I listened to All
Fall Down by Ally Carter on audio last month, the first book in her Embassy Row series. It is a suspenseful
teen/YA thriller with a unique setting and plot.
Grace has just moved into the U.S. Embassy in Adria (a
fictional country) with her grandfather who is the U.S. Ambassador. She has
visited there many summers of her childhood, but now she is moving there for
good, while her army father is deployed and her older brother is off to
college. Grace’s mother died three years ago, but no one is comfortable talking
about her death. Grace was there when her mother died in a fire, and she is
certain she saw her mother shot and murdered…but no one believes her. In fact,
she spent time in a psychiatric institution because everyone thought she was
delusional, due to extreme grief over losing her mother.
Grace is somewhat angry over this state of affairs, as you
can imagine, and is still determined to find her mother’s murderer. She also
has a long history of reckless behavior and accidents – broken bones,
concussions, etc. – so everyone at the embassy is on edge, trying to keep her
safe. Meanwhile, Grace is getting reacquainted with the kids she used to spend
summers with on Embassy Row: Alexei, the Russian boy next door who is a friend
of her brother’s and tasked by him to look out for Grace, and Megan, whom Grace
played with as a child but with whom she feels she has nothing in common. There
are also new teens on Embassy Row, including Noah, Grace’s self-proclaimed new
best friend.
With this mix of kids between the ages of 12 and 16 from a
wide range of nationalities, Grace is expected to fit in and take her proper
place as the U.S. Ambassador’s grand-daughter, but she has a single-minded
purpose of her own: to find her mother’s killer. This purpose takes Grace to
some dangerous places and among some very dangerous people in this high-suspense,
fast-paced story.
All Fall Down is a
mystery and thriller set in a unique place, with a varied cast of characters.
Readers get an inside view of the pomp and circumstance – and privilege – of
the diplomatic lifestyle, while also rooting for Grace to stay safe and solve
her mystery, even while almost everyone around her thinks she is crazy, or at
least, delusional. There is also the ever-present chance that Grace’s secret
investigation will cause an international incident. I really enjoyed listening
to this intriguing thriller set in an exotic locale and look forward to the
next book in the Embassy Row series.
Scholastic Audio
Too bad this book is in a fictitious country, otherwise it'd be a great Travel the World in Books choice :) This one looks interesting, can't say I've read any books about life on an embassy. I love a good thriller. Thanks for sharing with Small Victories Sunday Linkup last week. Pinning to our linkup board and hope you join us again this weekend.
ReplyDeleteI know - that's what I was thinking! I did include Mars in my Travel the World challenge - hey, it's in the world, right??
DeleteThe embassy row setting does make for a unique story!