"On a foggy summer night, eleven people—ten privileged, one down-on-his-luck painter—depart Martha's Vineyard on a private jet headed for New York. Sixteen minutes later, the unthinkable happens: the plane plunges into the ocean. The only survivors are Scott Burroughs—the painter—and a four-year-old boy, who is now the last remaining member of an immensely wealthy and powerful media mogul's family. 

With chapters weaving between the aftermath of the crash and the backstories of the passengers and crew members—including a Wall Street titan and his wife, a Texan-born party boy just in from London, a young woman questioning her path in life, and a career pilot—the mystery surrounding the tragedy heightens. As the passengers' intrigues unravel, odd coincidences point to a conspiracy. Was it merely by dumb chance that so many influential people perished? Or was something far more sinister at work? Events soon threaten to spiral out of control in an escalating storm of media outrage and accusations. And while Scott struggles to cope with fame that borders on notoriety, the authorities scramble to salvage the truth from the wreckage." - Goodreads Synopsis

This book had SOOOOO MUCH POTENTIAL! ...and then it didn't. I don't even understand how this went so poorly. I loved the beginning and the entire plot but somewhere in between everything it just got so boring. WAY too much fluff. WAY too much backstory. I understand it's titled "BEFORE the fall" but quite honestly, I was more intrigued by Scott and his backstory and future rather than some other corrupt billionaires who have been cheating on their wives since day 2 of their marriage. NO thanks. 

So. The reason i'm not giving this book only one star is because of Scott. Scott is what saved this book (even remotely) for me. I lived for the interactions between Scott and JJ and even Scott and Eleanor. But once we got to YET ANOTHER backstory of a billionaire, I lost interest immediately. 

I think that if this book cut out every other character's backstory, this book would've been SO GOOD. But because I had to struggle through those other stories, I just did not like this book. There was too much filler and quite honestly, this book was taken in the wrong direction. The author focused on all the wrong things for far too long. 

If this was less "Before the Fall" and more "After the Fall" I think it would've been much more enjoyable.

So. Unfortunately, I have to give this book 2 lonely stars.