Stone's Fall

A Novel

By: Iain Pears

Narrated by: Roy Dotrice, John Lee, Simon Vance

Length: 24 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

A return to the form that launched Iain Pears onto bestseller lists around the world: a vast historical mystery, marvelous in its ambition and ingenius in its complexity.

In his most dazzling novel since the groundbreaking New York Times bestseller An Instance of the Fingerpost, Iain Pears tells the story of John Stone, financier and arms dealer, a man so wealthy that in the years before World War One he was able to manipulate markets, industries, and indeed entire countries and continents.

A panoramic novel with a riveting mystery at its heart, Stone’s Fall is a quest to discover how and why John Stone dies, falling out of a window at his London home.

Chronologically, it moves backwards–from London in 1909 to Paris in 1890, and finally to Venice in 1867– and in the process the quest to uncover the truth plays out against the backdrop of the evolution of high-stakes international finance, Europe’s first great age of espionage, and the start of the twentieth century’s arms race.

Like Fingerpost, Stone’s Fall is an intricately plotted and richly satisfying puzzle–an erudite work of history and fiction that feels utterly true and oddly timely–and marks the triumphant return of one of the world’s great storytellers.

©2009 Spiegel & Grau (P)2009 Random House

Critic reviews

“When I read Iain Pears' An Instance of the Fingerpost years ago, I thought it was so brilliantly plotted, so compulsively entertaining, so utterly engrossing that I gave it to my father and said, 'This is the new Dickens.' Stone's Fall is better.”—Malcolm Gladwell

“Mr. Pears’s assured command of period history, language, lore, and attitudes is formidable.”–The Wall Street Journal

A gem with some minor flaws, but still a gem nevertheless.

This novel was reviewed by some notable authors for some also notable publications at the time of its release. They are accomplished in the literary world and far more able than I am to critique this long book. I like long books, ones that keep me turning the pages anyway. This one did and kept me engaged, wanting to get back to it when I had to put it down. The reviews by the above mentioned authors were literarily astute and meaningful in their criticism and, in retrospect, I could see their points. These points did not detract from my overall enjoyment of the book and I think these critics both still found a lot to like in the book despite the flaws they perceived more than I did. Phew! The bottom line: it's a very good, literary whodunit with some talented narrators. Good bang for your buck - go for it!

Stone’s Fall is frenetic and plodding

Narration is exceptional! Their work delivers the mixed bag of suspense and confusion that is accompanied by the complex narrative throughout. The overall story is well laid out/plotted. Super amazed that total combined yards of 1150+.
An aside, I love that the Ph.Eagles beat the N.E. Patripoffs, who have cheated as well as committed felonious crimes in at least two separate events, using a win at all costs, to excuse going out of bounds. Don’t forget there are many samples out the. May the Lord Jesus Christ

Really a wonderful listen

I don't often write reviews of what I've listened to but I'm compelled to write about this, really a fascinating and terrific story, and wonderfully well done by all involved. Although lengthy I actually found myself wishing for more when it was all over. Highly recommended!

Very enjoyable

A little slow starting out, but before long I found myself wanting t get back to the story.

Wish I had read the hard copy first

I think this came under the mystery genre, it is not a mystery or even a suspense novel, more like a Trollope.

I enjoyed the style and story. I found that I listened almost straight through each narrator, taking a break between parts.

A good story well written and narrated, sad and a little depressing.

less than terrific

Somewhat interesting, but far from enthralling. I can't think of fifteen words to characterize this book.

A good story, well told.

Intersting characters, with interesting and sometimes surprising connections between them. This book also flips between different periods of the characters' lives, and does a good job of providing the appropriate, if subtle, nuances of the characters' various ages throughout the story. Very well performed (I listen to lots of Dickens titles, and Simon Vance is a favorite) and a satisfying listen overall.

Narrator

Really good story. Would be worth five stars if entire book was narrated by Simon Vance! With the other two narrators you could rarely understand who was speaking.

A must read (Listen Preferably)

Highy recommend! Such a beguiling mission for the quest to solve a mystery. A mystery that didn't become evident until the very end.

loved this

This was amazingly well performed. the story was terrific even though it dragged a little in a few spots. i really enjoyed the structure of the novel, different and effective.