Under the Falls

Falls #2

by Richard Russo

The Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Empire Falls returns with his first stand-alone novel since Chances Are . . . —a spellbinding page-turner about a crime in a small town that exposes long-held secrets and betrayals among a group of lifelong friends

When Tyler Sinclair left Stone Mountain at eighteen, he had no plans of returning. With only a duffel bag full of clothes, a few bucks stolen from his father’s dresser, and a guitar, his most prized possession, Tyler disappeared without so much as a goodbye. Eighteen years later, and Tyler, now the frontman of a famous band aptly named Stone Mountain, finds himself returning to his hometown for a one-night-only benefit concert to support his old friend, Doc, who lost feeling in his legs following a childhood accident. As Tyler ascends the mountain, memories of his childhood come rushing back—memories of his abusive father and despondent mother, of the friends he left behind—and he quickly learns that, for many people on Stone Mountain, the past does not feel like so long ago, and not everyone has been eagerly awaiting Tyler’s return.

At the concert, resentment simmers just beneath the surface, and Tyler finds himself confronted with faces new and old: there’s Curt, Tyler’s childhood best friend, now Stone Mountain’s chief of police, and his star officer, Deb, an out-of-towner who may have bitten off more than she can chew by accepting a job in Stone Mountain. And then there’s Freddi, Curt’s wife and Tyler’s former lover, a woman whose questionable dealings and fraught history with Tyler will become the catalyst for a tragedy that will upend each of their lives and threaten to validate Tyler’s worst fear: that “Stone Mountain is the kind of place you might escape from once, if you’re lucky, but not twice.”

Under the Falls is at once a propulsive thriller, a gut-wrenching portrait of a tight-knit rural community undone by the sins of its past, and an unflinchingly honest depiction of how porous the line between right and wrong, good versus evil, can become. A stunning, deeply empathetic novel, one that takes Russo’s penchant for character-driven drama to thrilling new heights.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Suspense, Friendship

256 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication August 11, 2026

About the author

RICHARD RUSSO is the author of seven previous novels; two collections of stories; and Elsewhere, a memoir. In 2002 he received the Pulitzer Prize for Empire Falls, which like Nobody’s Fool was adapted to film, in a multiple-award-winning HBO miniseries.

Reviews

[Angela M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Richard Russo is a favorite of mine. I’ve read and loved all of his novels. His forte is books about small towns with characters whose lives are shaped by the place , by their relationships with one another, as much as specific events. This novel is one of those books . I knew going into it that it was described as a crime/thriller. Even though this is not a genre I enjoy reading, I couldn’t resist because - well it’s Richard Russo. I’m going to chalk up my three stars and not more to the genre. I can’t give it less even though I didn’t fully enjoy it because I found elements of his writing that I love . From the beginning the reader is invited to the place, the past, taking us along with characters connected by their past - by shared trauma, friendship, by love, but also resentment and guilt. For more plot details you can read the description.

I received a copy of this from Knopf through NetGalley.

[Christopher Febles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Advanced Review Copy

The author of one of my favorite all-time books, Nobody's Fool, returns by stepping into a new genre: murder-mystery.

Tyler Sinclair is the lead singer of the famous rock band Stone Mountain, so named after the Rust-Belt upstate New York town in which he grew up. He returns for a tour stop and visits with Doc, a man who suffered a spinal injury he incurred in a dangerous stunt with Tyler when they were kids. At the concert he also comes across his old friend Curt, now the Chief of Police. Curt’s wife, Freddi, was someone Tyler was in love with way back then, and now she’s involved in something awfully fishy.

Trying to leave town, Tyler’s limo is run off the road by a familiar-looking car. Two people die, his girlfriend and bandmate Beth is critically injured, and he ends up in a hospital also desperately hurt. Looks like an accident until Curt’s deputy, Deb, looks into it. All might not be what it seems, and all those past secrets and misdeeds might come back to haunt them all…



This is one of Russo’s shorter books, coming in just around two-fifty. It reads pretty smoothly, with lots of introspection but done with clear, easy-to-grasp prose. The main characters’ rationale makes sense for the most part. The pain of the past is evident and tactile.

Mystery isn’t something I’d have expected from Russo, but he does a good job with the basic elements. The action is front-heavy, with a big swath of conversations and inner monologues right in the middle. The climax builds where it should and with plenty of swift movements and twists. He digs deep into motivation, allowing ghosts to appear and mess things up for everyone. The plot felt disjointed and confusing at times, causing me to backtrack once in a while. Memories, implanted in the multi-perspective format, interfered with the real events. I wished for just a few very clear narratives that would explain things a bit more clearly.

The characters seem not very redeemable, and some not likeable. In his past works I found the villains to have a comical side, but not here at all. Freddi is just awful, and I wasn’t sure I understood why. But there’s a seriousness and heft that bummed me out. So, I suppose nasty characters doing iffy things was kind of the point.

The setting is important here, perhaps even more so than in previous novels. Russo seems to lean hard into the book’s identity with depressed upstate. Everyone’s so messed up, so mixed up with crime and violence and jealousy, partly because of the poor economy and racism and classism. That was a theme that good, but again: I wanted more mystery.

The Acknowledgements state that this was a script for a TV pilot that didn’t make it through the writer’s strike. Maybe that would’ve helped the enjoyment here: the visuals might’ve made the setting and the crime elements pop.

(Also, when I heard “Stone Mountain,” I thought of the place in Georgia. So, I was confused. Was another town name considered?)

Still, Russo can write. He can put images in my mind and make me think. I sure hope he comes back to this setting with characters just as interesting as the ones he’d created in the past.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review. Under the Falls will be released August 11, 2026.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really don't know what happened here. Richard Russo has long been ol' reliable for me. His books are funny and heartwarming and full of curmudgeonly and flawed but lovable characters. This book, which was originally a pilot script for a tv show, is a departure and not a welcome one.

I knew when I began reading and found that part of the story is told by a twentysomething Black woman (for those not in the know, Russo is a 76 year-old white man) that things were not looking good. Maybe the story would have worked better in its original form, as a serialized tv show?

Some Lingering Questions (SPOILERS ahead, be warned)
-If Tyler hated his hometown so much and wanted to distance himself, why did he name his band after it?
-Did the concertgoers, like, bring cartons of eggs into the concert?
-Did Doc really die how they said he did? He's used as a plot device and a reason for Tyler to return then quickly discarded and forgotten.
-Why is Beth so mad at Tyler? Even if he called Curtis Jr. while THEIR LIMO WAS ACTIVELY BEING PUSHED OFF A MOUNTAIN, the accident was already in motion.
-Why did Freddi tell Curtis Jr. about who she suspected his father was? She doesn't even know for sure, and she didn't tell her husband.
-Speaking of Freddi, there is nothing about this character or her motivations that I understand.
-How did Tyler figure out it was Curtis Jr. and not Freddi who was driving the hearse?
-What was Curtis Jr. planning to do when he bumped the limo off the mountain? Was he intending to kill its four inhabitants? Much like Freddi's, his motivations are a mystery. And we have so little of him in the novel that it's hard to guess.

[Cindy (leavemetomybooks) · Rating 1 out of 5]

* thanks to Knopf for the NetGalley review copy (pub date: August 2026)

DNF @ 17% because omfg this is tedious

[Margot · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is very sub-par for such a good writer as Russo. Curt is the only interesting character. The plot is pretty predictable. I think it needs better editing as there are way too many sentences ending with question marks. I see at the end it was originally a pilot for a tv series that did not survive the writers’ strike. Russo should have passed on it. I think he generally aims for depth in his novels. There is also zero humor and he can be a master of sarcasm clever ridicule of human nature. I am hoping it will be cleaned up before the release date next year.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a Richard Russo fan, but I feel like he didn’t write this book. The character development was shallow at best. I felt like the plot points were too convenient, and I was not invested at all. I wanted to love this…I didn’t.

Thanks NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC!

[Beth Gordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 ⭐️

Tyler Sinclair, a successful musician, returns home to the small town of Stone Mountain to perform a benefit concert for his childhood friend, Doc, who had lost his legs during a childhood accident involving the falls. While back in town, a tragic car accident occurs that could change the trajectory of the town and the lives of Tyler and Doc.

➕ Interesting small town setting (although I kept thinking the story took place in Stone Mountain, Georgia, but I think it actually took place in New York)
➕ Decent writing although I think more was needed to become attached to the characters.

➖ How race was handled - there are a couple of younger people of color characters, and I feel they needed a sensitivity reader or incorporated their identity a little more.
➖ More connective tissue was needed in this novel. It was a relatively short novel, and I feel “more” was needed. More on Doc, more on Freddi, more on Tyler.
➖ This probably would have been a better TV series than novel, as this was intended in the afterword.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for an Advance Reader Copy. My review is completely my own.

It publishes August 11, 2026.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 40%. This is nowhere near the level of writing we usually get from Richard Russo. The premise was a good one, but the way the story unfolds, the way the characters interact,the tedious inner monologues and the choppy, uneven writing were enough for me to give up on this one. Maybe it would work as it was intended, as a serialized television production, but as a novel it suffers from a lack of heart and the depth required to keep readers engaged.

[Linda Loretz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Russo incorporates many of the same themes from his earlier books, but I did not find Under the Falls as layered and nuanced as his previous novels. The characters in Under the Falls seemed to be stereotypes of those found in "small town" America. Curt, one of the protagonists, is the chief of police. He is in a bad marriage to his high school sweetheart, Freddi, and condones the illegal activity she spearheads. There has been little positive growth in their lives, and they mostly feel resentment and a sense of entrapment. It is difficult to warm up to them since they are so miserable and isolated. Their stunted personal growth serves as a bleak reflection of the tired, neglected community they inhabit.

The story's action revolves around the return of Curt's childhood friend, Tyler Sinclair, who has become a famous rock star and agrees to perform a benefit concert in Stone Mountain, a fictional town in New York State near Albany that serves as the book's setting. Tyler had never wanted to return to his past, and from the moment he arrives, he gets bad vibes and negative messages. Therein lies the main message of Russo's book and a dismal one at that: few people escape the provincial nature of small town living, and if you are one of those who does manage to create a life elsewhere, there is no joy in returning. People hold onto old grievances, and relationships become convoluted rather than growing and propagating. Russo also conveys the message that childhood experiences are an integral part of one's fabric, and that life's outcomes depend on how, or whether, you deal with the events of the formative years.

As Tyler and Curt become reacquainted, the positive and negative aspects of their friendship become apparent, and the flaws in male friendships form the basis for a predictable plot that may be meant as dramatic irony, since readers can figure out what Curt and Tyler only discover at the end of the novel. Without providing spoilers, an important theme Russo repeatedly emphasizes through Tyler is the "world of IS and the world of MEANING." In other words, grappling with reality and recognizing what is happening or figuring out the meaning in the events of one's life is part of self-development, and it is mighty difficult when the community cannot bear any changes.

Since Russo's writing is engaging, I stayed interested in reading this book even though nothing surprising happened after the first few chapters. I think that was the point. The small town of Stone Mountain had dividing lines between the haves and have-nots. Those who stay there accept the precepts of living in a time warp. Companionship is important in a variety of relationships, many of which are shallow and meaningless. Time passes, but humans are somewhat powerless. The characters are amazingly unaware of the details of their lives and accept circumstances somewhat passively. It takes newcomers such as Deb, a new police officer, to question what has been accepted for generations and a returnee such as Tyler to recognize that there are age-old problems to address.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC for review. To be published August 11, 2026.

3 stars

So, Russo. He’s not my favorite, but he’s usually pretty reliable. This….is not his best.

First off, now I’m sure this is primarily because I’m a Southern person, and I know Russo’s books are very specific as to place, which, if I remember correctly, is typically New York State. However, there are many, many of us Southern people and we do read. This book is set in a small town called Stone Mountain.

I don’t know about y’all (placed here very specifically, of course) but where I come from there’s only one Stone Mountain. It’s in Georgia. Kind of well known. The protagonist names his popular band Stone Mountain and the town name keeps coming up over and over again throughout the book. Has Russo never heard of Stone Mountain, Georgia? No editor? Because I have to say that it kept throwing me off. It would be like naming the fictional town in your book Kalamazoo, but not THAT Kalamazoo. Weird. But, again, maybe it’s just me.

Tyler Sinclair is Stone Mountain’s prodigal son; left at 18 and now he returns, eighteen years later, a star. He’s there, reluctantly to do a benefit show for his boyhood friend Doc who has severe medical issues.

Curt, Tyler’s childhood best friend is now chief of police. Freddi, Tyler’s former lover is Curt’s wife. Curt and Tyler reconnect. We also meet Deb, Curt’s star officer.

“Stone Mountain is the kind of place you might escape from once, if you’re lucky, but not twice.” This is a bit of a departure for Russo, or I think it is based on what I’ve read of him in that his has some thriller elements, but’s it’s still the examination of a rural, small town and a look at right and wrong.

The book is blessedly short. The big secrets are both pretty clear by page 20, one would have been obvious to a 5th grader with a calendar and Russo should know better. Plus, did this never occur to Tyler or has he suffered a brain injury we are not told about? The entire thing was predictable and disappointing. It gets three stars versus two only because Russo is still a great writer.

[LyndaIn Oregon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Russo isn’t capable of writing a bad book, but this one only rates midpack in his body of work. It’s not disappointing; it’s just not particularly memorable.

For one thing, Russo’s sly sense of humor is largely absent here, and the quirky background characters that people so many of his novels, fail to make an appearance. Only the stars strut the stage here, and the loss of that depth of texture is part of what keeps this tale from rising to the level Russo’s readers have come to expect.

Basically, the story revolves around what happens when “local boy makes good” visits a home town with decidedly mixed feelings about him. Music star Tyler Sinclair is reluctantly returning to the small Adirondack town he fled at 18, in order to perform a benefit concert for a childhood friend, but is caught up in his own history by a series of events that spiral beyond his control. People from past and echoes of thoughtless acts lead to a level of violence he could have never expected, and loyalties are tested to the breaking point as events unfold.

Key to the action is Freddi, the wife of Tyler’s best boyhood friend Curtis, and that’s where things broke down a bit for this reader. There’s a fairly transparent backstory here that most readers will spot early on, but even given that background, Freddi’s motivation seems unlikely. Her ultimate role in the story arc is to just fade into the wallpaper – something the character would seem to be incapable of doing, given her fierceness earlier. It’s simply a false note in an otherwise well-crafted tale of conflicting loyalties, childhood betrayals, and journeys to acceptance, if not forgiveness.

“Living”, Tyler tells us, “is a lifelong process of messing things up.” And Curtis, who has himself made some very questionable decisions, points out that “the older you get, the harder it is to make things better.” Ultimately, each of these men makes his own journey to making things better, but there’s also an acknowledgement that some breaks can’t be mended – only lived with.

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tyler Sinclair left Stone Mountain, a small sleepy town in the Adirondacks, when he was 18, vowing never to return. He made it big, fronting a band called Stone Mountain. When asked to play a benefit concert for an old friend, his band mates convince him to return to Stone Mountain, even though he knows that it will dredge up old memories and rivalries. The concert doesn't go as planned, and after an accident changes the course of Tyler's life, the community of Stone Mountain must grapple with its history and the relationships that shaped Tyler's life.

This really was a wonderful novel. Richard Russo is a master at character development, and this book was a study in the many layers that make up good character driven novels. We saw so many different aspects of Tyler - the scared child, the petulant teenager, the mentally cracking rock star. And Curt... the Chief of Police who is torn between his job and his family. The other characters, Freddi and Deb and Beth, all add to the story in their own important ways.

So many of the book these days are written in dual timelines. This one is too and it works okay. I think this is one book that could have been told in chronological order instead of jumping back and forth. By doing that, we could have had more history between Curt and Freddi and Tyler which, in my opinion, would have made Tyler's return to Stone Mountain more suspenseful. As it was, the author tries to build suspense only on the premise that he was returning without the reader understanding what was suspenseful about it.

I'm so glad I got to read this novel. I love many of Richard Russo's other novels. Under the Falls is another one to add to his long list of really great books. 4 ⭐s!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for an advanced copy. The book is scheduled to be published on August 11, 2026.

[Marianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Under The Falls is one of those books that features bad people (or bad adjacent), doing bad things, while the few good people turn a blind eye and a deaf ear. In the story, rock star Tyler left his small town in the Adirondacks of New York 18 years ago with no desire to return. His band mates think it would be therapeutic for him to return and hold a benefit concert to raise money for a childhood friend who was left paraplegic after an accident that the two were involved in as boys. Things don’t go well, and the town makes it abundantly clear that he is persona non grata. Desperate to flee, he and his entourage are involved in a horrific accident that puts Tyler in the hospital. He tries to reconnect with his childhood best friend, Curt, who is also the current chief of police, and who is married to Freddi, a woman Tyler also had feelings for. Freddi is an unflinching character, who has inured her husband to her cruel and emasculating treatment. Tyler’s return sets off a catalyst in Freddi, and the subsequent events that take place change the trajectory of their lives forever.

The novel was satisfactory, although there were parts where the quality of the writing seemed subpar, if not silly. For example, Freddie’s henchman seemed like a bumbling fool straight out of central casting. The personality traits that made him a villain were such low hanging fruit. Also, the sustained depravity of Freddi was relentless. She was such a vulgar, evil person I failed to see how either men could love her. There was no counter balance of justice to ameliorate her brutality. The epilogue was perfunctory in that it provided an update on what happened to the main characters, but there was no retribution.

Thank you to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor, and to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hidden behind the rushing water of a waterfall on Stone Mountain in the Adirondacks, ten year olds Curt and Tyler pinkie promise to be best friends forever. Three decades later, Curt is the police chief of their run-down, forgotten town. And Tyler, now a rock star, is back in Stone Mountain for the first time in eighteen years after leaving town without saying goodbye to a single soul.

Stone Mountain has a tight grip on its hard scrabble residents, or maybe they just have nowhere else to go. Tyler’s the only one who got out. His return ripples through the lives of both those who stayed and those who came after him, especially Curt, Curt’s wife Freddi, and Deb, a young local police officer.

Tyler's reappearance causes Curt and Freddi to reflect on their last teenage summer together, the paths they might have taken, and the hold that Stone Mountain has on them. None of the characters are living in a way they can sustain. Relationships are strained, secrets simmer beneath the surface, and corruption and opioids are ever present. Under the Falls explores whether longstanding bonds and shared history are enough to get them through.

In the acknowledgments, Richard Russo states that Under the Falls started life as a TV pilot script but was lost to the writer's strike. I think it would make a wonderful limited series. The setting and small town characters are vivid and the story does seem a bit made for TV. As a novel, it was okay. I kept reading it because Richard Russo's writing is very compelling, but I wanted more emotional depth from it. It's a good choice for readers who enjoy small-town dramas and character-driven stories.

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Read more of my reviews at https://www.fogfiction.com

[Ryan Davison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stone Mountain is the name of a famous rock band and a tiny mountain town that lead singer Tyler Sinclair called home for his first eighteen years of life. He left without saying goodbye to anyone and is returning for the first time, almost two decades later, as a major rock star. Many of Tyler’s long-ago friends and acquaintances seem strangely upset about his success, and the town acts mostly unhappy that his band is holding a charity concert to raise money for a partially paralyzed friend. Heavy-handed warnings make clear that no one leaves Stone Mountain twice, and a foreboding cloud hangs over the charity show. It does indeed go badly with violent repercussions that set the story in motion.

Chapter titles are characters' names, so we have Beth, Tyler’s current girlfriend and co-lead of the band, Curt, the chief of Stone Mountain police, Freddie, Curt's wife, and Tyler’s secret high school love, and Deb, the spunky, overly curious cop. Early coincidences and mortal violence raise the reader’s antennae, but secrets of the book are revealed too early and easily. It seems as if the author was worried the reader might miss a development, so everyone thinks out loud about what the implication of a scene means. Characters’ thoughts are constantly posed as questions to themselves and with our hands held so tightly it leaves little room for guessing.

The COVID pandemic is considered and handled well in Under the Falls, and the writing remains strong throughout, but it too often feels like a restrained, easy-to-solve mystery penned by a talented writer. Perhaps fans of easy reading would enjoy ... I'm trying to be diplomatic because Russo's writing is full of interesting flourishes.

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for a review copy

[EVAN · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Under the Falls” by Richard Russo is an unusual mix of genres but, as always, he makes it work.

Nominally, the book is about Tyler Sinclair, a rock star, returning somewhat unwillingly to his hometown (Stone Mountain, NY), the hometown he left when he was 18, for a benefit concert for an old friend. He returns to find an economically depressed town, not all of whom are happy to see the star come back.

One thinks that it’s ultimately going to be a hybrid of Russo’s other work - the upstate New York milieu, resentment of the resort towns downstream (e.g., Everybody’s Fool) mixed with the famous person who left and the people left behind who claim a friendship that may or may not be reciprocated (Bridge of Sighs). It’s the ultimate conundrum of knowing famous people from before they were famous - you’re their friend, but are they yours? I was reminded, in the relationship of Curt and Tyler, of “Shotgun Lovesongs,” by Nickolas Butler, another story centered on the person who went away and became famous, and the people who stayed behind.

To be clear, I would’ve been satisfied with that, as I’ve been with his earlier books. But then, it segues into a crime novel. I don’t want to give spoilers and so won’t go into details, but Russo has done a great job in that genre as well.

Once again, he’s created a novel with multiple protagonists, all of whom have pasts they’re escaping and/or futures they fear, especially Curt, Tyler’s childhood best friend and the town’s chief of police. His saga of learning how to open his eyes is the fulcrum of the book.

This honest review was given in thanks to Net Galley and Knopf, Pantheon and Vintage for an advanced reader copy.

[Dawn529 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went into Under the Falls expecting something familiar. Richard Russo has a pattern I’ve grown very comfortable with. A male protagonist, often a college professor, usually in the middle of a quiet midlife reckoning, surrounded by small town dynamics and sharp, funny observations. I’ve read six of his books so far, and he’s firmly a favorite author of mine. Because of that, I think I made this one harder for myself than it needed to be.

This felt like a big departure from his usual formula. Instead of centering on one main character’s internal crisis, this story is far more layered, with multiple main characters sharing the spotlight. At first, I kept trying to slot it into the Richard Russo box I already had in my head, and that comparison didn’t do the book any favors. Once I stopped doing that and pretended this was a completely new author, everything clicked into place.

There are a lot of flawed people here, but most of them are likeable, or at least understandable. Russo has always been good at writing imperfect humans, and that skill is on full display, just spread across a wider cast than I’m used to from him.

Similar to Daisy Jones and the Six, the story feels communal and voice driven. It has that sense of lives intersecting, histories overlapping, and truths being shaped by who’s telling them. That added an energy I wasn’t expecting from a Russo novel, and once I embraced it, I really enjoyed the ride.

This isn’t my favorite Richard Russo book, but it’s a good one, and I admire him for taking a risk and stretching beyond his usual boundaries. I think longtime fans just need to go in with an open mind and let the book be what it wants to be, not what we assume it will be.

Thank you to Richard Russo, NetGalley, and Knopf Publishing for the ARC. I’m always grateful for the chance to read early, especially from an author I’ve loved for so long.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy of Under The Falls.

It is impossible not to have great expectations when reading a new book by Richard Russo. So a review is difficult because one automatically judges the new in comparison to the long and wonderful body of work that came before it, which isn't fair.

The story centers around a now famous rock star returning to the mountain town he fled at 18. Old friends, old wounds and misdeeds bubble up and the book takes a turn into a crime story. We have a lot of Russo's familiar elements - dilapidated town, friends with a lot of problems and a long history. The crime was a twist I wouldn't have expected from Russo, except it was so obviously laid out in the beginning of the story that there was no mystery to it.

I believe this book was originally the script for a pilot, and I can easily picture this as a limited series. This could explain why the characters are not as fleshed out as they should be. We don't understand the motivations behind so many of the questionable decisions they make. Events happen later in the story that simply aren't credible and there are quite a few plot holes. I missed Russo's usual flair for creating flawed, but immensely likeable characters. The book isn't up to Russo's usual standard and feels like a story that still needed work to make it plausible - and worthy of his reputation. I doubt I would have cared about any of these characters if the author was anyone else, but Russo, so a generous 3 stars.

[kozo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book!

Let me preface this by saying I really did enjoy the story aspect, the topic itself. A celebrity musician returns back to the place he suddenly left 18 years prior, only to be confronted by a past he might have run away from for reasons we don't exactly know right off the bat. Naturally, things go horribly wrong, giving the entire book a looming sense of darkness--like standing in the clearing in the woods and you suddenly get the sense of being very, very alone.

However there was something about the writing itself that was just... not exactly it. Not juvenile, but very amateur. Which, from what I gather, is the opposite of this author's actual ability. The choice of utilizing third person present was an interesting one, and it felt very much like title cards in TV shows that state "meanwhile, back at the bat cave!" before clipping over to that scene. I was being told everything, rather than shown it, and it made me consider just how few third person present tense books I have read. I feel as though a bit of editing could be involved, or it might have worked considerably better as a first person narrative. I liked it, but the stylistic choices were interesting at best.

Due to this though, I absolutely would give this author's other books a chance, and I did enjoy this novel. Maybe I'd even read it once it's finally published to see if things had been edited/changed.

[Jo Dervan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Under the Falls
Tyler was born in Stone Mountain, a small town in the Adirondacks in NYState. He grew up with two close friends, Curt and Doc. When he decided to leave the town at 18, he did so without telling anyone. He went to Nashville where he became famous. His hit band was named Stone Mountain . He had no intention to ever return to that town until 18 years later when his manager arranged for him to kick off a tour there.
When Tyler and the band arrived in town, they discovered that there was a lot of animosity toward him. Even some of his childhood friends were not happy to see him. That night they left the town and had a fatal accident driving down the mountain. Tyler survived but spent a long time recovering in a hospital in Albany.
After he was discharged Tyler discovered why some of his former friends wanted to destroy him.
This is a story about how love can turn to hate very easily. It also explains how far someone would go to protect a loved one.
I enjoyed the book. The author gives a vivid description of what life is like in a town is no longer flourishing. He explains how easy it is to hide criminal activities in a small town. The characters in the book are exposed for all to see their failings.
I received this ARC from the publisher & NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not entirely sure why the reviews for this book are so so bad. I thought it was perfectly average. Yes, there are a lot of open plot-points and several things don't seem to make sense but once i started reading I found myself wanting to read more and more. In fact, I read the whole thing in a single sitting.

I think there are two main issues with this story: it wasn't well-developed. The characters are not interesting and as the reader I didn't feel like I understood any of their motivations enough to figure out why they made the choices they made (I felt like Curt was the only one that came close.) And they all make such terrible choices the whole time. So if you don't understand them, they are not textured enough and they make poor choices, it becomes harder to read the story.

Second issue is that this novel is written by an author who is clearly capable of writing so much better. So at a deft hand like his, it feels even less forgivable because it feels like laziness/choice vs lack of ability.

Maybe that explains some of the frustration others seem to have.

with gratitude to Knopf and netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks NetGalley for allowing me to read this early release. I do enjoy Richard Russo novels, and while this one was OK, it definitely was not one of his better ones.
I felt like there was a lot of characters in the book that we didn’t learn much about. They should’ve been more substantial, but they seemed like throwaways. While, Doc was supposedly the reason Tyler came back to Stone Mountain, once he died we didn’t hear much more about him. And Curtis Junior seemed to be the reason, Freddi was so angry, but we barely get a glimpse of him. What I kept thinking throughout the book was if Tyler and Stone Mountain band were so famous how come he could go missing for so long with nobody looking for him? Also, Tyler left Stone Mountain and never came back for 18 years, why all of a sudden would he want to buy the church and stay, especially after the concert and accident.
In the end, I felt like the character development was subpar, and the plot was thin, especially for such a talented writer. I really wanted to like this book more than I did.

[Sara! · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a fan of Richard Russo’s writing. “Straight Man” was a masterclass in the tragicomic; I was highlighting lines left and right. The denizens and town of Bath came to life with such vibrant detail in his Sully series. While his plots are skillfully devised, the real highlight of reading Russo’s work is the empathy for and detail with which he writes his characters. He could write about the daily life of a paper clip salesman and I’d probably be deeply moved by the end of it.

In the epilogue, it is shared that this novel began as an outline for a television program. Log line: Rockstar begrudgingly returns home after decades and must confront secrets which emerge and threaten his very life. The concept is interesting, but the story unfolds predictably. Russo’s usual patient character development is not present. Some of the characters feel stereotypical and thrown together. The allusions to current events felt off and forced.

This novel feels so different from his previous works and is missing that loving spark I so enjoy.

Thanks for the advance copy, NetGalley.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Under the Falls — Richard Russo
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’m a big fan of Richard Russo—he never disappoints.

This is very much a story about the past refusing to stay buried. Tyler, Doc, Curtis and Freddi are all tied to Stone Mountain in ways that never really loosen, even when time passes.

Tyler leaves town without a goodbye, disappears into a completely different life, and becomes a rock star. Years later, he comes back for a concert, and that return slowly pulls everything he left behind back into the light.

What works so well is how Russo lets the reasons for Tyler’s departure surface gradually. It’s not one big reveal—it’s layers of memory, guilt, and old relationships resurfacing one by one.

Doc, Curtis and Freddi all carry their own versions of what happened, and seeing those perspectives collide is where the tension really lives.

Not perfect—some parts move slowly—but overall I really enjoyed it. It’s a quiet story about how the past never really stays in the past.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC.

[Gainze · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you Knopf for the gifted copy! I really appreciate the opportunity.

This is my honest review.

I'm a little disappointed because I wanted to enjoy this more than I did. The premise had potential: a famous musician returning to the hometown from which he attempted to flee, but the story never came together.

Richard Russo's writing is sharp, witty, and readable, but I spent the majority of the book feeling disconnected from the characters and perplexed about their motivations. Many major decisions and emotional reactions didn't make sense to me, and several plot points seemed to be introduced without enough payoff or explanation. For instance, why is Tyler's band named after his hometown if he detested it so much that he wanted to stay away?

After finishing, I learned that the book was originally meant to be a TV pilot, which, to be honest, explains why a lot of it seems undeveloped and many parts seem to be there only for shock value.

It is by no means a bad book, but since it was my only introduction to Russo's writing, I'm afraid it didn't leave me wanting more.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up. Like many of the other reviewers, I love Richard Russo's books. He gives us time to get to know the characters and inhabit their lives. That being said, this book seems to be a short version of a longer book that was rushed into publication. I believe Russo said it was originally a tv pilot, which is what it reads like. We don't get to know the characters very well. I wasn't a fan of any of the characters, except maybe Deb, the new police officer. The book showed early promise, making me want to read more. However, then the characters started speaking and their dialogue felt stiff and wooden. Possibly, as this was once a pilot, that is the reason. I felt like I was reading a Russo novel, and someone else came in and wrote the dialogue between the characters. I still liked the book, but about midway through, started speed reading it, to get to the end. I still love Russo's books, and this is not a bad book, it's just not up to the level I was expecting from him.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have enjoyed Russos’s novels (particularly Empire Falls and the Sully trilogy) over the many years he has been writing, and I was highly anticipating this new one. Unfortunately, for me, it did not measure up to his prior work. The setting was somewhat the same – a down-on-its-heels small town in Maine. The characters included a young man who left the small town, became a rock star and returned for a concert. The other characters were men and women who remained in the small town and tried to make the best of their lives – whether through good choices of poor ones. The story moved quickly and was entertaining, but I just could not get deeply into the hearts of most of the characters. The exception was the police chief whose conflicts and confusion with life were very well portrayed – he worked his way into my heart! I liked the book - I had just hoped that I would love it.

[Papillon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Real rating: 2.75

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this novel. All my thoughts and opinions are my own.

I think my main issue with this novel is how there is simultaneously a lot going on and not enough happening. More than once, I found myself rereading an entire paragraph or an entire page to help myself make more sense of what was currently happening. And, unfortunately, I remained just as confused.

A huge chunk of this story is written as if we, the readers, are permanent fixtures of this town and, therefore, do not need any further explanation for certain (very vital) things.

There are blank spots where further elaborations should be. The characters aren’t given nearly enough depth for the hodgepodge of events that take place here.

This book needs about 150—maybe even 200—more pages.

[Eve · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll give three stars for Russo's captivating writing, but only three stars because I found the plot to be a wholly implausible. Two people die and two people are horribly injured in a car accident and the responsible parties seem to feel no remorse. A major celebrity disappears and no one in his retinue comes to look for him. A discontented wife endangers her husband's career by engaging in illegal activity and he's primarily concerned with regaining her love. I found only two really likeable characters (police officer Deb and her mother Connie) here and none of the secondary characters were fleshed out enough to have any real identity. Finished this only to see where the story ended but was tempted to DNF.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to see that Richard Russo had a new book coming out and that it was set in upstate New York, where I live. I'm a fan of his writing going back to "Empire Falls" and so perhaps arrived at "Under the Falls" with overly high expectations. The novel is underbaked and would have benefited from some more thorough considerations related to plot and character development. Russo's prose is OK, but several characters behave in ways that make no real sense. When I arrived at the end and saw an author's note about the story starting out as a TV pilot, it felt like a confirmation of my reaction that the book was missing something (or many somethings) critical.

Note: I received an ARC of the book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.