Idaho Fall: So Many Reasons to Want Her Gone (4.5 Stars)

Last night, I finished reading Idaho Fall by D. J. Maughan. This book will be published Oct. 1, 2014. It’s the story of a lady, Rita Burch, who started her own clothing company. Over the last few years, she’s let the power get to her head. Now, she’s become a bit of a jerk. Because of that, someone pushes her off her balcony to her death. Only, she doesn’t die. She just ends up in a coma. Unfortunately, discovering who pushed her off the balcony is a bit hard since there are a lot of people who have reasons to want her gone. Who ultimately tried to off her?

People have their reasons for wanting to kill her in Idaho Falls.

Why I Picked This Book

I probably wouldn’t have decided to read this book had it not been for the title. As someone who’s lived in Idaho Falls off and on for a little over 20 years, the title drew me in.

I am always a bit critical of books that take place in areas where I’ve lived. Does the book sound like the author is actually familiar with the area? Do the people talk like people from that area would talk? Unless the person is specifically from that area, I often find they fall short in accurately portraying that city or town.

Did It Pass the Test?

With this one, I feel like the author at least did his research. He mentioned a lot of places that are actually in Idaho Falls. There were a couple of indicators that he probably doesn’t actually live in the area, though. Most people won’t care about these things, but if you’re from this area, you might notice a few odd phrasings. One of the biggest reasons I think he might not be from Idaho Falls is that he refers to the area as Southern Idaho. He presents it as though all of southern Idaho is considered one region. While it’s not technically wrong to call it Southern Idaho, everyone I know from the area would refer to it as the more specific term “Southeast Idaho.” I guess they want to distinguish themselves from those in the Boise area.

I do feel like the author missed out a bit on describing the actual scenery. There are mountains and other really beautiful natural features in and around the area. If the story’s going to take place in Idaho Falls, you might as well make the setting a bigger part of the story. I also found it a bit odd that the author made up a name for a junior high but then used the name of an actual high school. These things really are minor issues, but just things I observed.

Another Missed Opportunity

I felt like the bigger issue was that he completely skimmed over the fact that a good portion of the characters in his story are likely LDS. I mean this is Idaho Falls. Yet, I think just about every character is drinking coffee. When characters who are not from the area talk about what they like and don’t like about the area, they never mention the high LDS population. Maybe, the author, who I’m pretty sure is LDS himself, wanted to appeal to people beyond the LDS population, so he avoided bringing up the church at all so it would appeal to a larger audience.

Reasons I Think He’s LDS

I’ll admit it. I like to research a little about the authors of the books I’m reading. Sometimes it doesn’t go much beyond just figuring out if they’ve written other books. With this one, because I really wondered if he was familiar with Idaho Falls, I ended up going to his website. On it, he talks about how he chose Hungary as the setting for his first book because he lived there from 19-21. He mentions how he was “assigned” to live there. From 19-21 and assigned to live there? Huh, I wonder why he would be there for two years at that age. Maybe a mission?

Maughan also uses a repentant analogy that I’ve heard before. Freeman Park in Idaho Falls used to be a garbage dump. Years ago, it was repurposed as a beautiful park. In the analogy, one character talks about how you wouldn’t go to the park and start digging to try to dig up your trash. It’s about how once we’ve repented, we shouldn’t go back and try to dig up our sins again.

This represents the garbage dump.

What Else You Should Know About This Book

Just about everyone in this book has their reasons for wanting Rita dead. Whether it’s jealousy, anger, greed, or a mixture of a few things, neighbors, family, and co-workers alike have their reasons for wanting to push her off her balcony to her death.

This was a well-written novel. There are about ten potential suspects presented. Some have pretty solid alibis. Others have fairly weak reasons for wanting her dead. While I had it down to two people who I thought might have tried to kill her, I was still back and forth between the two. The person who turned out to be the culprit was one of those still on my list, but I was actually leaning a little toward the other person up until the actual attempted murderer was revealed.

Fun Book Discoveries

I really like the title. I was several chapters in before I realized that it was actually Idaho Fall, meaning it was named after the fall that the main character took and not after the place. That was a clever little twist in the title. I actually only discovered this after I kept searching for reviews on the book or even more information about the book. While I could find information by searching by the author’s name, it was harder to find it when I put in the incorrect book title.

There’s also a guy named Bob who is a contractor. At one point, he’s referred to as a builder. Whether intentional or unintentional, the whole Bob, the builder thing made me smile a bit.

Reasons You May Not Like It

I don’t know a lot about medical stuff. Because our main character is in a coma for most of the book, there are a few medical terms thrown around, and it talks about the lady’s treatment. In reading other reviews, some people were bothered by the lack of medical accuracy in the book. Since I know next to nothing about medical practice, I was not bothered by this.

Clean or Not?

This is overall a clean novel. There’s one minor swear word. Let’s just say that he doesn’t call someone a “heck of a businesswoman.” While it does talk about some characters who had affairs, there’s no graphic sexual content. The violence isn’t graphic either. Overall, I would recommend this book.

By Shilo Dawn Goodson

My name is Shilo Dawn Goodson. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Reading and writing are my two big passions.