After the Crash by Michel Bussi: A Dang Good Page Turner…Despite the Ending

Despite the title of this post, I do NOT reveal any spoilers about the ending.

After the Crash, Michel BussiFiction – Mystery / Thriller
Released January 5, 2016
377 Pages
Bottom Line: Read it.
Affiliate Link: Buy from Amazon
Source: Publisher (Hachette) via Edelweiss

Headline

After the Crash is a compelling and intricately spun thriller that hooked me from page one…despite the fact that I’m pretty burned out of twisty thrillers. I highly recommend you go in as blind as possible and it’s going on my Page Turners and Books for Guys lists.

Plot Summary

On December 23, 1980, a plane crashed in the French Alps killing all its passengers and crew except a baby girl, whose survival sets off a war between two families, one rich and one poor.

Why I Read It

The Hachette rep sold me on this one at the BEA (Book Expo America) Speed Dating event and the fact that it was already a bestseller in Europe didn’t hurt.

What I Liked

  • This book hooked me immediately. I thought I’d “take a peek” at the beginning before moving on to a shorter book, but I’d sped through 40 pages before I knew it. The plot twists come fast and furious, right from the beginning. So much so that, not too far in, I wondered where the story had left to go.
  • The story is told through “real-time” action eighteen years after the crash interwoven with the journal of a private detective hired to investigate the case. The journal provides the background and lays out the available evidence in meticulous detail, while the “real-time” portions cover the reverberating impact of everything that’s happened over the previous eighteen years.
  • The pacing is perfect and surprisingly avoids a lull in the entire 377 pages. The information is released in exquisitely timed increments and the answer to every question generates multiple new unknowns.
  • On the surface, the overriding mystery seems maddeningly simple. How is it possible that these people can’t answer this question?! But, Bussi meticulously lays out every possible avenue and how each one really doesn’t answer the question…making me believe in something I doubted initially.

What I Didn’t Like

  • I loved this book right up until the end. The ending felt a bit random and overly coincidental. I believe a perfect plot twist should be unexpected, but make complete sense only in hindsight. This ending felt arbitrary, even in hindsight. But, the ending didn’t kill the book for me…I was engrossed virtually the entire way through, which outweighs my tail-end disappointment. I can’t say anymore about the ending here, but I’m planning a spoiler discussion post to talk more about it.
  • The writing isn’t going to win any awards and the dialogue veered into cheesiness at times. But, you read this book for the compelling story…not the glittery writing.
  • And, guess what?! The marketing teams have pitched this book as perfect for lovers of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train (cue image of me bashing my head into a wall). Honestly, I didn’t see either of those comparisons until after I’d finished the book and probably wouldn’t have read it had I known beforehand. After the Crash has its own identity and the comparison to the two “Girl” books should be ignored entirely.

A Defining Quote

It’s actually quite an agreeable feeling, Grand-Duc thought, to sit in judgment on the life and death of another: to protect only in order to condemn, to give hope in order to sacrifice. To play with fate, like a cunning, capricious god.

Good for People Who Like…

Page Turners, wealthy people behaving badly, investigative mysteries

Other Books You May Like

Another twisty page turner:
Where They Found Her by Kimberly McCreight

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18 Comments

  1. Kay wrote:

    OK, I can see that I need to pick this up soon to read if you’re going to have a spoiler post. I do love the twisty books, as you know. That being said, please publishers, get over the ‘Girl’ stuff. Sigh.

    Posted 1.7.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I’ll probably wait a couple weeks before publishing the spoiler post so people can have time to read the book! And – yes, agreed…a “Girl” comparison actually makes me NOT read a book at this point.

      Posted 1.9.16 Reply
  2. As usual, I am skeptical yet intrigued – ha! I don’t know how I feel about the fact that you really enjoyed the book until the ending; I don’t want to be let down, Sarah!! It sounds like it could be a great story, though; I would definitely pick it up. I’m with you on the Gone Girl business…enough, already!

    Posted 1.7.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Honestly, I couldn’t stop turning the pages right up until the end, so it didn’t really bother me that much. And, it got me thinking about what makes an ending “good” for me. Glad I didn’t see the “GG” comparison until after I’d read the book…I probably wouldn’t have read it if I’d seen it before.

      Posted 1.9.16 Reply
  3. That does sound like a page turner!

    Posted 1.7.16 Reply
  4. Great review Sarah. I just read a book that also touted similarities between Gone Girl and The Girl On The Train! (Mine I don’t think even came close.) ‘After The Crash’ sounds great. The premise of this book sounds really good.

    Posted 1.7.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I feel like the marketing people slap that label on any remotely twisty thriller or any book with controversial female characters these days!

      Posted 1.9.16 Reply
  5. Carmen wrote:

    I think the reason why publishers still bring up Gone Girl and TGotT is because they broke the thriller mold and that was very unexpected. In that genre it feels that every book is similar to the next, unlike those two. In any case, After the Crash seems like it was great reading until its (unfortunate) ending. I guess it’ll pique my interest if I see it popping up everywhere.

    Posted 1.7.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I’m curious to see if it does as well here as it’s done in Europe!

      Posted 1.9.16 Reply
  6. “And, guess what?! The marketing teams have pitched this book as perfect for lovers of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train (cue image of me bashing my head into a wall).”

    THIS made me laugh out loud! I’ve seen lots of hype for this one, and it does sound interesting, despite my not wanting to read it just because of the marketing 🙂

    Posted 1.7.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I’m so glad I didn’t see that comparison until after I’d finished the book – probably would have skipped it otherwise!

      Posted 1.9.16 Reply
  7. Judy wrote:

    I like the way you do your reviews. Especially this one!

    Posted 1.8.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Thank you!

      Posted 1.9.16 Reply
  8. I’ve been wanting to read this one and have a hold on it at the library. That darn library queue is killing me! I don’t like cheesy dialogue, either but if the story can get me past that, I’m all in for a twist.

    Posted 1.8.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I’m usually not one for cheesy dialogue either, but the story trumped it on this one! And – it was only cheesy at times…not all the way through. Hope you get it sometime soon!

      Posted 1.9.16 Reply
  9. Sounds like another great thriller. I just finished Bull Mountain and OMG. What a great page turner. I need a little rest after reading that.

    Posted 1.8.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Ha – yes – do not read another thriller on the heels of Bull Mountain! Go in an entirely different direction!

      Posted 1.9.16 Reply
  10. Diane wrote:

    This is on my TBR shelf. I love a good thriller like this.

    Posted 1.10.16 Reply

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