Charlie Radford is a young National Transportation Safety Board investigator who is part of the team sent to determine what caused the crash, and also to find and identify the bodies of the fallen. When, several days into his investigation, he hears a rumor that a woman was found alive in a barn, still strapped to her airline seat, he assumes it is a hoax. As word of this “miracle” has reaches the media–as well as the men and women in Congress–young Radford is forced to assume responsibility for tracking down the source of the rumor and to find the woman, should she actually exist. Once he does he must convince her to come forward. The problem is that Erin refuses to cooperate. All she wants is to be left alone to live out what time she has left, away from the rest of the world. But when one reporter gets wind of her location, Radford must decide how to protect this “falling woman” while at the same time answering the commands of his superiors in the government agency.
Fast-paced and full of twists and surprises, The Falling Woman is a story of the irony of fate, and of which conflicting factor will prevail: the need of the government and its people to know the truth, or the right of a woman to determine how her personal story will play out.
A June 2020 Inide Next selection!
Selected as by the American Booksellers Association as an Indies Introduce book for Winter/Spring 2020!
(Available now in hardcover, ebook, & Audible
Paperback Release: May 11, 2021!)
“What would you do if you were confronted with a miracle? That is the essential question posed in The Falling Woman, a surprisingly spiritual novel about a plane crash. Two people entwined in the investigation, both in desperate need of hope—and a true home—grapple with an answer, which may prove as perilous as the catastrophe. Part mystery and part prayer, this page turner about mortality is iridescent. I loved it.”
—Robin Oliveira, author of Winter Sisters
“Former pilot Farrell’s skillfully written story of hope, love, and regret contemplated amid a fast-paced, high-pressure major airline accident investigation will appeal to readers who enjoyed Michael Crichton’s Airframe, Gregg Hurwitz’s The Survivor, and Noah Hawley’s Before the Fall.”
—Library Journal
“[A] solid debut . . . Farrell’s thoughtful novel calls to mind the heights of Rafael Yglesias’s Fearless.”
—Publishers Weekly
“An intriguing story given weight by its examination of what it means to be faithful.”
—Booklist