3.5 stars
This is book number 9 in MJ Arlidge’s series featuring detective Helen Grace. Although it can be read as a stand alone, it would be better to read it after the previous books, which would give a better understanding of Helen’s history, her character and relationships with her team, friends and foes. As the others in this series, All Fall Down is a fast paced thriller, written in the author’s trade mark short chapters. I did enjoy reading this book, but it wasn’t particularly original and didn’t stand out amongst so many other similar thrillers that currently saturate the market. Definitely not my favourite in the series.

I think I love Helen Grace even more after reading this book. She is one strong, kick a** protagonist who I seriously can not get enough off. Whether it’s because she is everything I’m not, I don’t know, but you can’t help but admire this woman. The friendship between her and Charlie is especially endearing and if anything, I feel like we are seeing a more vulnerable side to the character lately. This comes through her relationship with Charlie and also Joseph.

The story started off strong with a victim being told they have one hour to live. From those first few pages, it becomes very clear that this is going to be a race against time. The ending had me clinging on for dear life and I had to remind myself to breath as you could cut the tension with a knife it that was thick. This is an author who knows how to hook his readers and delivers thrills and excitement with each chapter. What took place between the beginning and ending was every bit as gripping with the fear from the victims leaping off the pages.

All Fall Down was every bit as good as I had expected it would be. Helen’s personal life is certainly no plain sailing as it is with her work life. She always manages to put herself in danger which makes me want to give her a good shake yet it makes for hand over the mouth reading. If you love tense, steady to fast paced thrillers with action and excitement around each corner, you have got to read this series. Today!

All Fall Down starts with a phone call….

Justin takes the call, but the caller says “You Have One Hour To Live”….he’s rattled but heads home in a chauffeur driven car. As he starts to relax he notices his driver has missed the turn.

Justin’s body is later found….he’d been strangled.

When another call is received things begin to get dark.

Helen Grace and her team begin the investigation, there are links to a group of friends captured and tortured years before. They had managed to escape, but one of them had died at the hands of the man who held them captive.

It becomes a race against time to find why these people are being targeted and to stop a killer before anyone else dies.

All the while, Helen is dealing with a messy personal life with a reckless colleague, and heavily pregnant Charlie is adamant she will stay and help with the investigation.

I love the relationships between the characters, good and bad, and the marvellously twisty plot keeps you guessing. Another brilliant, dark thriller from M.J. Arlidge and I’m already waiting for book 10…

Thank you to The author, the publishers and NetGalley for an eARC of All Fall Down. This is my honest and unbiased review.

What an outstanding read. MJ Arlidge once again writes another masterpiece.
Brilliant, plot, characters and enough twists and turns to keep you busy. MJ Arlidge is a genius and deserves to win many awards for his writing.

This is the first time I have read a book by this author, M. J. Arlidge, and although this book is well into the series, it is easily read as a stand alone. My thoughts on this book are simple - fast paced (although a bit slow at the start), absorbing and utterly brilliant with a fiendish twist at the end. I will be hunting down more books by this author. Fantastic!

My thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for allowing me to read and review honestly.

I have been a fan of the DI Helen Grace series for a while now. I haven't quite caught up with all the books in the series yet but I am getting there. I read the synopsis for 'All Fall Down' and it certainly sounded like one hell of a read. It certainly was one hell of a read and I enjoyed every single minute of it. I loved this book but more about that in a bit.
I couldn't help but take to DI Helen Grace from the start and it wasn't long before I felt as though I had been reunited with an old friend. Helen has been through the wars and then some. Over the course of her career she has been involved in the investigation of some pretty nasty cases, which have left her mentally and physically scarred. Helen did have a pretty unusual way of handling stress but I won't go into the specifics. Helen is a determined and tenacious police officer, who works well as part of a team but at the same time she works well on her own too.
It didn't take me long at all to get into 'All Fall Down'. In fact by the time I got to the end of the first sentence, I knew that this was one book that I would be unable to put down. I was exactly right too. I managed to binge read the book over the course of a single day, which is pretty good going for me. Usually I have the attention span of a gnat and I am easily distracted but not in this case. I was intrigued by the story and I just had to keep reading to see how the story panned out. There was that much going on in the story that I didn't dare stop reading because I felt that I might miss something. The pages turned over increasingly quickly as my desperation to find out what happened grew and grew. I seemed to fly through the story and I immersed myself so deeply into the story that I lost track of time and just how quickly the pages were turning. The first time I looked up to check on my progress, I was staggered to realise that I had read well over a third of the book in one go. I soon reached the end of the book and I had to say farewell to Detective Inspector Helen Grace.
'All Fall Down' is brilliantly written but then I think the same to be true of all of the DI Helen Grace series. The author certainly knows how to grab your attention from the start with a particularly gruesome crime and he then takes you on one hell of a scary and unpredictable rollercoaster ride through the investigation. For me, the story was perfectly paced. The story hit the ground running and maintained the fast pace throughout, culminating in a tense and dramatic conclusion.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'All Fall Down' and I would definitely recommend this book to other readers. I will certainly be reading more of M. J. Arlidge's work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

I love the Helen Grace series. Honestly, if you haven’t read it yet you are in for a treat. 9 books with great characters and gory murders to get stuck into. Definitely recommend reading them in order but this does work as a stand-alone. The short gripping chapters make this easy to read and impossible to put down. M.J Arlidge really knows how to write a good murder.

As the murders unfold we get to find out more about what happened all those years ago and why this group of people are being targeted again. I had my suspicions about the bad guy but I wasn’t expecting the ending (especially the tad over the top stunts). I loved getting to know more about Charlie and Helen’s personal lives and it was interesting to see Helen grow. I can’t wait to see what happens with the work/relationship drama.

I received a copy of the ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Firstly let me admit that I love M J Arlidge’s DI Helen Grace books so I was already a big fan but I was slightly concerned that this one wouldn’t be as good as all the previous ones. My fears were allayed by the end of the first chapter and I settled down to enjoy another great story. The plot is brilliant and exquisitely written with twists and tension along the way. I also enjoy the further development of the main characters, getting to know them better with each book. However this book could be read as a stand alone as the plot isn’t dependent on previous plots. I can’t wait to read the next one - so hurry up Mr Arlidge and get writing quickly - your fans need you!

Another excellent instalment in this series!
I really enjoy getting back into this story with all the familiar characters!
This one was a bit of a slow-burn to start, but once it picked up, it was a definite page-turner to the end.

Another fab book! Love the characters, its like greeting old friends! First of all I was a bit worried I wouldn't enjoy it as much as the others as it seemed a bit slow to start but it quickly got exciting. Especially the ending I was racing to finish it! Wish this could be made into a series on TV

Fast paced and as addictive as ever, part 9 of the Helen Grace series is a welcome addition to this fantastic crime series. The main investigation itself is a great premise. Four kids escape the grip of a maniac only to find themselves been hunted down when they are adults. The only reason I gave this four stars rather than five was the personal side of this story. After the last book the change in the course of Helen's personal life just feels a bit rushed and disjointed. Plus I think shes been tortured enough! But that gripe aside this is great stuff.

Yet another fantastic book that kept me reading With surprising along the way and kept u guessing throughout the book until it ended love the Helen grace series

All Fall Down is the ninth instalment in the Southampton-based Detective Inspector Helen Grace series, and although many series’ may have been starting to flag at this point it's testament to Arlidge’s masterful plotting that this is one of the most riveting to date. As each book has a self-contained plot it isn't necessary to have read any of the previous instalments to enjoy this one and enough of Grace’s backstory is supplied to bring new readers who want to dive on in up to speed and on a level playing field to those long-time fans. Justin Lanning is rather taken aback when he receives an anonymous telephone call and an unidentifiable voice utters the terrifying line ”you have one hour to live” but naturally he writes it off as merely a bad taste prank call and doesn't think a great deal about it. It turns out it wasn't just a threat but a promise as Mr Lanning met his end shortly after. Enter dogged investigator DI Grace and team who must piece together the puzzling pieces and both identify and apprehend a brutal murderer who is only just getting started...

This is a serial killer thriller of the finest quality and has everything a crime connoisseur could ever want in a read - an utterly captivating plot woven to perfection; searing intensity; dangerous exploits; a brutal killer; an engaging, flawed and likeable protagonist; and a palpable sense of tension from the very beginning until the closing line. I had to place it down a number of times just to catch my breath as my heart was pounding leading to me feverishly flipping pages as though my life depended on it. It's creepy, pacy, high-stakes and exhilarating with twists, turns, reveals, superb use of misdirection and is the very definition of a nail-biter. Do yourself a favour and nab yourself a copy pronto and kick back for an edge of your seat thrill ride that'll leave you in awe. Arlidge is undoubtedly one of the most talented crime writers working today. A real page-turner with more excitement and action than I anticipated and one of my favourite reads of the year. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Orion for an ARC.

Another page turner in the DI Helen Grace series. Justin Lanning is descending a lift in his office block when it shudders to a halt. He then receives a call telling him he has just one hour to live. When the horrific prediction plays out to a grim reality, his previous notoriety comes to the fore. As a teenager, he was kidnapped and went through a terrible ordeal with four friends. Is this connected or is it just someone he has wronged in his business dealings? As Helen Grace and her team delve into the past it becomes clear this isn’t a straightforward case. Fear and tension lace this well written book with a good dose of personal problems, annoying journalists and friendships, it all adds up to a cracking read. I can’t wait for the next in the series.

M J Arlidge never fails to thrill and chill with his D I Helen Grace books. On the face of it I would never choose this type of gruesome genre but somehow this series has me begging for more and I eagerly away each forthcoming book.
I think the part Helen Grace plays is crucial to the success, as she is flawed (as all fictional police officers are) but also a rebel and an enigma.
A shockingly good tale told by a master of his craft.

All I can say is, “wow!!” Another fab read in this truly brilliant series. Had me hooked from the first to the last page. Loved it

ALL FALL DOWN is the ninth in M.J. Arlidge’s series featuring DI Helen Grace and my first exposure to both character and author. The novel works well as a standalone though, and Grace, a determined, flawed investigator, is an intriguing protagonist whose backstory I am interested in exploring down the line.
Set in Southampton, the novel is a well-structured police procedural with strong, realistic characters. DI Grace investigates the murder of Justin Lanning, a successful businessman in his mid twenties. Lanning had, according to his partner, received a call prior to his death, the caller threatening that he had only one hour to live. As Grace’s team delve into the victim’s history they discover that he is one of five school friends who had been abducted by Daniel King eight years previously during a Prince of Edinburgh Awards hike on the South Downs. The five were tortured by King before four of them escaped. It appeared that, after killing the remaining student, King committed suicide, although his body was never found. Recently, King has returned to the public consciousness due to the publication of a book about the experience by another of the survivors. Grace and her team become convinced that there is a connection to the events of the past, and to King, and that the survivors may be at risk.
There is a mixture of action and character-driven drama. The relationships within the team, particularly between Helen Grace and her deputy, Joseph Hudson, whom she has, perhaps rashly, taken as a lover, threaten to derail the investigation. The relationship between the survivors of King’s torture are also more complex than they initially appear. The author maintains tension until the end and it all makes for an enjoyable thriller.
M.J. Arlidge has worked in television on prime-time crime thrillers and ALL FALL DOWN has that sort of feel. I could see DI Helen Grace and her team appear in that medium but meanwhile look forward to discovering the other books.
Thanks to @Tr4cyF3nt0n at Compulsive Readers @mjarlidge and @orionbooks @orion_crime for the opportunity to review ALL FALL DOWN.

Justin Lanning is on his way home from work when the receives a call telling him he has one hour to live. His body is discovered on a building site the next morning and Helen Grace and her team are called in to investigate.

Justin and 4 others, as teens, were held captive and only 4 of them made it out alive. The killer never found and presumed dead. Traumatised, they each went on to rebuild their lives somewhat over the years. However as other members of the group receive similar calls, it is up to Helen and her team to determine whether it is the same killer all these years later or a copycat and race against time to stop them in their tracks.

I am a huge fan of MJ Arlidge and the DI Helen Grace series. This is book 9 in the series but it can also be read as a standalone.

This book failed to hit the mark for me. At times I struggled to stay interested as it drifted into many mundane details of Helen and also Charlie's private lives. Ordinarily this wouldnt bother me, but in this case, I found myself skimming pages at times.

An ok read, but not as exciting as previous installments unfortunately 3/5🌟

M J Arlidge's latest DI Helen Grace novel, All Fall Down is no playground re-enactment of the Black Death to the chants of "Ring a ring o' roses" but it does involve schoolchildren and the grim reaper! In a gripping and fast moving detective thriller to find the gruesome killer of a number of former school chums we see DI Helen Grace taking flack from all quarters. She learns why having a romantic acquaintanceship with someone on the MIT is not encouraged in the force. She discovers how to change a Kawasaki in to a bent forked Sakakaki by using it as a battering ram and she realises what a joy it is to hold a new life in her arms. All Fall Down has some very neat twists and turns but as like so many other novels of this genre, the police do not come out of it on top (although Helen did quite literally and it saved her life). I would not like to be Grace Simmons fielding the press conference following the conclusion to the murder inquiry, with the hacks slagging off Hampshire's finest. It won't do anything for her health condition or morale.
I have a few niggles though. The driving licence and vehicle registration documents would surely have to have been recovered to ascertain they were fakes? I think Helen must consider herself to be Evel Knievel's love child in some of the outrageous stunts she pulls, the most ridiculous being in the house on Wilmer Road. The roof chase caused me to use Google's eye in the sky to check out Wilmer Road. Semi's one side and terraced blocks of four the other. The gaps between buildings on either side being far too great to jump. The author's description had me thinking of Victorian terraces especially with the fancy ridge tiles but I doubt even they with their slate roofs could stand the point loading of a human foot unlike a concrete tile. If I could I would deduct a half point for these Bond like outbursts from Arlidge's pen but the mid point twist in the book allows me some largesse as I thought it rather good.
Is it one upmanship on Arlidge's part to have two Graces to Peter James's one?

“"You have one hour to live." Those are the only words on the phone call. Then they hang up. Surely, a prank? A mistake? A wrong number? Anything but the chilling truth... That someone is watching, waiting, working to take your life in one hour.”
Another gripping read #9 in the DI Helen Grace series but will stand alone. A group of teenagers doing their Duke of Edinburgh award got lost and surrounded by fog on their hike. They managed to find a remote farmhouse after one of them had twisted her ankle. That night they were tortured and one died. Forward eight years and they lead very different lives having tried to leave behind that terrible night. One of them gets a message to say he has an hour to live and sure enough his body is later found. One of the women, Maxine, has brought out a book about the ordeal- something the others were against as they didn’t want it resurrected. DI Helen Grace and her team are on the case. Helen also has a new relationship with Hudson, something she isn;t sure about. When cracks very quickly begin to appear she investigates and finds out more than she bargained for. I really enjoy this series. There is an excellent plot and that extra subplot, something about the characters which gives them shape and definition. Brilliantly written as ever, MJ Arlidge has a talent for making the pages turn and glueing you to them! Another stunning read.
(amazon done- misfits farm)

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