Title:  Death Falls
Series:
Author:  Todd Ritter
Genre:  Mystery
Published:  February 9, 2015
Publisher:  HarperCollins, Maze
My Rating:  4 stars
Source:  NetGalley
Synopsis:

When a young boy goes missing, it’s easier to believe the lies than to believe the truth… 

On the same night that Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, nine-year-old Charlie Olmstead jumped on his bike to see if he could get a better look. It was the last anyone ever saw of him.

After Perry Hollow Police Chief Jim Campbell found Charlie’s bike caught up above a waterfall, he assumed the worse, and so did everyone else except Charlie’s mother. Years later, Eric Olmstead – and famous author and Charlie’s brother – has come back to bury his mother and fulfill her last request: find his brother.

To do so he goes to the current police chief and his former sweetheart Kat Campbell, and it isn’t long before they discover that finding Charlie was his mother’s secret obsession, and while she never found him she uncovered clues suggesting that he wasn’t the only victim.

Read on for my thoughts on Death Falls.  No true spoilers, promise.

The apparent death of 9 year old Charlie Olmstead rocked a community and devastated his family.  Now, 40 years after the tragedy this cold case is being reopened.  Charlie’s baby brother, Eric, is a famous author and even though he has no memory of Charlie it is now his mission to discover what really happened that night – the night man walked on the Moon for the first time and his family saw Charlie for the last time.

There really is no way that I can convey just how intense this novel truly is.  Each page brings new clues, more questions and even more victims who also disappeared on the same dates as the various Apollo Moon landings.

While Eric ran from home the moment his high school graduation was over, his mother never stopped trying to find Charlie.  Obsession?  Perhaps, more like a mother’s determination to find her child, no matter what anyone else thought about her.  Her final, dying request to Eric was to find Charlie.  And for once, Eric will honor his mother’s request.  Even if it brings him back in touch with Kat Campbell, the girl who professed her love for him on the eve of his desperate escape from town.

Nick Donnelly also has a history with Kat.  He saved her life when they both were after the Grim Reaper, a serial killer, a short while ago.  Nick no longer is with the Pennsylvania State Police, but is an investigator for the organization that was created to honor his sister, Sarah.  He specializes in cold cases, bring closure to families who have suffered a loved one’s disappearance.  Eric has contacted Nick and asked him to investigate Charlie’s disappearance.

There we have the main characters of this novel – with lots and lots of secondary characters to learn about.

Death Falls will grip you and not let you go until its final page.  And then you’ll simply sit back and go “wow, I didn’t see that coming.”  And you won’t.  Not even with that little hint, you will not see the ending through all of the clues, traveling, lies, mistakes, convoluted tales told – you will not see it until it smacks you between the eyes.  There are plenty of suspects.  So many lies.  And such an intense search for the truth.

I get in the mood for a Mystery title.  It is not my main reading material – so when I find a really good Mystery I feel like I hit paydirt.  I did with Death Falls.  Even though there are many storylines throughout this novel, they are very easy to keep track of.  Looking back, I can say everything was “there”, and maybe I should have put it together a bit sooner than the final reveal – but I was so involved in the story that I stopped trying to solve it, and just read to enjoy the ride.

I would highly recommend you pick up Death Falls.  If you enjoy Mystery.  If you like to try to figure it out before the ending.  If you simply want to be drawn into a great adventure – then this novel is for you.  It gets a 4 outta 5 on my rating scale.  Go and read it for yourself.  I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

*I received an e-ARC of Death Falls from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. That does not change what I think of this novel.*