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A Study on Falling
Have you ever been lost in a maze?
Have you ever kept walking, sure that the exit was near, only to realise that you’ve been going around in circles?
Ever been trapped?
I have.
Once, I was someone. A bestselling author whose prose charmed the world. I was in love, I was married, and my muse was my partner through it all. Then came the accident. I lost a part of myself – became a man unravelling, a husband undone. A novelist without words.
See, the mind can be a maze. Mine became a labyrinth.
I was banished to a hospital for the gifted, where my paranoia wasn’t cured; it only grew, fed by the doctors and my fellow inmates surrounding me.
My name is Henry Levi. I’m a writer. This isn’t a memoir, it’s a record of my time spent in the depths of the labyrinth, fumbling in the dark for the golden thread that would lead me to salvation.
A story, a warning, a legend … call it what you like.
I call it my Study on Falling.
Have you ever kept walking, sure that the exit was near, only to realise that you’ve been going around in circles?
Ever been trapped?
I have.
Once, I was someone. A bestselling author whose prose charmed the world. I was in love, I was married, and my muse was my partner through it all. Then came the accident. I lost a part of myself – became a man unravelling, a husband undone. A novelist without words.
See, the mind can be a maze. Mine became a labyrinth.
I was banished to a hospital for the gifted, where my paranoia wasn’t cured; it only grew, fed by the doctors and my fellow inmates surrounding me.
My name is Henry Levi. I’m a writer. This isn’t a memoir, it’s a record of my time spent in the depths of the labyrinth, fumbling in the dark for the golden thread that would lead me to salvation.
A story, a warning, a legend … call it what you like.
I call it my Study on Falling.
290 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 5, 2025
4 people are currently reading
1660 people want to read
About the author
Gaelan Donovan Wort
8 books19 followersGaelan Donovan Wort penned his first novel, The Nature of Predation, at the age of seventeen, driven by a restless passion for storytelling that has since deepened into a lifelong craft.
Since that early beginning, he has followed the shadows that gather between myth and memory, reverie and ruin—threads that continue to weave throughout his stories.
His fiction drifts between genres—gothic horror, mythic tragedy, psychological thriller, speculative drama, and satirical science fiction—but is always drawn to the liminal, the haunted, and the human. Whether eerie or elegiac, his stories linger where the rational frays—and the unknowable begins.
Since that early beginning, he has followed the shadows that gather between myth and memory, reverie and ruin—threads that continue to weave throughout his stories.
His fiction drifts between genres—gothic horror, mythic tragedy, psychological thriller, speculative drama, and satirical science fiction—but is always drawn to the liminal, the haunted, and the human. Whether eerie or elegiac, his stories linger where the rational frays—and the unknowable begins.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 5, 2025
The Review
This was such a compelling and unique psychological thriller. It reminded me a lot of Alan Wake without the overt supernatural themes. Instead, it was a masterclass in the psychology of a writer, an artist, a creative who has been through trauma and cannot return to the space that their creativity once sprang from. The fact that the author brought to life a unique story surrounding an author of the recently reviewed The Shambling Lords, itself a fictional story written by a fictional author, and how that dark fantasy played out in the confines of this story was so unique and imaginative that readers were instantly enthralled.
The powerful imagery in the author’s writing style and the way the fictional story Henry Levi wrote bled into his waking life were so chilling and haunting, especially in his confrontation with Viviane later in the story. The honest emotional struggle Henry goes through in this narrative is so reflective of the impact trauma can have on a person, and how easily or narrowly the path towards pessimism and anger can be to traverse, but the fight to find new inspiration and hope again is achievable, but sometimes only by acknowledging the pain of loss and finding a new beginning.
The Verdict
Artful, thrilling, and entertaining, author Gaelan Donovan Wort’s “A Study on Falling” is a must-read psychological thriller. The twists and turns in the narrative, the deeply personal relationships and interactions Henry has with others in the clinic, and the realism with which the author tackles these themes will keep readers invested all the way to the book’s impactful final chapter.
This was such a compelling and unique psychological thriller. It reminded me a lot of Alan Wake without the overt supernatural themes. Instead, it was a masterclass in the psychology of a writer, an artist, a creative who has been through trauma and cannot return to the space that their creativity once sprang from. The fact that the author brought to life a unique story surrounding an author of the recently reviewed The Shambling Lords, itself a fictional story written by a fictional author, and how that dark fantasy played out in the confines of this story was so unique and imaginative that readers were instantly enthralled.
The powerful imagery in the author’s writing style and the way the fictional story Henry Levi wrote bled into his waking life were so chilling and haunting, especially in his confrontation with Viviane later in the story. The honest emotional struggle Henry goes through in this narrative is so reflective of the impact trauma can have on a person, and how easily or narrowly the path towards pessimism and anger can be to traverse, but the fight to find new inspiration and hope again is achievable, but sometimes only by acknowledging the pain of loss and finding a new beginning.
The Verdict
Artful, thrilling, and entertaining, author Gaelan Donovan Wort’s “A Study on Falling” is a must-read psychological thriller. The twists and turns in the narrative, the deeply personal relationships and interactions Henry has with others in the clinic, and the realism with which the author tackles these themes will keep readers invested all the way to the book’s impactful final chapter.
January 13, 2026
I have the habit of highlighting the most significant passages in a book or passages that capture my attention stylistically. Barely 15% into 'A Study on Falling', I realized I was highlighting everything. And by everything, I really mean everything.
Well, this is that kind of book—one that not only engulfs you and grabs you to the core to never let you go, but is also masterfully written by the gifted pen of Gaelan Donovan Wort. When you reach the end, you ask yourself, "What will I do with myself now?"
The protagonist of this dark, unsettling psychological drama is Henry Levi, a former, highly acclaimed novelist who is now reduced to alcohol and loneliness after life played a nasty trick on him. His manager convinces him to check into a center for self-destructive artists, hoping he will find inspiration and return to writing.
There, Henry meets an eclectic mix of personalities who will leave an indelible mark on him, for better or worse; artists who, like Henry, have experienced trauma from which they cannot escape.
A Study on Falling inevitably draws you into its maze, where Henry's mind questions its sanity, causing you to question yours. Reality and imagination merge, and you sink with the protagonist.
It is extremely introspective and, at times, distressing. It is impossible to come out of it "unscathed." It is one of the rare books that really made me want to read more by its author.
Well, this is that kind of book—one that not only engulfs you and grabs you to the core to never let you go, but is also masterfully written by the gifted pen of Gaelan Donovan Wort. When you reach the end, you ask yourself, "What will I do with myself now?"
The protagonist of this dark, unsettling psychological drama is Henry Levi, a former, highly acclaimed novelist who is now reduced to alcohol and loneliness after life played a nasty trick on him. His manager convinces him to check into a center for self-destructive artists, hoping he will find inspiration and return to writing.
There, Henry meets an eclectic mix of personalities who will leave an indelible mark on him, for better or worse; artists who, like Henry, have experienced trauma from which they cannot escape.
A Study on Falling inevitably draws you into its maze, where Henry's mind questions its sanity, causing you to question yours. Reality and imagination merge, and you sink with the protagonist.
It is extremely introspective and, at times, distressing. It is impossible to come out of it "unscathed." It is one of the rare books that really made me want to read more by its author.
December 12, 2025
A Study on Falling is a dark, immersive psychological drama that follows Henry Levi, a once celebrated author whose life unravels after a devastating accident leaves him broken in body and spirit and searching for meaning inside the confines of a highly unsettling institution. Told as a personal record rather than a simple story, the book slowly pulls you into Henry’s spiraling thoughts and growing paranoia, making the reader feel just as trapped inside the maze of his mind as he is. I really enjoyed how intimate and raw the writing feels, especially the way it captures grief, anger, and creative loss without trying to soften them, which made the experience feel deeply personal and hard to shake long after I closed the book.
December 10, 2025
This book grabbed me fast and did not let go. From the moment Henry starts questioning his sanity and the people supposedly there to save him, I was hooked and honestly a little unsettled in the best way. I loved how this story messes with your head and makes you question what is real, what is fear, and what happens when a brilliant mind starts turning against itself. If you enjoy intense stories that crawl under your skin and stick with you, this is absolutely worth reading because it is smart, moody, and fearless in how deep it goes. 🌀📖
December 14, 2025
Lost in the Labyrinth and Loving Every Page
A Study on Falling is the kind of mind-bending, emotionally intense read that pulls you into its spiral and dares you to find the way out.
A Study on Falling is the kind of mind-bending, emotionally intense read that pulls you into its spiral and dares you to find the way out.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews