Nelson Demille - Night Fall

Reviewed by Brian Lowen on show 16th April 2009

On a Long Island beach in New York at dusk, Bud Mitchell and Jill Winslow conduct their illicit love affair in front of a video camera, set to record each steamy moment.
Suddenly, a terrible explosion lights up the sky and a large passenger aircraft outbound from America crashes into the sea in a ball of fire. Not wishing to be discovered, the couple grab the camera and flee as approaching police cars speed to the scene.

Five years later the crash of TWA flight 800 has been attributed to a mechanical malfunction. But for John Corey and Kate Mayfield, both members of the elite Anti-Terrorist Task Force, the case is not closed. Suspecting a cover-up at the highest level and disobeying orders, they set out to find the one piece of evidence that will prove the truth about what really happened to Flight 800.

The one piece of evidence is of course the video film that the couple took on the beach, because in the background, against a darkening sky, can be clearly seen a missile arising from the sea and striking the aircraft.

The film had been previously been traced by the CIA and destroyed and the “stars” of the film sworn to secrecy before the made up version of the crash was released. They didn’t want the public to know that it had been a terrorist operation.
John Corey realises that there has been a cover up and sets about finding out the truth.
After a long painstaking investigation he tracks down Jill Winslow who was on the beach and discovers that she made a copy of the video before it was destroyed.

He is set for a show down with his bosses at a meeting in the café at the top of the North Tower of the World Trade Centre at 08.30 on the 11th September 2001.

I won’t give away the ending which I found somewhat disappointing. I do like my stories to be all nicely completed in a tidy way. This ending leaves you thinking, which it is obviously supposed to do. I found the book hard going in places. There is not much action but a lot of repetitive interviews, which of course is how it would be.

This is the second book that I have read that involves the events of 9/11 in some way, the other being Dead Man’s Footsteps by Peter James.