Falls To Pieces is an intense thriller that culminates in an action packed twisty ending.

I absolutely loved the Hawaii setting, and the MC Kati was so well developed. There were many other characters who laid the groundwork for secrets and lies. Early in the book, we meet Mac and he was definitely a favorite. I absolutely love when secondary characters stand out and he definitely did!

This was my first by the author and I will be first in line for more!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #Thomas&Mercer for the book #FallsToPieces by #DouglasCorleone. I thoroughly enjoyed this book about survival, determination and starting over. Katie and her daughter, Zoe, have been hiding from their past for two years. They have been safe until Katie’s fiancé, Eddie goes missing and she is all over the news. As she desperately tries to find Eddie, her daughter turns up missing too. She will do whatever necessary at this point. Can she find them before someone finds her?

Just when I thought I had everything figured out...BAM...plot twist!

Kati and Zoe are in hiding, but we aren't sure exactly why, at least not at first. The author doles out the answers in small doses throughout the whole book. Kati is embroiled in a fight to stay ahead of the police after her boyfriend is found murdered. Did Kati do it? If not, who did? 

I felt like Kati was not a reliable narrator or character. She was emotionally and verbally abused as a child and even in her marriage, which had an impact on her thought process. It is revealed at different times that Kati tended to get drunk and take pills. Was she avoiding life or trying to forget her past?

The story is fast-paced and action-packed. There is a lot to unpack to uncover the truth, but it makes for an engaging read.

We give this book 4 paws up.

Tense from the very start, this book will take you into a dark world, with unforgettable characters, and a deep, thrilling mystery. Little hints get dropped along the way, but as Kati doesn’t know exactly what happens, neither does the reader. She’s a bit of an unreliable narrator in some ways, but I love the little breadcrumbs dropped about her and Zoe’s past the deeper you get. Honestly, I was just as curious as to what happened then as what happened to Eddie and Zoe in the present. Corleone does a masterful job with the descriptions, it’s like watching a crime drama unfold before your eyes. There’s so much I want to say, but I’d rather not risk spoilers. If you like thrilling reads with plenty of twists, tension, and mystery, then this needs to be your next read!

A slow-burn thriller/mystery with a promising premise that kept me on my toes but fell flat once it was all said and done. Initially, we get sucked into a missing-person mystery and I felt like we have read this story before. It became a convoluted mess between the past and present and while it came together in the end and I was satisfied with the twist, it just seemed like a little of a chore to actually get there. Others might love it!

A bit of a mixed bag. I liked the Hawaiian setting but would point out it's not easy to go off the grid on Maui, especially with a teen daughter, if you aren't a local or haven't spent a lot of time there. No matter, Kati's fled her rotten ex with Zoe but now Kati's fiancee has disappeared on a hiking trip and Zoe is gone as well. This alternates between Kati and Zoe as the mystery twists in on itself. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Over to others,

Not for me. I didn’t really enjoy the writing style or narrative of the protagonist. I had a hard time connecting with the characters. I think ultimately I am just not the right audience for this one.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.

Simmering, sinister, and edgy!

Falls to Pieces is an ominous, twisty tale that sweeps you away to Hawaii and into the life of Kate Dawes, the mother of a teen daughter who, after fleeing an abusive husband and changing her name, finds her world turned upside down again when her new boyfriend, a local beloved lawyer goes missing, and the publicity surrounding his disappearance brings all his secrets to light as well as her own.

The prose is crisp and tight. The characters are secretive, persuasive, and vulnerable. And the plot is a complex, menacing tale of family, friendship, deception, lies, drama, manipulation, secrets, revelations, suspicious personalities, violence, and murder.

Overall, Falls to Pieces is a suspenseful, compelling, intense tale by Corleone that isn’t incredibly fast-paced but which, ultimately, does a remarkable job of highlighting that people aren’t always who they seem.

This one started out really strong for me, and just kind of devolved into something else.

Katie and her teenage daughter are living under new identities in Hawaii. They are on the run from her abusive husband and the murder investigation of her mother-in-law. Kati's new fiancé turns up missing, she is once again the center of a murder investigation, her daughter then goes missing, and that is where everything goes wild.

I really liked the book when it was more about dark family secrets and had more of a domestic suspense to it. The book quickly turned to corporate and political corruption and that is where it lost me. The end of the story was really just so convoluted with no one who they seemed to be. I could no longer keep track of all the characters.

This one will work better for people who enjoy thrillers of corruption and have an easier time following them.

Falls to Pieces by Douglas Corleone is a slow-burning but addictive novel that gains speed to a wild ending. Set against a Hawaiian backdrop, the story follows a mother and daughter in hiding, caught in a web of paranoia, lies, and revenge.

What I enjoyed most:
✨The Hawaiian setting added an atmospheric touch. I didn't realize how much forest Maui has!! 
✨Lock-room and survivalist/off-grid mystery kept the tension high.
✨Kati and Zoe's character development was deep and engaging.
✨Multiple, multiple twists and an ending I absolutely didn’t see coming!

Fall to Pieces is an Amazon First Reads for March. If you enjoy stories that blend suspense, hidden identities, and complex family dynamics with a ton of unpredictable twists, grab this one off Amazon First Reads now or pick it up on April 1st!

A book set in Hawaii and references to Fairfield County, Ct.- where I live- sign me up! Kudos to the author who is writing in a woman’s voice! In between the suspenseful scenes, I related to the main character’s inner thoughts and emotions about motherhood and raising a child.
This book is action packed with plot twists, well developed characters that had me guessing until the last page! I loved the style of writing as well as the short chapters.

Ok I loved loved loved this book! This was two mysteries in one and it doesn’t get any better than that!!
Running from her past we meet Kati Dawes and her daughter, Zoe, and their living off the grid in Hawaii. They've changed their names and do what they can to maintain an anonymous online presence to stay safe. This includes all social media which frustrates Zoe who is completing her senior year of high school. Soon their lives take a huge turn when Kati's fiancé, Eddie Akana, disappears while hiking with Kati! Suddenly Kati is in the spotlight cameras flashing and reporters at her door. Kati sees suspicions about her grow, and Eddie's law partner, Noah Walker, is working to shield Kati from the media and even the authorities. Things escalate when Zoe goes missing too, which prompts Kati to do whatever it takes to find her, even face her past which may put her in danger! The author does an incredible job writing about a very difficult topic, please be aware or trigger warnings, physical and emotional abuse which include sexual abuse to child.

I love when a setting is a big part of thrillers and this one gave me that. Not only the setting, but the happenings of Kati’s past and the way it was narrated make it hard for me to know what to believe. I wouldn’t say that it was fast paced until further in the book but it still kept me interested with all the secrets. I loved the psychological aspect and the ending was great.

Thank you @amazonpublishing @otrpr @dougcorleone for the gifted copy.

3.5/5

Thank you @otrpr @amazonpublishing #partner for the gifted copy of this book!

Falls to Pieces by Douglas Corleone is a gripping psychological thriller set in the picturesque yet dangerous backdrop of Hawaii. At the start, Corleone delivers a slow-paced, but ultimately captivating, narrative that sucked me into a world of mystery, betrayal, and morally complex characters. My favorite part was the unreliable narrator, which kept me on the edge of my seat and a little bit stressed out throughout the entire book. As the story unfolded, I quickly discovered not many characters could be trusted which made me even more intrigued and invested! The characters themselves are another highlight. None of them are purely good or bad, and this ambiguity adds layers to the story. I found myself both sympathizing with and distrusting them, which only intensified my stress level as I read. 😝 Yay for that! The pacing really picked up toward the end, making Falls to Pieces a juicy, twisty thriller you won’t want to miss!

I appreciated the setting of this book so much! I visited Maui for a month right at the end of Covid, and so many places sounded and felt so familiar. The beauty of the land, the appreciation and at the same time the danger of the wildness that this island is, was really felt on these pages. The story got me invested in the beginning. But somewhere down the line, the twists and the turns just became too much. It felt almost disjointed, and if I really looked closer, there were holes in the plot. The reasoning for what was happening for the big twist felt like it was there for the shock value and not necessarily made sense as far as character goes. I felt so lost, just as the main character did when the big reveal happened. There were no clues for that. No backstory to the personality, etc. I felt cheated.

It was fast paced story, with a lot of interesting and necessary themes, dark themes (family abuse, sexual abuse, murder, drug use), but it had so much in one story, that nothing really stuck. The fact that the narrator is unreliable, and there's a heavy use of drugs and alcohol - not my favorite trope in all honesty.

All in all, I would recommend this if you're not nit picky with your thrillers. There's a lot going on, and the plot just keeps moving. But if in the end one will be satisfied with that ending? I was not.

The Pulse did it again! If y’all are not following the releases over at ThrillerBookLoversThePulse then you are absolutely missing out on some of the best thrillers to hit shelves in 2025.

Kati & her daughter Zoe have lived off the grid in a small town in Hawaii for the past two years - having fled an abusive husband. Kati has settled into her new life nicely, and is even engaged to a nice attorney named Eddie. One day while they’re hiking, Eddie goes missing. As more nefarious looking details emerge, the security net that Kati has built hiding her identity is at risk of coming undone.

As Eddie’s partner at the firm takes Kati and the case on for himself, Kati struggles with her hidden past and how much she needs to tell Eddie in order to clear her name while being able to remain safe. But when Zoe also goes missing, everything changes. Zoe has secrets too, and teenagers are not good at keeping secrets, usually.

Woah what a book! First of all, love the setting. We don’t get enough books set in Hawaii, do we? There’s so much potential for amazing tropical thrillers. In the Author’s Note, Douglas essentially writes a love letter to Hawaii, so I’ll be checking out his backlist and looking forward to more books in this beautiful but deadly location.

There were a lot of moving pieces here - hidden identity, on the run, small town, new relationship, strained parent/child relationship, police investigation…there was A LOT of room for error, but Douglas executed this pretty damn perfectly. There were twists that I absolutely never saw coming. Incredible. There are top tier manipulations and secrets going on throughout the entirety of this book, and I can’t recommend it enough!

I don’t typically love an attorney / detective angle in my thrillers, I almost always avoid them in favor of amateur detectives trying to clumsily solve their own loved ones' disappearances and murders, so I honestly did not expect to love this one as much as I did.

First book by Douglas, not my last!

This book has the ultimate unreliable narrator that will mess with your head and make you doubt everything! It’s a wildly confusing ride – up until the moment everything falls into pieces and makes sense.
With morally grey characters like the ones here, that’s an added layer of questioning things as you read it – I’d say this is the perfect read for those who want something more, more depth, and more substance, in their psych thriller and mystery reads.
And, yes, a twist that just sneaks up on you when you least expected one – that’s here also.

Started off as a bit of a slow burn but keeps the reader engaged and wanting to read more and get to the bottom of some burning questions. All in all good read and it did pick up the pace toward the last third of the book. Also did not see the twist coming!

Thank you @dougcorleone @netgalley for my complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

Kati Dawes and her daughter, Zoe, live off the grid in Hawaii. They've changed their names and maintain an anonymous online presence to stay safe. However, their lives take a turn when Kati's fiancé, Eddie Akana, disappears while hiking, putting Kati in the spotlight. As suspicions about her grow, Eddie's law partner, Noah Walker, works to shield Kati from the media and the authorities. Just when things escalate, Zoe goes missing too, prompting Kati to do whatever it takes to find her.

MY THOUGHTS: This was my first book by this author, and I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I began reading. The plot was intricately woven, almost resembling two or three interconnected storylines within a single narrative. I particularly enjoyed the Hawaiian setting, as I've traveled the Road to Hana and could fully appreciate the inherent dangers depicted. The story unfolds through the dual perspectives of mother and daughter, Kati and Zoe. I would categorize this narrative as a slow burn, with the action intensifying toward the end. Without revealing too much, I will say that readers can anticipate surprising twists, hidden motives, and a few unreliable characters throughout the journey.

What drew me to this book was the idea of a woman and her daughter living off grid in Hawaii, desperate to hide from their past. That secrecy is an important element of the plot, but the "off the grid" part really isn't. They could have just as easily been living in a regular neighboorhood. I loved the parts of the book that focused on the islands and the unique dangers they present, but that's only a small part of the book. There's a lot of unrelated drama and conflict that comes together to create a roller coaster of a plot.
What drew me to this book was the idea of a woman and her daughter living off grid in Hawaii, desperate to hide from their past. That secrecy is an important element of the plot, but the "off the grid" part really isn't. They could have just as easily been living in a regular neighboorhood. I loved the parts of the book that focused on the islands and the unique dangers they present, but that's only a small part of the book. There's a lot of unrelated drama and conflict that comes together to create a roller coaster of a plot.