I didn't like the characters, and I know I wasn't supposed to, but they weren't even well written, and well written unlikable characters can still be enjoyable. Note: I was lucky enough to win a copy of this book from a Goodreads giveaway. What did Charlie really think of Matthew? What were Chloe's motivations? On the whole, though, good book. My main frustration was with Chloe and Charlie, who I felt were underdeveloped. It kept me interested, and, while not a true page turner, by the end I was racing through to see what would happen to Matthew. The writing is good and the plot realistic. It's told from one perspective and relies on a slower build up of tension. This is a suspense novel, and it might disappoint fans of modern thrillers, but this is the type of book I really appreciate.

But as the summer wears on, Matthew starts to suspect that Chloe is hiding something, and he becomes obsessive about it, more or less acting like a stalker. It's a dynamic they've all danced around for the last decade. While he's not in love with Chloe and isn't looking to steal her away from his cousin, Matthew feels both an intimacy and possessiveness over her that he can't quite explain. Maybe things would be less complicated if Matthew weren't enamored with Charlie's wife, Chloe. As the days go on, the cracks between become undeniable. That's until Charlie invites Matthew to spend the summer at his vacation home. Both men are harboring some measure of resentment toward the other, but, like in most families, they keep it bubbling under the surface. Matthew lives in a dingy one bedroom and is still striving to make his mark in the restaurant business. He owns multiple homes, has a million dollars in cash in his home safe, and is the type to be impressed with his own wealth. Charlie is a successful investment banker and a married father.

Both men are harboring some measure of resentment toward the other, but, like in most famil Matthew and Charlie are cousins, more like brothers really, but their lives have gone in very different directions.

Matthew and Charlie are cousins, more like brothers really, but their lives have gone in very different directions. Who is the real victim here? Who is the perpetrator? And who, ultimately, is the fall guy? Darkly vivid, with an atmosphere of erotic danger, The Fall Guy is LasdunвЂ™s most entertaining novel yet.more As readers of James LasdunвЂ™s acclaimed fiction can expect, The Fall Guy is a complex moral tale as well as a gripping suspense story, probing questions of guilt and betrayal with ruthless incisiveness. As the days grow hotter, the friendship between the three begins to reveal its fault lines, and with the arrival of a fourth character, the household finds itself suddenly in the grip of uncontrollable passions. Charlie, a wealthy banker with an uneasy conscience, invites his troubled cousin Matthew to visit him and his wife in their idyllic mountaintop house. As the days grow hotter, the friendship between the three begins to reveal its fault lines, and with the arrival of a fourth character, the household finds itself suddenly in the grip of uncontrollable pa It is summer, 2012.

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