Up All Night Suspense in "Downfall" by Terri Blackstock ~ Review

“Up All Night Fiction” was a pretty good description for what I wanted to do several points in the novel “Downfall”. Over the last three nights I was glued to the pages of this latest suspense and more than once didn’t want to go to bed, but to only keep reading for one…more…chapter. (They are short, honestly!)

            After following the characters of Emily, Lance, Barbara and Kent for three books, you’ve come to know them and how they think and act in a scene. I’ve really enjoyed seeing Emily progress from the drug addict she was (and still struggles to fight) to the woman she is submitting herself to be. You wouldn’t have to read the first two to understand this last book, you will appreciate it more if you have.

            Tension is a good word for some of the scenes in the novel. Surrounding several murders and moments with “The Avenger”, it pretty much kept me wanting to turn the pages and figure out what was going on.

            I will admit Barbara kind of rubs my nerves the wrong way. Oh not all the time and I can understand her vulnerability when it comes to her daughter’s drug problem. She was just a bit too hysterical at times for my taste.

            Really from beginning to end, the novel is a solid suspense. I pretty much figured out the villain, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying the rest of the story. It’s a fast read, intense, but satisfying.

            This review is my honest opinion. My thanks to the author’s PR manager for my copy to review.

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More about the novel...

Emily Covington has turned her life around after a drug addiction, but her family still has trouble trusting her in this unabridged audio download of Downfall. Though Emily has committed herself to a year-long treatment program and has been sober for almost a year beyond that, even her mother walks on egg shells around her, fearing she'll relapse. After her behavior during her drug years, Emily realizes she has a lot to prove.

When police discover a home-made bomb under Emily's car, and she then learns the wife of one of her friends was murdered that same morning, she knows things are deadly serious.

But who wants Emily dead? And why?

A conversation she had with two men, an Alfred Hitchcock movie, and a plan for a double-murder all conspire for one explosive ride ... and Emily is the only one who can identify the killer and save the life of the next potential victim.

As she frantically works to solve this ever more complicated puzzle, Emily finds herself playing right into the killer's hands.