Falling Off Air

By Catherine Sampson

Book Overview

Catherine Sampson's debut novel, a thrilling suspense about a single mother suspected of murder. Robin Ballantyne's life is finally coming together. After learning she was pregnant with twins and being abandoned by her irresponsible boyfriend, Adam, she's settling into life as a single mother. But one night, after putting the children to bed, she hears what she thinks is an argument outside. Then, suddenly, a body falls past her window. Running outside, she finds Paula Carmichael, a renowned activist, dead on the ground. Although Robin and Paula weren't acquainted, the police find Robin's name mentioned - frequently - in the dead woman's diary. Robin then learns that her ex-boyfriend had been making a documentary about Paula and may know more than he lets on. But before she can ask him, he's killed by a hit-and-run driver - who was driving Robin's car. Now a suspect herself, Robin must figure out who wanted both Robin and Adam dead before she loses her freedom, her children, and her life.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446695238
• ISBN13: 9780446695237
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Mysterious Press
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

LOVED IT!

Big shout out for this fantastic thriller - and I want more from Sampson. She's ultra-cool; a brilliant woman for her times, with all the conflicts that go with that: having kids AND needing her career. Great story. Couldn't put it down. The audio is extremely well done.

Robin's Chaotic World

Robin Ballantyne has her hands full these days as this complex novel opens. Her lover abandoned her to raise the twins he fathered and her TV career has been on hold for a year. So too has her entire life as her world has shrunk to her children and their needs. While she loves the twins with very fiber of her being, she is lonely and depressed and struggling hard to cope with day-to-day problems. The fact that her neighbors are fighting one evening outside her small London town house certainly does not help much. Nor does it help when, hours later after she finally got the twins to bed, she happens to see a woman crash to the pavement across the street during a heavy thunderstorm. Robin summons help, but she knows from the way the woman, who fell at least three stories is splayed out on the street, that she is dead. What she did not realize at the time is that the deceased woman was Paula Carmichael, a very vocal social activist and member of the Labour Party in Parliament. She also does not know why Robin is mentioned in Paula's dairy and why she comments in detail about the twins. Not only does Paula know the names and habits, the passages in the diary suggest Paula was stalking Robin and raise other questions for the police. Questions that Robin is powerless to explain no matter how many times or in what form, D. C. I. Finney asks them. Robin also does not understand why, since she was so very good at her job of producing television documentaries before going out on maternity leave, she can't have her old job back. Instead she is made an offer for an ethics watchdog type position, something she does not want but may have to grudgingly accept to keep food on the table. Her shaky return to work is further complicated by evidence that begins to appear, beyond the dairies, which seems to implicate her in Paula's death. The result is a firestorm of media controversy and other complications, which force an increasingly agitated Robin into actively trying to clear her own name. This is a well written intense novel that quickly becomes a sheer joy to read. Written in a cozy style with a minimum of violence, descriptive or otherwise, the work proceeds at a fast pace pulling the reader into Robin's chaotic world. The author's unique writing style quickly conjures up the world she has created and the pages flow by all too fast. Featuring strong fully developed and realistic characters, strong pacing, and a twisting mystery, the focus is on the psychological makeup of individuals we all know regardless of setting. The result is an excellent read and one that should make any list, mystery or not. This entire review previously appeared online at OnceWritten Kevin R. Tipple © 2005

Engrossing, intellingent mystery

Smart, engaging story. Robin Ballantyne is a realistic-sounding single mother whose life starts to unravel when she is suspected of involvement in a neighbor's murder. The story is well-written, the characters believeable, the plot suspenseful. Well worth the time.

Very Fine British Thriller Debut!!

First we have our 1st person narrator, and her pre-toddling twins with our intrepid heroine witnessing the falling death of a neighbor , who we learn is a big time social activist, on a dark and stormy night. Murder,suicide, chance fall? Then the ex -boyfriend lout shows up, along with the police, a frenzied media, many corporate media types who once worked with the mom and her ex-boyfriend. Mix this together with some 1st class,very stylish writing, very unusual family situations, and a gradual semi-frantic pace into some tough English neighborhoods, and you have a sure winner! PS- See how soon you can pick the criminal. No doubt , you'll be very surprised by the finale! My only (tiny) criticism: too many "our eyes locked" phrases thruout. Nonetheless, an outstanding debut!

engaging British amateur sleuth

London based TV news producer Robin Ballantyne takes maternity leave to raise her infant twins Hannah and William while the father of the children Adam Wills flees from the three females in his life. However, Robin quickly realizes how much she misses the news room when she watches her neighbor Labour Party MP and social arbiter to the nation Paula Carmichael fall to her death. Robin asks Maeve Tandy, Chief of the Current Affairs/Documentary Division for her old job back, but is offered a loser's position as ethics editor. Doing an end around, Robin attends a ritzy awards ceremony attended by broadcasting leaders including that ship deserting rat Adam. He demands visitation rights to see his daughters, but the next day is run over by Robin's BMW. The media goes frenzy with one of their own in the hot seat as they see her vehicle as the weapon, her meeting with the victim as the opportunity and her inheritance of his estate as the motive. No one cares that Adam was filming a documentary about Paula and sharing much more. Robin realizes her peers and the police have convicted her; she must prove otherwise. This engaging British amateur sleuth tale is kept fresh by the beleaguered heroine who finds her own community ready to devour her as a wounded piranha. Though two lovers and the media feeding turmoil are old hats, having an insider caught in the headlights provides newness as Robin struggles between motherhood, prime suspect, media hanging, and investigator. Fans will appreciate Robin FALLING OFF AIR as she tries to save herself from drowning in the media spotlighted fishbowl. Harriet Klausner