THE FALL

Security chief Cain and politician Francesca Pieralisi investigate seawall sabotage in the fourth book in James’ thriller series.

In a futuristic version of Europe where rising sea levels have caused mass food scarcity, the European Seawall Project is finally underway. Once the wall is constructed, lands reclaimed from the ocean will be rehabilitated into farmland to provide more food for the European people. However, workers have seemingly been sabotaging the drones working on the wall, increasing tensions between the drone company, the workers’ union, and police-for-hire, as well as delaying the project. Trust is low, and no one’s talking to one another. As a prominent politician involved in the project, Francesca is sent to Worker Village 1—a floating city on which wall workers reside—to investigate the situation. Unfortunately, as seen in the previous installment, An Uncalculated Risk (2025), Francesca violated the law and caused the death of an agent, so she’s on thin ice with project head Paul Devouard. Her security clearance has been reduced, and she’s been given explicit instructions to everything past Paul before taking any actions. This means that she must decide what matters more: the system itself or making a lasting impact for the people residing within it. She works in tandem with Cain, her security chief and boyfriend, who is as happy to steer Francesca towards restaurants and bars he prefers as he is to threaten someone who refuses to help her. Over the course of the novel, James does an excellent job of showing what life is like when power players choose not to play by the rules. Francesca’s investigation turns up little to no evidence, and as workers refuse to talk to her, but nonstop action—including tense encounters with the cops stationed on the Worker Village and a foot chase that ends with Cain dangling a worker off the roof of a building—keep the action moving. Furthermore, a shocking twist late in the book is certain to generate excitement for the next book in the series.

An action-packed continuation of a series that blends noir and cyberpunk elements.