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Brian McMahon
Author
The Fall Will Probably Kill You! (A Love Story)

Adult; Mystery/Thriller; (Market)

Teddy Thompson has loved Charlotte Pennington since 2nd grade math class. When both of them end up at Georgetown, Teddy believes the fates have aligned—until Charlotte falls for his roommate, Braden Edwards. Charlotte’s father, the Senator, with one eye on Teddy and the other on the White House, devises a way to get both of them the future they’ve always imagined. Meanwhile, an investigation ensues that could implicate all of the story’s major players. Teddy will do anything to preserve his place in the hearts of the Penningtons. How far is he willing to go? A tale of power and manipulation, of fixation and delusion, THE FALL WILL PROBABLY KILL YOU! (A LOVE STORY) twists and turns its way to a daunting precipice.
Plot/Idea: 8 out of 10
Originality: 8 out of 10
Prose: 9 out of 10
Character/Execution: 9 out of 10
Overall: 8.50 out of 10

Assessment:

Plot/Idea: McMahon delivers a deeply human and humor-filled story of a young man hopelessly in love and embroiled in the political career of his love interest's father.

Prose: Teddy's narration is immediately engrossing, warm, and gently self-deprecating. McMahon provides a skillful blend of candor and subtlety in the storytelling, with consistently memorable lines and passages throughout, along with a fresh and dynamic narrative structure.

Originality: Campus-based novels are a familiar sub-genre, but McMahon's blend of political machinations, endearing romance, and a sprinkling of mystery, add up to a unique and highly enjoyable read. 

Character/Execution: Character development is top notch. Teddy's endearing voice will capture readers from the first page. Meanwhile, Charlotte Pennington is far more than an idealized senator's daughter Teddy pines for, but a whole and complex character in her own right. 

Blurb: McMahon's smart and endearing Georgetown-based novel centers on a young man's unrequited love and embroilment in the political aspirations of his love interest's father. 

Date Submitted: April 19, 2023

Reviews
Blending a lifelong love story with themes of political corruption and disillusionment, McMahon (Seaview Road) centers this tense novel on Teddy Thompson’s undying feelings for Charlotte Pennington, a love that persists even when she falls for his roommate Braden Edwards. Charlotte has always been in Ted’s life, along with her father, the charming and charismatic Senator Conrad Pennington, who has eyes on the White House. Conrad also has a special affection for Ted, a young progressive who the Democratic senator mentors into becoming an important team member. In a parallel narrative that takes place ahead of Ted’s time, detectives Figgy and Norelli investigate a seemingly random murder that later acquires sinister tones. As the presidential elections near, the two narratives inevitably converge, all as the novel teases the link between an ascent and a fall.

McMahon’s language is subtle and shrewd, and he’s adept both at backroom dialogue and polished political speechcraft and TV appearances. The different timelines and the sense—stirred by the title and Teddy’s arresting announcement that “I am writing this for you in case anything happens to me”—that a tragedy is looming will set readers on edge, especially as McMahon suggests that everything’s not exactly as Teddy perceives it to be. The happenings and discoveries of both timelines clash tellingly with each other, adding nicely to the tension. The characters, too, are well-etched and convincing; McMahon favors empathy and complexity over easy villainy, and in spite of their failings this cast succeeds in winning reader affection.

The intriguing, complex nature of Teddy’s love both for Charlotte and Conrad is delineated well. One final twist strains credulity, but McMahon writes with compelling power of the feeling of getting in too deep and possibly losing one’s self. A sharp line like this, about Teddy being handed a bag to vomit into, lingers after the last page is turned: “I deposited some jerk chicken and whatever was left of my soul into it.”

Takeaway: Compelling novel of love, politics, and the loss of one’s soul.

Comparable Titles: Curtis Sittenfeld’s American Wife, Kennedy Ryan’s The Kingmaker.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

McMahon (Seaview Road) delivers an ambitious and thought-provoking if uneven campus novel wrapped in a metafictional political thriller. Georgetown University undergrad Teddy Thompson nurses a tortured crush on classmate Charlotte Pennington, the daughter of a senator. Teddy and Charlotte grew up together in Connecticut and remain friends, and Teddy uses their connection to get close to the senator, whom he hopes will help him with a career in politics. The senator becomes a mentor to Teddy, but Charlotte remains elusive, as her affections are reserved for their classmate Braden Edwards. Teddy’s narrative is broken up by drawn-out scenes with a pair of homicide detectives investigating a shooting death, and McMahon hints that the victim at the center of their case might be Braden, and that Teddy and the senator might be behind the death. For a while, McMahon spins his wheels with page-long descriptions of what the detectives have for breakfast and other quotidian matters. Eventually the thread extends to a provocative if underbaked twist about the nature of detective story tropes. Teddy is more dynamic, coming across like a Beltway Iago as he conspires with the senator in a far-fetched plot against Braden. There are flashes of insight buried within this shaggy dog story. (Self-published)
Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“McMahon has concocted a taut thriller with twists and turns that start from the very beginning and don’t let up. Most of all, he has created a memorable cast, none of whom is without flaws . . . . Something else he does well? He leaves us wanting more . . . . We can only hope the rest of their tale is forthcoming—and that it will be as good a read as this one.”

NYT bestselling author Gary Shteyngart

"A book as thoughtful and charming as it is entertaining. Finally a DC mystery I can actually care about."

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