Falls to Pieces
Falls to Pieces
By: Douglas Corleone
“The police will presume one of two things: tragic accident or foul play. And if they discover I am not who I say I am, they’ll certainly lean toward the latter. Should they learn my true identity, they’ll know doubt charge me based solely on the circumstantial evidence already in hand.”
I think my thoughts of this book are going to be a bit skewed because it was a nostalgic setting for me.
The book begins with a missing person on the Pipiwai Trail on Maui, a trail that leads to a huge waterfall. I’ve visited Maui twice and hiked this trail both times. It was beautiful! This trail, the Road to Hana, and Maui in general hold a special place in my heart. It was really unique to read a book that was set in such a specific and not-so-traveled place that I’ve actually been to.
Picture to prove it!
There is some content in this book that is a bit hard to read and I’m sure could be a trigger for many readers. The main character, Kati, and her daughter, Zoe, have escaped to the secluded town of Hana. There are clues that her husband, Jeremy, was violent and abusive emotionally and physically. Katie and Zoe have assumed new identities and lived off-grid to avoid being found by Jeremy again.
“We cannot put anything past Jeremy’s vengeful family and their motley army of well-compensated minions.”
In the second half of the book we get more flashbacks to Kati’s previous life and the abuse she suffered not only from Jeremy, but in childhood from her own mother as well, who would often tell her she wished Katie was never born.
Katie isn’t a super likeable character in the book. Corleone frames her as an unreliable narrator type of character, which is not my favorite. She partakes of drugs and alcohol frequently enough that her gaps in memory are not super shocking or worrisome to her.
Yet, when you think of everything she’s been through, of course she’s going to be a bit messed up. I’m not sure we really see much character development for Kati as the story is more of the thriller variety than how Kati overcomes the trauma of her life to make something new.
The person who goes missing at the beginning of the book is Eddie, Kati’s new fiance. Not too long after that Zoe disappears too. Zoe and her mother have a pretty contentious relationship which doesn’t help either character’s likeability. The strained relationship makes Zoe’s appearance look like a potential runaway situation rather than a kidnapping.
Katie is sure Jeremy has found them again but as she discovers more about Eddie’s life, she realizes she never really knew him and there could be more players in this conflict than just her own past.
At times the plot felt a little convoluted and I lost track of who knew what when and what the important details were that I should be remembering for ‘solving the mystery.’
The twists were mostly surprising but I’m not sure I’d call them satisfying.
I think the overall vibe of this book for me was more 'sad’ than anything else. Sad for the characters, sad for the ending. The solution doesn’t have much redemption or hope.
The beginning of the book starts slow but picks up in the second half. Unfortunately, this book needed more than good pacing to save it.
I loved the initial premise and the title ‘Falls to Pieces’ with the waterfall and disappearance and previous life in ruins—all factors of a good concept— but it just wasn’t my favorite execution.
One thing that this book inspired was thinking about the Hawaiian islands in general. The wildfires in Lahaina happened during the writing of the book. Covid is mentioned in the book and how it was nice to not have all the tourists around for awhile.
It just made me very curious to know more about how the locals feel about tourism on their islands. I know tourism is a major aspect of their economy and brings a lot of jobs. However the book alluded to the fact that a lot of the tourism (hotels and such) are owned by non-Islanders/non-locals. That locals are pushed out of their homes.
“‘Transnational corporations are the ones exploiting Native Hawaiian culture, values, and traditions, all while crowded beaches and commercial tour boating destroy the shorelines and coastal fishing. It’s horrific.’”
I have a lot of questions now about how their economy works. Who benefits? Who gets taken advantage of? What would an actual better way of doing it be? What do locals want? Would ‘locally-owned only’ tourism be workable and able to sustain economic ups and downs? Do locals want tourists to stop coming all together? What benefits do tourists bring? Do Hawaiians like sharing their culture with us or is it a ‘well, what else can we do to make a living but really we’d rather you leave’ kind of situation?
I’m headed back to Maui this summer and now I’m wondering if my presence on the island is burdening the people.
Another aspect that was integral to the plot of the story was casinos. I didn’t realize that Vegas was called the ‘ninth island’ of Hawaii as there is a large and growing Hawaiian population there and a lot of Hawaiians who visit there regularly. In the book, one of the characters wants to build a casino on the islands. It is currently illegal to gamble and there are no casinos.
They saw an opportunity to create something akin to the casinos on Native American reservations for the locals of Hawaii. If this is a real consideration currently in Hawaii amongst certain groups, I hope they really consider the affects of inviting that environment onto their islands.
I understand this is a complex issue. This was my high school debate speech topic, and in the last 20 years my stance has only been affirmed by new evidence, but I’ll spare you all my arguments. I think Hawaii is a beautiful place and I do think there should be a conversation about how to keep the locals from being trampled by outside companies coming and doing business, but I would hate to see an environment like that which accompanies casinos taint their islands.
One other side note: the book mentions the island of Lanai: “Today, 98 percent of it is owned by the tech billionaire who founded Oracle.” The very first time we went to Maui, we were actually booked to go to Lanai. But then, shortly before our trip, it got purchased by the Oracle guy who decided to do a bunch of renovations. Our trip got moved to Maui, which was still awesome. But I do remember how baffled we were to discover the circumstances of our itinerary change!
Recommendation
I loved the setting, reminiscing about my time there, and learning about life in Hawaii, but there’s not much else to rave about with this book. With all the swearing and other content and lack of character development or redemption, this is a book I’ll label ‘not for me.’
I think there are readers who can enjoy it if those things don’t bother them, but generally speaking I’d say there’s probably a better book out there for you than this one.
[Content Advisory: 61 f- words, 40 s-words; sexual and emotional abuse, domestic violence]
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
This book released April 1, 2025. You can order a copy of this book using my affiliate link below.
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