Fireworks, inventiveness and excitement of part three and a curmudgeonly inventor of torpedoes
Philippa Stockley, Evening Standard

Learned, witty and splendidly entertaining
Kirkus

Fireworks, inventiveness and excitement of part three and a curmudgeonly inventor of torpedoes
Philippa Stockley, Evening Standard

an indefatigably clever storyteller...witty, laconic dialogue; a galloping pace, particularly in the first and third narratives; the author's silky, fluid prose; and above all the concluding passages, which detonate a series of surprises as poignant as they are grim
Daniel Mallory, TLS

Pears matches the brilliance of his bestselling An Instance of the Fingerpost with this intricate historical novel... The pages will fly for most readers, who will lose themselves in the clear prose and compelling plot.
Publishers Weekly

an indefatigably clever storyteller...witty, laconic dialogue; a galloping pace, particularly in the first and third narratives; the author's silky, fluid prose; and above all the concluding passages, which detonate a series of surprises as poignant as they are grim
Daniel Mallory, TLS

Sometimes you get a novel that is purely enjoyable. Stone's Fall is such a book. The assurance and invention with which the novel is written are alike remarkable. Utterly absorbing and a rare delight
Alan Massie, The Scotsman

The novel is above all a romp, albeit an exceptionally intelligent and entertaining one
David Robson, Sunday Telegraph

The novel is above all a romp, albeit an exceptionally intelligent and entertaining one
David Robson, Sunday Telegraph

Pears has the good journalist's knack of making high finance enthralling - he can take Robert Peston's job any day - but it is his interest in the peculiar effects that money has on human beings that makes him a good novelist.
Jake Kerridge, Daily Telegraph

Pears has the good journalist's knack of making high finance enthralling - he can take Robert Peston's job any day - but it is his interest in the peculiar effects that money has on human beings that makes him a good novelist.
Jake Kerridge, Daily Telegraph

Pears is a bold storyteller with ambitions beyond the confines of genre
Clare Clark, Guardian

absorbing and also timely
Jessica Mann, Literary Review

absorbing and also timely
Jessica Mann, Literary Review

this thoughtful, thoroughly satisfying novel... clever storytelling to reach imaginative heights
Waterstone's Books Quarterly

this thoughtful, thoroughly satisfying novel... clever storytelling to reach imaginative heights
Waterstone's Books Quarterly

Iain Pears has an uncanny historical sense ... splendid return to the grand 19th-century novel
Jane Jakeman, The Independent

Iain Pears has an uncanny historical sense ... splendid return to the grand 19th-century novel
Jane Jakeman, The Independent

Engrossing and intelligent, it's the best sort of page-turner.
Amber Pearson, Daily Mail

Engrossing and intelligent, it's the best sort of page-turner.
Amber Pearson, Daily Mail

Pears is in a class of his own; no one else could possibly succeed in making the world of big finance so hugely entertaining.
www.thetruthaboutbooks.com

Pears is in a class of his own; no one else could possibly succeed in making the world of big finance so hugely entertaining.
www.thetruthaboutbooks.com

Well worth the ride
Sunday Telegraph

Well worth the ride
Sunday Telegraph

...a complex novel of mystery and suspense narrated by three fascinating characters...I thoroughly recommend this title.
Landers Bookshop, Independent on Sunday

...a complex novel of mystery and suspense narrated by three fascinating characters...I thoroughly recommend this title.
Landers Bookshop, Independent on Sunday

Carole Colbert 30 June 2010

The novel is recounted by three different narrators and begins in 1953 in Paris when a retired journalist attends the funeral of an elderly lady that he knew several years ago in London. When her solicitor informs him that there's a package for him in London, only to be opened on her death, the story becomes intriguing.

Whilst travelling home his mind goes back in time to London in 1909 when the widow of John Stone employs him to discover more about the contents of his will and thus he becomes the first narrator.

Another narrator takes up the story in Paris in 1890 and finally John Stone himself narrates the last part in Venice in 1867.

This is so much more than the mystery of why John Stone, a happily married man who was frightened of heights, would fall out of his window at the height of his power.

The words flowed easily and I thought the characters and situations all very believable, with some twists in the tale!

vixa delic 30 June 2010

This is one of those books that once you start reading, you won't be able to put down! Travelling backwards in time - from London to Paris, and then to Venice - it tells the story of a very successful banker and businessman John Stone who is found dead at the start of the novel. Mixing themes of desire, corporate greed and espionage, you get completely sucked into this fascinating story. Every time you think you've worked out why John Stone died your ideas are blown away by a new plot twist! Really good summer read.

Clara Womersley 09 December 2010

If you've read my review of Palace Council you will know how partial I am to a really good thriller. If you loved Instance of the Fingerpost (one of my favourite books of ALL TIME) then you will love this and if you haven't been introduced to Iain Pears before then you can start with this. A wonderful, fast paced historical thriller with the mother of all twists. Picked by Cactus this is Iain Pears at his best. Stone's Fall follows the story of how and why a global financier dies in the years before World War One, it looks like a suicide but becomes more and more mysterious. I can't stress how brilliant this is and it's so topical too, following global financial markets and investigators, murderers and spies throughout Europe.