Short enough to read in one sitting, which is just as well because I really couldn't stop. Beautifully paced, and with such fabulously shifting ground under the feet... This was a compelling read, I absolutely loved every page.

Really enjoyed this concise, precise and atmospheric character study. I've already recommended it on Twitter. Funny, creepy, well-written. All the good things!

The ending didn't entirely work for me -- I wanted it to stay super-dark, I wanted Matthew to get away with it -- but that is really my only quibble.

There are shades of Patricia Highsmith in James Lasdun page turner novel. Set one summer in the Catskills, Matthew goes to stay with his wealthy cousin Charlie and his beautiful wife Chloe at their stunning second home. Matthew's father committed major fraud and disappeared when Matthew was a teenager, and this mysterious absence has informed his life ever since. The cousins once were close but now the inequality in wealth and lifestyle has created some distance. Matthew's point of view is the reader's route in to this story, but it it is an unreliable one. He starts, happily, as the holiday chef, sourcing ingredients all over the county. His trips out soon become more focused on where Chloe is going and what she is doing. With shades of Highsmith's Ripley, Matthew's desires and obsessions hamper his ability to see how others see him, or even the true implications of his actions as the novel heads in a darker direction.

A beautifully written, lush, rich psychological thriller that is a slow burn but fascinates and enthrals throughout. Who is the fall guy? That really is the question and one that takes time to become evident.

I was captivated from the outset and loved the author's command of the language, descriptive skills, dry sense of humour, particularly about the subtle differences between the mores of Brits and Americans and the characters are beautifully drawn.

This novel made for compulsive reading... I finished it in one sitting. The comparisons to Patricia Highsmith are apt, this novel is The Talented Mr Ripley for the new millennium. It was nice to find a psychological thriller written from a male perspective with a literary twist... a novel that manages to be startlingly original in a saturated market.

This was an excellent novel. With brilliant main characters and a wonderful plot, this book is a real page turner. I would highly recommend this book.

The Fall Guy was just too slow. That is the basic reason that it was not for me. I'm not sure selling it as a "Taut psychological thriller " is doing it any favours because it is not taut nor is it really a thriller. It is more character study and yes some lovely literary writing the author has got going on here but although I love some literary stuff I need to have at least a sense that something might happen soon. Or at least a little tension.

I think it would have worked better from multiple viewpoints. We only get the one and that one is vaguely monotonous at times and seriously if I wanted to read a cookbook I'd get a cookbook. The plot kind of meanders along until quite late then suddenly things pick up but by then I was genuinely past caring. If we had heard from the other characters in the drama - and that is what this is a character drama- it might have added layers beyond lots of beautiful words tagged together to tell a rather long winded (yes it is only a short novel but trust me it feels long winded) story. For me the ending was lazy too.

Look it's not terrible, certainly James Lasdun has excellent writing skill but I was bored. The only reason I finished it was because it was short and I had an occasional eye on "maybe this is going to have a kick ass finale that will make all this worthwhile". Sadly that did not happen. At least not in my opinion.

I think The Fall Guy and I are not compatible. We had a brief interlude in time but the relationship really wasn't going anywhere.

If you like the Donna Tartt school of novels you will likely love this to be fair. I was the wrong audience and I'm probably missing the nuances of what the author was trying to achieve here, hey it happens.