has decided to start her own private investigation business to complicate things. After all, they do not spend their days in grave danger (or so she thinks). She, too, wants to keep her family safe. She is a survivor.
She thought Ben would be happy to have her spend more time with the kids and a home office, UNTIL...
Mikaela (32-year-old) widow has lost her husband, Antonio Alonso (Tony), and turns to Veronica for help. Filled with guilt, she does not believe her husband committed suicide or caused his own death.
Why was his car left on the bridge? Did he jump, or was he murdered? Who was on the bridge with him?
Why had the Congresswoman and Senator Billingsley met two days ago?
While Detective Emilia Brown investigates the Senator's death with her new partner, Veronica, and Mikaela are caught up in a dangerous, sinister web of deceit as they try to uncover how everything is connected and what happens at the mysterious World's Edge.
Everyone is in danger the closer they come to the truth. How are Georgetown alums, Tony's death, and the Senator connected?
What went down at the World's Edge?
My thoughts...
INTENSE. GRIPPING. COMPULSIVELY READABLE!
Becker's real-life expertise shines in DON'T LOOK DOWN. Beautifully written, from page one to the cliffhanger jaw-dropping ending (dying for #3 after the Epilogue), he never misses a beat in this high-octane battle of high-stakes action and suspense.
DON'T LOOK DOWN is a thrilling rollercoaster ride with cover-ups, corruption, revenge, a web of deceit, demons from the past, and dark secrets. Yet, it is also balanced with the strong love and bonds of family, and some twisty symmetries and mathematics, providing a range of emotions for the reader.
Told from multiple POVs and timelines, the second installment is even better than the first, with another action-packed, unputdownable adventure that will pierce your heart!
Veronica is an unstoppable force, an all-or-nothing gal. Ben is a likable father, spouse, career man, smart, and all or nothing. When you have two strong personalities, there will be fireworks.
Mix in the past converging with the present in this complex multi-layered who and whydunit, psychologically rich, murder, a serial killer with revenge and obsession plan, a tragedy, seven students from the past, and a mysterious mansion with decades-old dark, evil, and sinister secrets—you have a blockbuster hit!
I enjoy Becker's intelligent lyrical writing with lovely metaphors. I cannot wait for more, as I am dying with this cliffhanger. This series is perfect for the big screen (or TV series) and ideal for book clubs.
A tour de force twisty first-class pulse-racing crime thriller that will keep you turning pages late into the night with an intense jaw-dropping twist.
While this novel can be read as a standalone, I highly recommend reading the first book in the series (Run #1) to get a complete background and learn more about the characters. Why miss out on all the suspense?
Recs...
DON'T LOOK DOWN is for fans of this new talented author and those who enjoy David Baldacci, Isabelle Montaldo, Alex Finlay, and Greg Hurwitz.
Interview...
Stay tuned for my #AuthorElevatorSeries QA (an elevator ride with the author) where we go behind the scenes of the author and the pages of this exciting new series.
Special thanks to the author and the publisher for an advanced reading copy for my honest opinion.
Blog Review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: Jan 14, 2025
My Rating: 5 Stars +
Top Books of 2025
2025 Must Read Books
Jan Newsletter
Jan Featured Author Interview
If you thought RUN was dazzling, wait until you read his thrilling follow-up, DON'T LOOK DOWN, #2 in the Run series.
"DON'T LOOK DOWN is a tour de force! This first-class, heart-pounding, unputdownable crime thriller series grabs you from page one to the unexpected jaw-dropping cliffhanger. Becker checks ALL the boxes with clever plot twists, highly relatable characters, political intrigue, and plenty of high-stakes action and suspense—leaving readers eagerly awaiting #3!"
Becker is an author to watch. DON'T LOOK DOWN will make my Top Books of 2025 List. Yes, it is that good!
About...
No secret stays buried forever...
An apparent suicide that a grieving wife cannot process.
A United States Senator murdered and dumped in the woods.
A cliffside mansion holding a decade-old secret.
How will these events affect Ben and Veronica Walsh's life?
From Chapter 1, you will be hooked when a man is running through the trees of Theodore Roosevelt Island, on the Potomac River across from Washington, DC, lit by the moonlight and the distant glow of the Kennedy Center.
He had persevered and survived more than this. How could he have been so naive that this source would provide him dirt on his enemies? He was terrified of death. He only wanted to go home to his wife. But he soon found himself looking at his assailant covered by a balaclava. Someone is out to make him pay. And now it will be too late. Has his past come back to haunt him?
A US Senator is MURDERED.
From here, we pick up from the last book after Veronica's dark secrets of the past, which she has tried to run from, that rise to the surface. After being shot and spending time in the hospital, she must rethink what she wants to do with her life.
Due to these dark secrets, Ben and Veronica Walsh's marriage and their family relationships are strained. She recently lost her position as a mathematics professor at Georgetown University.
Ben does not understand that his wife has spent her entire life running from her childhood. He is uncomfortable with her past as Alessandra/Alex with a crime lord father. He is struggling with this and returning to some sense or normality.
Ben wants to protect his family and his children, Nico and Maria, from getting caught in the crossfire. Can their family be saved? Where do they go from here?
Veronica has decided to start her own private investigation business to complicate things. After all, they do not spend their days in grave danger (or so she thinks). She, too, wants to keep her family safe. She is a survivor.
She thought Ben would be happy to have her spend more time with the kids and a home office, UNTIL...
Mikaela (32-year-old) widow has lost her husband, Antonio Alonso (Tony), and turns to Veronica for help. Filled with guilt, she does not believe her husband committed suicide or caused his own death.
Why was his car left on the bridge? Did he jump, or was he murdered? Who was on the bridge with him?
Why had the Congresswoman and Senator Billingsley met two days ago?
While Detective Emilia Brown investigates the Senator's death with her new partner, Veronica, and Mikaela are caught up in a dangerous, sinister web of deceit as they try to uncover how everything is connected and what happens at the mysterious World's Edge.
Everyone is in danger the closer they come to the truth. How are Georgetown alums, Tony's death, and the Senator connected?
What went down at the World's Edge?
My thoughts...
INTENSE. GRIPPING. COMPULSIVELY READABLE!
Becker's real-life expertise shines in DON'T LOOK DOWN. Beautifully written, from page one to the cliffhanger jaw-dropping ending (dying for #3 after the Epilogue), he never misses a beat in this high-octane battle of high-stakes action and suspense.
DON'T LOOK DOWN is a thrilling rollercoaster ride with cover-ups, corruption, revenge, a web of deceit, demons from the past, and dark secrets. Yet, it is also balanced with the strong love and bonds of family, and some twisty symmetries and mathematics, providing a range of emotions for the reader.
Told from multiple POVs and timelines, the second installment is even better than the first, with another action-packed, unputdownable adventure that will pierce your heart!
Veronica is an unstoppable force, an all-or-nothing gal. Ben is a likable father, spouse, career man, smart, and all or nothing. When you have two strong personalities, there will be fireworks.
Mix in the past converging with the present in this complex multi-layered who and whydunit, psychologically rich, murder, a serial killer with revenge and obsession plan, a tragedy, seven students from the past, and a mysterious mansion with decades-old dark, evil, and sinister secrets—you have a blockbuster hit!
I enjoy Becker's intelligent lyrical writing with lovely metaphors. I cannot wait for more, as I am dying with this cliffhanger. This series is perfect for the big screen (or TV series) and ideal for book clubs.
A tour de force twisty first-class pulse-racing crime thriller that will keep you turning pages late into the night with an intense jaw-dropping twist.
While this novel can be read as a standalone, I highly recommend reading the first book in the series (Run #1) to get a complete background and learn more about the characters. Why miss out on all the suspense?
Recs...
DON'T LOOK DOWN is for fans of this new talented author and those who enjoy David Baldacci, Isabelle Montaldo, Alex Finlay, and Greg Hurwitz.
Interview...
Stay tuned for my #AuthorElevatorSeries QA (an elevator ride with the author) where we go behind the scenes of the author and the pages of this exciting new series.
Special thanks to the author and the publisher for an advanced reading copy for my honest opinion.
Blog Review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: Jan 14, 2025
My Rating: 5 Stars +
Top Books of 2025
2025 Must Read Books
Jan Newsletter
Jan Featured Author Interview
January 24, 2025
Author Matthew Becker’s debut novel, “Run” set the pace for what is quickly becoming a favorite for political thrillers. Where the first in the series saw readers hunting for a missing Veronica Walsh as her husband Ben maintained her innocence, this second in the series dives deeper into Veronica’s new normal.
With Veronica back, Becker gave readers what we so desperately craved, providing us the opportunity to hear Veronica’s story, her perspective, and her point of view after her past and secrets were shared with the world in book one. Immediately we are put back on firm ground as we begin to navigate her life after. Struggling to prove to the public, and her own family, that the past is no longer who she is, Veronica and Ben’s relationship is on remains shaky. Uprooting their family, seeking anonymity, and losing her job finds the Walsh family in turmoil. Yet, as Veronica takes on the role of private investigator, continuing to put her family in danger, Ben must once again evaluate the woman he married, and mother of his twins.
Mikaela, Veronica, and Detective Emilia Brown drive this story as Becker intimately weaves each of these women together. When Mikaela approaches Veronica for help with the disappearance of her husband, Tony, neither woman anticipated the sticky web they’d be entering. As characters new and old pop up, the fear, terror, and suspense of “Don’t Look Down” keeps us on the edge of our seat. From serial killers, their notes, the edge of the world, and the edge of the bridge, Becker is no stranger to drawing us in. With his gripping murders, thrilling mysteries, and political underpinnings, the Alexandria, Virginia and Washington D.C. scene is the perfect setting for the disturbing antics within to play out.
As Veronica once again finds herself in the cross hairs, Becker dangles his readers on the precipice as the puzzle slides into place. Leaving us with a final hook, readers are left anxiously awaiting Becker’s next installment in the series.
With Veronica back, Becker gave readers what we so desperately craved, providing us the opportunity to hear Veronica’s story, her perspective, and her point of view after her past and secrets were shared with the world in book one. Immediately we are put back on firm ground as we begin to navigate her life after. Struggling to prove to the public, and her own family, that the past is no longer who she is, Veronica and Ben’s relationship is on remains shaky. Uprooting their family, seeking anonymity, and losing her job finds the Walsh family in turmoil. Yet, as Veronica takes on the role of private investigator, continuing to put her family in danger, Ben must once again evaluate the woman he married, and mother of his twins.
Mikaela, Veronica, and Detective Emilia Brown drive this story as Becker intimately weaves each of these women together. When Mikaela approaches Veronica for help with the disappearance of her husband, Tony, neither woman anticipated the sticky web they’d be entering. As characters new and old pop up, the fear, terror, and suspense of “Don’t Look Down” keeps us on the edge of our seat. From serial killers, their notes, the edge of the world, and the edge of the bridge, Becker is no stranger to drawing us in. With his gripping murders, thrilling mysteries, and political underpinnings, the Alexandria, Virginia and Washington D.C. scene is the perfect setting for the disturbing antics within to play out.
As Veronica once again finds herself in the cross hairs, Becker dangles his readers on the precipice as the puzzle slides into place. Leaving us with a final hook, readers are left anxiously awaiting Becker’s next installment in the series.
January 29, 2025
Don’t Look Down is the second book featuring Ben and Veronica Walsh and set in Washington DC. Despite the setting it is not really a political thriller. Following on from the events in the previous book Run, Veronica has recovered from her injuries but has lost her teaching position at the university. Due to the revelations about her past, her marriage to Ben is under strain which is only made worse when she sets herself up as a private investigator, as he feels she is putting them all in even more danger.
Mikaela Alonso’s husband Tony is last seen about to jump from a bridge into the river, and with a verdict of presumed suicide she approaches Veronica for help, but is not being entirely honest about her connection to the Walsh family. Detective Emilia Brown, now with a new partner, is trying to make sense of several seemingly unconnected deaths, while Veronica is trying to find out what happened to Tony, but eventually it becomes clear that their cases are connected.
This time around the spotlight is on Veronica, with Ben taking more of a back seat. The story is told from several viewpoints which gives the reader a good idea of what is going on, and how it all links up with the previous book. With the weight of the revelations about her teenage years hanging over them, Ben and Veronica are undergoing a period of adjustment, and can only hope that they will emerge stronger than before. I’m not sure this would work as a standalone – it would make a lot more sense if you read Run first. We will now have to be patient and wait for the final book from this impressive new writer. Thanks to Matthew Becker and Aethon Books for a digital copy that I read as a member of Rosie’s Book Review Team #RBRT
March 2, 2025
What a captivating thriller! It moved right along with the story line, which runs along multiple character perspectives. It was interesting to have pieces of the story unveil from different characters. The plot was full of unexpected twists and turns. Now that I've finished, I'm biting my nails waiting for the next book to come out!
January 22, 2025
The least you'd expect is that the author likes it!
Read
July 23, 2025Too much like book one.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews