A massive asteroid but-actually-a-3-mile-tall-dead-alien crashes into earth outside Little Springs, Nebraska, and all hell breaks loose. Dubbed “the giant or Gulliver,” its arrival transforms the red-state little farm town into a top-secret government research site and major metropolitan area, flooded with soldiers, scientists, bureaucrats, spies, criminals, conspiracy theorists, cults —and a murderer.
As a series of brutal, bizarre murders sweeps through his town, sheriff David Blunt throws himself into the hunt for a killer who seems oddly connected to the giant. Tensions are running high in his town ever since the alien fell, and David must work to find the killer before it is too late.
I have a lot of thoughts about Godfall – overall it was enjoyable and I liked it. Definitely more murder mystery vs sci-fi than I was expecting, but I still enjoyed it.
The good:
- I liked David Blunt, the sheriff and MC of the story. He was accurately depicted as how you would expect a man brought up in a small farm town in a red state. Moral compass, small town manners, stubborn, drinker, and hints of racism and misogyny without being outright horrible.
- Charlotte was an interesting twist/character, I won’t spoil anything but I really enjoyed the angle she played in the book.
- The murder mystery was enjoyable. I was captivated and intrigued, and I liked the angle of the murder being obsessed with the alien/giant.
- The dialogue between the characters was really great – each person had their own mannerisms and voice and I enjoyed that.
The meh:
- It was a little confusing reading about the town itself. Is it a big city/town now? is it still a small town with an adjoining big town? Is one side of the town dubbed ‘old town’ and secluded from the rest? I don’t know, it was very confusing.
- If it was a big town, I find it highly doubtful they would not have reorganized the structural elements of the town. 2 police is not enough, and a volunteer fire department? even tiny towns have a fire chief.
- The twist/ who the killer was. I was a little disappointed by how this panned out. It was a good story but I felt like it was set up early on and instead of a shocking twist, it was actually who I thought it was early on. It ties in really well with everything, I just was hoping for more of a shock factor – I kinda knew who it was already.
- The lack of sci-fi elements. There was a giant dead alien and a top secret government base and we didn’t really focus on that? what? tell me more!!
Truly I did enjoy reading Godfall, it was good! I just feel like things either weren’t wrapped up (the dogs barking/dementia thing??) OR there is going to be a sequel. Personally I would definitely read a sequel if it dove deeper into the alien and the government facility and the things they are hiding there. That would be very interesting.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. Godfall by Van Jensen is an intriguing look into a small town community whose world is impacted in more ways than one. I recommend it to those who enjoy a murder mystery and who also like small town problems.
Definitely read-worthy.
*This book was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review*
See what other books I think are worthy of a re-read here.
