Catch Her When She Falls: A Novel

by Allison Buccola

In this “propulsive” (Kimberly McCreight) debut thriller, a young woman questions everything she thought she knew about the shocking murder that changed her life when she was in high school.

“Wildly suspenseful and almost gothic in tone.”—BookPage

Ten years ago, my boyfriend killed my best friend.

When Micah Wilkes was a senior in high school, her boyfriend was convicted of murdering her best friend, Emily, a star ballerina with a bright future. A decade later, Micah has finally moved on from the unforgivable betrayal and loss. Now the owner of a bustling coffee shop in her small hometown in Pennsylvania, she’s happily coupled up with another old high school friend, the two having bonded over their shared sorrow.

But when reminders of her past begin appearing at her work and home, Micah begins to doubt what she knows about Emily’s death. Questions raised on a true crime blog and in an online web sleuthing forum force her to reexamine her memories of that fateful night. She told the truth to the investigators on the case, but was there another explanation for Emily’s murder? A stranger in the woods. An obsessive former classmate. A domineering ballet instructor. Or the internet’s favorite suspect: Joshua, Emily’s outcast younger brother who hasn’t been seen since his sister’s death.

As Micah delves deeper into the case, she feels her grip on reality loosening, her behavior growing more and more secretive and unhinged. As she races to piece together the truth about that night ten years ago, Micah grapples with how things could have gone so wrong and wonders whether she, too, might be next to disappear.

• ISBN10: 0593231295
• ISBN13: 9780593231296
• Publish Date: 1 February 2022
• Publish Status: Remaindered
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Random House USA Inc
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 368
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780593231296

Reviews

[Jeff Sexton]

Interesting Story That Could Have Been Better Told. IF you complete this tale, you'll get one that is ultimately an interesting story more of descent into paranoia than of uncovering the truth of a murder, one where the author chooses an ending that is less conventional and therefore more interesting. IF. The singular biggest problem with this tale is that the way it is told makes it Just. So. BORING. As in, even I caught myself falling asleep to it as quickly at times as if I was trying to read a Chemistry textbook. As in, this could rival the first three chapters of The Great Gatsby for most boring tale ever told. But again, IF you can survive the boring manner in which the story is told, it is quite interesting. Fans of other hyper-boring yet massively successful books like The Road by Cormac MCCarthy may be better suited to this book than I was. Recommended.