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jgintrovertedreader's review against another edition
3.0
Homicide Detective Robbie Brownlaw was promoted a few years ago after a crazed arsonist threw him out of a sixth-floor window. He obviously survived to tell the tale, but he was left with a form of synesthesia--he sees people's words as colored shapes. He's learned to use this ability as a primitive lie detector. He's called in when a former cop is found murdered.
My attention wandereda bit a lot while I was reading this, but I can't say it was necessarily the book's fault; I've got a lot going on at the moment. Even so, I wasn't particularly surprised when I found out whodunnit. I even managed to figure it out a little before it was laid out plainly.
I found Robbie to be irritating. His marriage is falling apart but he just goes on and on about how special his wife is. I saw her as a spoiled brat who had a lot of growing up to do. Then I started to see him as just being a step away from a stalker. He got a little pathetic. That's not how I want to see my heroes. And the whole synesthesia thing was kind of...redundant? Came off as a crutch? Something like that. It was just an easy way for Robbie to know if someone was lying without having to do a lot of footwork to actually prove it.
I did enjoy narrator David Colacci's performance, but otherwise, this audiobook was forgettable for me. I enjoyed Cold Pursuit by this author much more.
My attention wandered
I found Robbie to be irritating. His marriage is falling apart but he just goes on and on about how special his wife is. I saw her as a spoiled brat who had a lot of growing up to do. Then I started to see him as just being a step away from a stalker. He got a little pathetic. That's not how I want to see my heroes. And the whole synesthesia thing was kind of...redundant? Came off as a crutch? Something like that. It was just an easy way for Robbie to know if someone was lying without having to do a lot of footwork to actually prove it.
I did enjoy narrator David Colacci's performance, but otherwise, this audiobook was forgettable for me. I enjoyed Cold Pursuit by this author much more.
shelleyrae's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyed the unusual talent of the detective..a bit slow in parts but a good satisfying read
eilconj's review against another edition
4.0
A great thriller about the investigation into the death of a former police officer who was in internal investigations, then moved to a similar role in the city of San Diego. The suspects are numerous. The homicide detective investigating the murder has a special trait. He developed synesthesia after a 6 story fall. He can now see words people speak as colors and shapes. He uses this ability plus solid detective work to sort out the murderer. A good enjoyable read, I recommend this book.
dianne_aguilera's review against another edition
3.0
I listened to this on CD. Pretty good story and I didn't think, as I often do with books on cd, "How can there be so many more discs to listen to?" This kept my interest.
brettt's review
4.0
Although T. Jefferson Parker works primarily in the detective and criminal suspense genre, he's always had a bit of a literary bent and a tendency to insert the kind of "extras" that those kinds of novels like to use as prybars for opening up the human condition for their commentary. In 2006's The Fallen, that quirk is the synesthesia that affects San Diego police officer Robbie Brownlow.
Robbie was thrown from a sixth floor window but survived his injuries. The experience has colored his view of the world and also scrambled some of his senses: Sometimes when people talk he can see colored shapes that indicate the emotions behind their words. It's not constant but it sometimes lets him know when people are lying to him, which comes in handy when he's talking to people about crimes that may connect to them.
Robbie and his partner, the aggressive McKenzie Cortez, have found a body in a Jeep -- a former police investigator named Garrett Asplundh who's crossed over to investigating potential wrongdoing by police or other public officials. A tragedy in Asplundh's past suggests he may have taken his own life, but the clues don't add up that way and Asplundh was apparently on the trail of high-level corruption that people probably would have been ready to take drastic steps to stop. Since finding out the truth about the victim's death might expose that same corruption, Robbie and McKenzie could be in the same crosshairs.
Parker wisely doesn't overuse Robbie's synesthesia by making him some kind of telepathic human lie detector who instantly sees the truth behind lies. He can only "see" what his other senses suggest to him, so even if he believes someone's deceiving him he doesn't know about what or what the real story might be. The restraint allows the procedural aspects of Fallen to unwind at a steady pace, although Parker does throw a personal crisis or two for Robbie that doesn't seem to have a place in a standalone novel. He may have thought about more than one book with these characters but if so decided against it, so those threads are left dangling. Fallen is still a solid effort, with a slick story, engaging characters and Parker's trademark mix of laconic narration and vivid description.
Original available here.
Robbie was thrown from a sixth floor window but survived his injuries. The experience has colored his view of the world and also scrambled some of his senses: Sometimes when people talk he can see colored shapes that indicate the emotions behind their words. It's not constant but it sometimes lets him know when people are lying to him, which comes in handy when he's talking to people about crimes that may connect to them.
Robbie and his partner, the aggressive McKenzie Cortez, have found a body in a Jeep -- a former police investigator named Garrett Asplundh who's crossed over to investigating potential wrongdoing by police or other public officials. A tragedy in Asplundh's past suggests he may have taken his own life, but the clues don't add up that way and Asplundh was apparently on the trail of high-level corruption that people probably would have been ready to take drastic steps to stop. Since finding out the truth about the victim's death might expose that same corruption, Robbie and McKenzie could be in the same crosshairs.
Parker wisely doesn't overuse Robbie's synesthesia by making him some kind of telepathic human lie detector who instantly sees the truth behind lies. He can only "see" what his other senses suggest to him, so even if he believes someone's deceiving him he doesn't know about what or what the real story might be. The restraint allows the procedural aspects of Fallen to unwind at a steady pace, although Parker does throw a personal crisis or two for Robbie that doesn't seem to have a place in a standalone novel. He may have thought about more than one book with these characters but if so decided against it, so those threads are left dangling. Fallen is still a solid effort, with a slick story, engaging characters and Parker's trademark mix of laconic narration and vivid description.
Original available here.
weirdtea's review
3.0
It took me a bit longer to truly get into the story than I thought I would but ultimately it was a satisfying read. I liked the main character, the pacing was lively, and the mystery kept me interested. I picked it up because I'm fascinated with the mystery sub-genre involving detectives with synesthesia. On one hand, I like how Parker manages to incorporate the condition, making it a part of the character's life, instead of the primary thing that defines him. On the other, I wanted more of it. That shouldn't reflect poorly on the novel; it is just what I had hoped for. There is some excellent writing in this book--a few moments and phrases that come together perfectly. I think it was worth my time.
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