A quick to read psychological thriller. Great grab for a plane ride! Two cousins, Charlie and Matthew have different accounts of the event in youth that set them apart. Spending the summer together along with Matthew's wife, Chloe, tensions begin to unravel. After an affair is discovered things get out of control. Reminiscent of the Silent Wife or Mr. M. by Herman Koch. - Lisanne E.

Some reviewers faulted The Fall Guy as slow moving. I liked how the psychological tension built as the story developed layers of complications; the book was compelling from start to finish. Having read The Horned Man last summer, my only critique is that this protagonist/plot resembles that one: narrated by an outsider who initially gains reader sympathy, then gradually reveals an inability to deal with failure, and makes increasingly troubling decisions to maintain his own illusions. I like how both books embed the reader in the character's mind, and we do not detect how awry things will go. Additionally, the writing is tight and focused.

Unemployed Mathew becomes the summer chef for his cousin Charlie, a successful banker, and Chloe, his blissful wife. The strange relationships become clearer as the psychologically-thrilling as the summer progresses.

Read because this is set in a fictionalised Woodstock NY, which I visited briefly this summer. This was a quick read, and ok but seemed a bit confused about whether it wanted to be literary fiction or a thriller. The narrator was at times very wordy and introspective, considering what a poor education he'd had, while the story didn't really have a fast enough pace or enough surprises to be very thriller-y.

I wish i could un-read this. He used so many synonyms and rambled in sentences and paragraphs so much, that by the time i’d finish one i had forgotten what his point was. Some paragraphs were as long as the page it was on. And good GOD i do not need to know about every ingredient the cousin is buying for a recipe. Thought i picked up a thriller but it felt like i picked up something more akin to a cook-book.

James Lasdun takes his time introducing the characters and we fall into their lull of easy summer loving. Then it gets nail biting, leaving our seemingly boring characters behind to make room for complex psychos.

I struggled to get into this one. Felt really talky and all the action seemed to take place in the dude's head. I finished it, but wanted to give up several times.... maybe I just didn't get it?

Read this in one day — mostly because I was hoping it would get better. The beginning was intriguing but as I kept reading I was waiting for more. Which sadly never came.