I was hooked right from the start when it came to Fallen Angel. The blurb and the cover had intrigued me and I was really thrilled to feel right from the beginning that this book engrossed me. Fallen Angel is the story about the death of a little girl, Niamh, sixteen years ago. No body was ever found, but everyone assumed she drowned in the sea. Now the family is back in Portugal where it all happened. Across the Temple villa is Amanda working as a nanny for a family. She finds herself drawn to the Temple family and the more she starts to spend time with the Temple family the more she feels that they are hiding something.

Fallen Angel is my kind of thriller with family secrets and untrustworthy people. Honestly, not many in the book are especially sympathetic with the exception of Amanda. It's the kind of book that you just want to read one more chapter and even though some of the twists were perhaps not that unexpected were they interesting and made the story fascinating to read. I liked how the story also showed us flashbacks to the past, events that led to little Niamh death. I found the book to be a great thriller and I can't wait to read more from Chis Brookmyre!

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review! ( )

I was hooked right from the start when it came to Fallen Angel. The blurb and the cover had intrigued me and I was really thrilled to feel right from the beginning that this book engrossed me. Fallen Angel is the story about the death of a little girl, Niamh, sixteen years ago. No body was ever found, but everyone assumed she drowned in the sea. Now the family is back in Portugal where it all happened. Across the Temple villa is Amanda working as a nanny for a family. She finds herself drawn to the Temple family and the more she starts to spend time with the Temple family the more she feels that they are hiding something.

Fallen Angel is my kind of thriller with family secrets and untrustworthy people. Honestly, not many in the book are especially sympathetic with the exception of Amanda. It's the kind of book that you just want to read one more chapter and even though some of the twists were perhaps not that unexpected were they interesting and made the story fascinating to read. I liked how the story also showed us flashbacks to the past, events that led to little Niamh death. I found the book to be a great thriller and I can't wait to read more from Chis Brookmyre!

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review! ( )

This was well-written and, despite there being multiple characters and a dual timeline, it was easy to keep on top of things. I'm not sure Amanda seemed particularly Canadian, but otherwise I thought the characterization was good, and the plot kept me guessing until the end. There was perhaps one twist more than would have been necessary for me, but nevertheless very good. ( )

‘It wasn’t the case that what was said at the villas stayed at the villas. Things said here could not be unsaid. Just as things done here could not be undone.’

Other people’s families fascinate us, all the more so when they behave appallingly. Meet the Temple clan and their friend Vince, stick them in a villa complex in Portugal and watch the disasters unfold. Chris Brookmyre’s new novel is a wonderful exploration of a family matriarch trying to keep the illusions alive while all around her things fall apart. For fans of Brookmyre, who dabbles in various genres nowadays, this isn’t quite a return to his old self after forays into sci-fi, but the trademark sardonic wit and character dissection is well and truly on show.

Max Temple, a renowned psychologist, has died of a heart attack and his wife Celia – herself a former actress – takes her family to their villas in Portugal just after the funeral for one last family reunion. Joining them at the same time should be the owner of the 3rd villa in the complex, Vince and his wife Kirsten, along with baby Arron and ‘nanny’ Amanda, a Canadian teenager. The villa was the setting, 16 years ago, of a family tragedy when the child of Max’s daughter Sylvie went missing and was never found. The narrative switches back and forward between 2002 and 2018, and in doing so slowly reveals the secrets and lies behind the façade of the family. There are clues and red-herrings aplenty as we try to figure out what happened to baby Niamh in 2002, and how it relates to why Vince never actually turned up at the villa, leaving Kirsten to fly out with her child and nanny in tow.

There are twists and some (rather unpleasant) family secrets that just keep coming at you, and Brookmyre relentlessly keeps the pace up to the very end. You might guess at what is unravelling, but then again you might not, and the revealing of what exactly has happened is neatly done. The various viewpoints are played out with each section or chapter focussing on a different character, and the chapters from Amanda’s point of view are written in 1st-person which gives an immediacy from an outsider’s perspective. Indeed, Amanda becomes the focus of the story as her investigations – in an amateurish, bumbling sort of way – turn her into some sort of PI/detective, in the absence of such a figure of authority. Followers of Chris Brookmyre will be happy to hear, however, that a certain you-know-who does make a very small cameo appearance!

Nothing is as it seems in this, well, what? Psychological thriller? Whodunnit? Murder mystery? Family drama? Call it what you will, this is perfect page-turning fun, not overly serious, and it reads like Brookmyre himself had a blast writing the very worst of human traits into some of the characters. Another sure-fire hit for this pretty prolific writer, and one I definitely enjoyed. ( )

Fallen Angel attracted my attention for all sorts of reasons. I love the idea of the family holiday - it could go either way, couldn't it? It could be fabulous or it could be a complete and utter nightmare. Then there's the death of Niamh Temple, little more than a baby at the time.

The family at the heart of the story are the Temple family. Faded actress, Celia and her husband, Max. He's on the up in 2002 and eclipsing her in every way, something she finds very difficult to deal with. There's also their three children: Marion, her husband, Ken and their two young children; Rory, the middle child; and Sylvie, newly single mum to Niamh. They all decamp for a holiday at the family villas in the Algarve and this is when the tragedy takes place.

Sixteen years later, Max is dead and the family come together once more at the villas. There's actually another villa in the complex which is Vince's. He's due to be there with his young wife, Kirsten, their baby and their nanny, Amanda. However, things don't exactly go to plan and Amanda finds herself becoming interested at first in the Temple family, and then delving deeper into their secrets.

This is a fascinating story of family dynamics. The Temples are completely dysfunctional and I'm extremely glad they're not my family. The action shifts chapter by chapter between 2002 and 2018, and takes in different characters' viewpoints. I thought this worked really well to keep up the tension for the reader and to see the story from all angles.

There are many revelations throughout the book. It's a slow unravelling, not only of the story but also of the Temples, and it's perfectly plotted. There's a fair amount of information about conspiracy theories because this is Max's specialist subject, and this adds an extra dimension to the story when you consider the disappearance of Niamh.

I did find that this is a book that required a bit more concentration from me, sometimes a second read of certain bits, to really take it in, but it's a very intelligent and clever story. And the ending.......well I never saw that coming!

This is my first book by Chris Brookmyre and I really enjoyed it. It kept me guessing throughout and I do like that about a novel. ( )