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We All Fall Down (Michael Kelly #4)

by Michael Harvey (Goodreads Author)

3.38 of 5 stars 3.38 · rating details · 284 ratings · 64 reviews

Chicago cop turned private investigator Michael Kelly is racing to save his city from a deadly new foe: a biological weapon unleashed underground.

When a lightbulb falls in a subway tunnel, it releases a pathogen that could kill millions. While the mayor postures, people begin to die, especially on the city’s grim West Side. Hospitals become morgues. L trains are converted...more

Hardcover, 298 pages

Published July 12th 2011 by Knopf

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Aug 01, 2011 Lou rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: july-read

Bio weapons, drugs and dirty cops is the mode of operandi in this story. There is some really insightful and scary topics covered in this story. The writing style works good for this made for film style of story. I would have liked more character development in this story and some more charge of thrill. As I write this I have a temperature and just come off emptying out my dinner, flu symptoms I don't know but after reading this story I might need to get checked out. I never liked the closeness...more

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Dec 22, 2011 John Sheridan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

Bit of a disappointment as I've really enjoyed the previous books in the Michael Kelly series and while there is enough in this one to keep me waiting for number 5 but ...... there should be more than that. Opening chapters rely too much on you appreciating who the characters are and their roles from preceding book. The pace does pick up at the end for a dramatic conclusion but the inclusion of an ex-cop PI in the middle of a nuclear, biological, chemical (NBC) attack just jars from the outset I...more

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Feb 05, 2012 Jacqui rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: thriller-mystery

Michael Harvey has written four novels focusing on Chicago PI, Michael Kelly. This is the first novel I have read and I am enthusiastically placing the other three on the top of my book pile.

The plot revolves around bioterrorism, pathogens are released in the Chicago Subway via exploding light bulbs. The effects are dramatic and deadly and we learn of new strains of terror referred to as "black biology". The Government is forced to quarantine large parts of the city as hospitals turn into morgu...more

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Aug 15, 2011 RandomAnthony rated it 2 of 5 stars

Michael Harvey's We All Fall Down traffics in the “tough, gritty Chicago” sales pitch. If the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel hadn't reviewed this novel positively and/or the book was set somewhere other than my hometown I doubt I would have requested a library copy. Still, We All Fall Down and I met at an ideal time and the book served me well. A doctor instructed me to sit on the couch all day Saturday because I'm apparently unable to self-diagnose dehydration. In turn I read this novel between abo...more Michael Harvey's We All Fall Down traffics in the “tough, gritty Chicago” sales pitch. If the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel hadn't reviewed this novel positively and/or the book was set somewhere other than my hometown I doubt I would have requested a library copy. Still, We All Fall Down and I met at an ideal time and the book served me well. A doctor instructed me to sit on the couch all day Saturday because I'm apparently unable to self-diagnose dehydration. In turn I read this novel between about 1PM and 8PM without trying that hard. So, if I were to give a back-cover blurb for We All Fall Down, I'd say “perfect for bedrest and long flights when you don't want to think too much.”

Harvey engages the plot 100 words into the text. He adopts a Pulp Fiction-esque overlapping-scenario-headed-toward-intersection strategy but if you analyze the elements too much you can see where Harvey took some logical leaps convenient to advancing the novel but far-fetched beyond even what a generous reader would consider reasonable. The main character (I've already forgotten his name) is the typical grizzled ex-cop with connections. The romance he develops with another character seems forced and unnecessary. But the audacity of organizing a novel around the idea that a bio-weapon requires the quarantine of the Chicago's west side carries the book on its shoulders and leads to some interesting details about how a chemical attack might play out. And like I said, I read this book in seven hours in-between meals, ice cream, and checking baseball scores. If you need a book for a stretch like that, and you're into that whole corrupt Chicago thing, We All Fall Down fits the bill. Within six months, when I see this book on the spinning airport rack with one of those scary capital letter fonts (I'm thinking red on black) and maybe a skyline cut into the paper so the cover is actually two pages, I will probably have forgotten everything about the novel except the Chicago setting and the bio-weapon thing. That's ok. I wasn't bored while sick on the couch, and that's worth something.(less)

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Aug 15, 2011 Tony rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: thrillers

Harvey, Michael. WE ALL FALL DOWN. (2011). **1/2.
This is a techno-thriller by this author, who has written two previous novels also set in Chicago. The protagonist is Michael Kelly, a P.I. who takes on the aura of James Bond and The Terminator. What sets off the story is the explosion of a light bulb in one of the tunnels of the Chicago subway system. The bulb was supposed to be a test of our country’s readiness in the event of a biological attack. It was supposed to contain anthrax, but was a...more Harvey, Michael. WE ALL FALL DOWN. (2011). **1/2.
This is a techno-thriller by this author, who has written two previous novels also set in Chicago. The protagonist is Michael Kelly, a P.I. who takes on the aura of James Bond and The Terminator. What sets off the story is the explosion of a light bulb in one of the tunnels of the Chicago subway system. The bulb was supposed to be a test of our country’s readiness in the event of a biological attack. It was supposed to contain anthrax, but was a dummy for testing purposes. Or was it? Soon, people began to exhibit symptoms of an illness that defied medical identification and the city and federal government took action to isolate the areas where the major infections were occurring. These areras were centered around the spot where the “dummy” lightbulb had exploded. All of the infected people died. Enter the CDC – or its equivalent – as they attempt to isolate the responsible pathogen. Turns out that it was similar to one that they had developed in their labs; one used to extend their knowledge base of potentential biological threats. Using recombinent DNA techniques, they had “pasted” on a small piece of DNA that acted like both a trigger and an off switch to the backbone of anthrax. Our hero, after providing lessons on black biology he receives from the molecular biologists, begins to dig into the situation. He finds that therer are more than federal agencies involved. He runs smack up against the strong gangs that inhabit the city’s west side, gangs interested only in power and money – money that comes from drugs. The plot gets a lot more complicated until pretty soon the story becomes that of the gang’s activities. But wait – it shifts back again as we discover that there is a strong government involvement in the planning and execution of the attack scenario. It doesn’t matter to our hero, however, he is bullet-proof as he chases down the culprits responsible for the ultimate death of hundreds of Chicago Land’s citizens. The concept is good, but it has been used before. The hero, Michael Kelly, aside from being an excellent killer in his own right, has no character depth. He is just an avenging gun. The rest of the cast is also shallow – paper thin. After a while, the author’s way of getting out of a mess by killing off more characters becomes tiring. His presentation of the science behind his story is also a little (a lot?) murky, and left me unconvinced that he did all his homework. I haven’t read any other of the author’s novels, but I don’t plan on rushing out to get them either.
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Oct 22, 2011 Ken rated it 3 of 5 stars

-Michael Kelly is a local Chicago PI, and he is central to the investigation. It seems a bit far-fetched to consider that with all the federal and state anti-terrorist organizations that Kelly would be any where near an incident of this magnitude.
-Dr.Ellen Brazille and Dr.Molly Carrolton "Black Biology" scientists at CDA, and Carrolton engineers the false attack with her boss, Stoddard.

The novel is largely set on the West Side of Chicago near Garfield Park- "The K-Town Area" (streets begin with...more

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Mar 13, 2012 Kevin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, series

We All Fall Down, as in Michael Harvey's previous Michael Kelly novels, is set in Chicago and has as many twists in the plot as Lake Shore Drive. I grew up in Indiana near Chicago and enjoy reading books that take place there. Unlike novels that are set in New York, San Francisco or London, when Harvey references the Ike, Grant Park or the United Center, I have a feel for the place. Harvey also expresses the general feel of Chicago that residents and others familiar with Chicago will relate to....more We All Fall Down, as in Michael Harvey's previous Michael Kelly novels, is set in Chicago and has as many twists in the plot as Lake Shore Drive. I grew up in Indiana near Chicago and enjoy reading books that take place there. Unlike novels that are set in New York, San Francisco or London, when Harvey references the Ike, Grant Park or the United Center, I have a feel for the place. Harvey also expresses the general feel of Chicago that residents and others familiar with Chicago will relate to. Harvey's Chicago has the same crime, corruption, politics and problems that the real Chicago has.

Harvey's Kelly novels are hard to pigeon hole as to the mystery genre sub-set. I would characterize them as partly hard-boiled detective and partly noir. Kelly is dogged in his pursuit of the malefactor and is not unwilling to administer his version of justice without the bother of a jury trial. And that justice can be permanent and terminal. At times, the general mood of the novels can have a noir undercurrent of bleakness compounded with the stench of corruption. Fortunately, Harvey does not trowel it on but lightly dabs it on as a woman would perfume. The refreshing part of the Kelly series is that although he gets involved with the various unpleasant aspects of Chicago, he is still able to lead a moderately normal life.

In We All Fall Down, Chicago is beset with biological terrorism and Kelly is coerced into providing security and assistance to the company tasked with countering the biological attack. Before long things go from bad to worse on the terrorism front for Kelly. Throw in some gang-banger drug dealers, dirty cops and some good old Chicago-style corruption and you have the recipe for a fun read. This novel is populated with the usual cast of characters that have both simplified and troubled Kelly's previous exploits and they once again do both. With We All Fall Down the reader should be prepared for as many twists and turns as the riders of "The Bobs" roller coaster at Riverview Park once did.(less)

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Apr 10, 2013 Victoria rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-in-a-series, chicago, mystery-thriller

The fourth installment in Harvey’s Chicago-set Michael Kelly series starts up almost immediately after the events in The Third Rail. And though the plot initially seems connected, it is actually surprisingly separate. Like the mass terror in the previous novel, this biological hazard-based plot is quite terrifying - even more so when living in Chicago! Harvey widens his perspective of the city, with its first real focus into non-Northside locales. The pacing is even faster than normal, giving th...more

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Jul 31, 2011 Marie rated it 4 of 5 stars

In We All Fall Down, a light bulb filled with a pathogen drops from the ceiling of the subway tunnel in Chicago and people start dying. Parts of the city are sealed off with fences to keep the spread limited to that area while the scientists try to determine how to stop it and figure out what's going on. Private Investigator Michael Kelly goes looking for answers and winds up finding crooked cops, ruthless gangs and a government secret that could destroy many lives.

After reading The Third Rail(...more

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Jul 21, 2011 Ron Chicaferro rated it 5 of 5 stars

I'm a big Michael Harvey fan so finding this book amazing was easy. He's an amazing writer - a former newspaper reporter he writes in crisp, short and concise sentences. Something more writers should strive to do. We All Fall Down is an exciting and scary story of a biotoxin release on the West Side of Chicago. Protaganist, P.I. Michael Kelly is called in by the Mayor to help find out what happened and why. The start of this book actually picks up on the finish of his prior book - The Third Rail...more

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Dec 10, 2011 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: family-relationships, free-book-for-honest-review, mystery, read-in-2011, reviewed, series, thriller

A Blue Line train in Chicago is going faster than it should. The vibrations from the train's passage rattles the rails and causes a light bulb to loosen and fall. Soon, people begin to get sick and die.

P.I. Michael Kelly is called in and asked to help with security as it's determined that there could be a threat of a biological weapon in the Chicago railway system.

The Dept. of Homeland Security is on hand and when the number of deaths mount, they decide to quarantine part of the city. This gives...more

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Mar 22, 2013 Beth rated it 5 of 5 stars

AAAAARGH!!! That's my reaction to the discovery that Michael Harvey's new book for 2013 is NOT the fifth in this excellent series about ex-cop Michael Kelly. We All Fall Down was the last book so far, it ended with a sentence that had me incredulous and disappointed that it WAS the last sentence, and please, lord, don't let it be the last book!!! If you love your heroes tough, literate, resourceful, seasoned, and yet tender, you'll love Michael Kelly. The action is original and non-stop, the plo...more

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Oct 30, 2011 Andre rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Of the four novels Michael Harvey has written about Michael Kelly, PI, We All Fall Down was the least enjoyable. It’s still fairly enjoyable, though. It’s just not very good. But that’s OK; “good” isn’t really what you’re looking for when you read a Michael Kelly story. These novels are about the gritty, tough Chicago of stereotypes: tough cops, criminal cops, corrupt politicians, drugs, guns, and sex.

We All Fall Down picks up an open piece of the plot of the previous book, The Third Rail. The s...more

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Oct 24, 2011 Mark Stevens rated it 4 of 5 stars

It’s not too hard to believe we’ll encounter something along the lines of the biological warfare he envisions is “We All Fall Down.” He quotes scientists and experts (without naming names) who confirm that the biological attack in this story is plausible. For me the mash-up doesn’t quite work. The story felt like Michael Connelly stirred with Michael Crichton or Elmore Leonard (early Leonard) crashed into the movie “Contagion.” The combination left me not buying into either side of the story. I...more

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Jun 30, 2012 Ryan Mishap rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery-crime

Ignore the book jacket blurb that references Michael Connelly, this series resembles a more noir Paretsky more than anything and not just because of the Chicago angle.

The setting was intense, the plot interesting, the noir-patterns intact...I just didn't enjoy it as much as the previous entries in the series.

I think--considering the plot and prose was on par with the earlier books--that it's me this time. I've grown weary of the one-dimensional depictions of African-Americans as gang thugs. In...more

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Feb 16, 2012 Dale rated it 2 of 5 stars

Not as good as the last one

Published by Knopf, July of 2011

Michael Harvey's Chicago-based series features Michael Kelly, a one-time cop turned private detective who seems to have connections all over Chicago, from the Mayor's office all the way down to the street gangs. We All Fall Down takes place immediately after the previous book, The Third Rail (which I rated 4 stars out of 5) with very little explanation to get the reader up to speed. I just barely remembered the ending of the last book -...more

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Mar 10, 2013 Jim rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: chicago, fiction, police-and-thieves

I've enjoyed all of Michael Harvey's books fceaturing private detective Michael Kelly. I enjoyed reading this book, too, but I'd rank it below the others.

At times, I felt my suspension of disbelief unsuspending. A weaponized pathogen has been released in Chicago, and Kelly has been drawn into the investigation. I get that there are people who are using Kelly for their own purposes, but it seems a little farfetched that a private detective would be allowed anywhere near this.

The part about the bi...more

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Aug 05, 2011 Kristin rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: chicago, fiction, mystery

Lame. I am reminded as to why I don't like most mysteries/thrillers. I thought this one would be good because of the Chicago setting but no. Loose the local brand-name dropping and neighborhood names and this could be Anycity, USA. I remember thinking to myself, okay now it's finally getting to the meat of the story when I realized there was only 1 disc left of the audiobook. Lots of build up to nothing but a fizzle. Also really didn't help that the narrator spoke oddly, like Captain Kirk with s...more

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Dec 19, 2011 Bill rated it 4 of 5 stars

Bio-terrorism in Chicago sneaks up on the city causing chaos among citizens and a clamp-down by numerous government agencies that anything dangerous has happened. Michael Kelly, Harvey's series hero, once again struts his stuff moving between the mayor, government officials, law enforcement types, and gang-bangers to find the bad guys. The book is an eye opener for how easy it is to paralyze a city, cover up the extent of the terror, and to keep information out of the public eye. The action fill...more

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Jul 15, 2011 Bee rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, michael-kelly, crime-fiction

I couldn’t wait for this to come out, and although I liked it, I can’t help but feel that the plots are starting to become just a bit over the top. Maybe it’s because the books are set in Chicago where I live and a pathogen was released at my sister’s stop, though bio-terrorism is the least of it; I may feel differently if the events happened in another city. Although this is something of a sequel of the previous novel, The Third Rail, it does well as a stand-alone story. I still like Harvey’s w...more

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Jan 22, 2013 Shannon rated it 4 of 5 stars

This story covers a bio weapons release and a parallel story about local gangs and how they cross paths. I didn't really enjoy the gang related drama but it did come about that it was a pertinent part of the story. I do think the story could've been just fine without it...exposing greed and cover ups and the bad sides of people. Amazing how a hundred or more deaths can be rationalized by a really, really bad person(s). I do like Harvey's writing, it's quick and it moves and you get the picture a...more

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Jun 24, 2012 Dawn rated it 3 of 5 stars

3 1/2 stars. I'm not sure if I found parts of this confusing because of how it was written or because I haven't read the other books in this series. I suspect it was a bit of both. This book was a decent thriller, and I was a little surprised by the ending. I could see this being made into a movie very easily. And if they did, I'd watch it. I'd like to give at least the first book of this series a try. The main character seems interesting, especially if I'd known the back-story.

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Sep 09, 2011 Monica rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime-and-or-evil

Chicago is as much of a character as any of the humans in this book, and Harvey does a great job of portraying the grit and the glitz, and the color of the city.

But Mike Kelly's life gets worse with each book - this one had your basic crooked cops and politicians (duh), overreaching CIA and Homeland Security agents (duh again?)good and bad bio weapons scientists, and a bio hazard release that threatens the city. It was all a bit too much.

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May 02, 2011 David rated it 4 of 5 stars

Michael Harvey just keeps ratcheting up the tension in each successive novel about Michael Kelly and the underbelly of the city of Chicago. Bio-terrorism is at the core of this story, fulfilling the promise made in The Third Rail. The suspense is first rate and grittiness level is so fresh. Perhaps the recent TV show "The Chicago Code" will bring more readers to this. The show and this novel come from a similar ethos.

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Dec 23, 2011 Jeremy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, guilty-pleasures

Michael Harvey is kind of like the retarded stepson of Raymond Chandler.

I would have probably given this more than 2 stars if there were not lines like this "Her long cheekbones looked like sculpted ivory. Her proflie, a scuffled portrait in the thick of a Chicago night."

Also minus one star for having the black kids kill each other over Popeyes chicken, seriously?

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Aug 07, 2011 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

Another great Michael Harvey read - short chapters, fast-moving plot. A lightbulb that could be filled with anthrax falls in the subway, and the city and feds move quickly to contain any possible threat. Yet people with mysterious symptoms start showing up in the hospitals and dying. The death tolls mount, the scientists try to uncover the threat and discover a vaccine ... yet everything is not quite as it seems. Harvey does a good job of explaining the bioterrorism aspects of this book in a way...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Lawrence Manuel rated it 2 of 5 stars

A weaponized pathogen is released at the Clinton stop on the Blue Line, leading to a quarantine on the West Side. At first I didn't like how this novel was written like a movie script, dreaming to be optioned. But when I started imagining Josh Brolin as the protagonist, things started to pick up. Definitely enjoyed my favorite Intelligentsia Coffee spot making a cameo appearance.

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May 19, 2012 Steven Percifield rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the first Michael Harvey book I've read and I loved it.

Harvey is spot-on in nailing the attitude, pace and diversity of Chicago on his way to telling a story that holds your interest like a wing-nut in a vice-grip.

It's doubly scary since the horror of a bio attack is so plausibly presented, as is the involvement of our elected official.

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Oct 31, 2011 Anita rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, suspense-thriller

This is the first Michael Kelly book I read, and it was action-packed.
Michael Kelly tries to save Chicago's citizens from terrorism, battling
gangs and the bad guys in the process. I'll have to read the previous
novels to flesh out the series, but I don't think it's necessary to
do so. It was like having a good seat at an action movie!

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Aug 07, 2011 Albert Riehle rated it 2 of 5 stars

It's not horrible. It's written well enough, I suppose. It seemed way over the top to me though and I just didn't connect with or care about any of the characters. If I'd cared about the characters I may have connected to the plot more. I can't help but think there could have been a good book in these pages but it got lost.

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About Michael Harvey

Michael Harvey is author of The Chicago Way, The Fifth Floor and The Third Rail (to be published by Knopf in April, 2010).

In addition to writing crime novels, Michael is a journalist and documentary producer. He is co-creator of Cold Case Files, hosted by Bill Kurtis on the A&E television network, and has written and produced scores of other documentary projects all over the world. His work h...more

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We All Fall Down (Michael Kelly #4)

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