The Fall

July 1892. Detective Sergeant Robert Falconer of the New York City Police Department's Central Detective Bureau is back--tasked with finding out if well-known anarchist leader, Emma Goldman, is involved in a recent anarchist attempt to murder a steel company's president. While investigating the young firebrand Goldman, however, Falconer discovers that it is she who is being target by a shadowy order of secret assassins. Meanwhile, Falconer's friend from Scotland Yard, Inspector Charlie Penwill, has returned to New York City with French Inspector Prosper-Isidore Houllier to capture a French anarchist bomb thrower. Falconer and his gritty band of police officers must race against time to stop these competing threats before the city literally blows up.

A lone anarchist has attempted to take the life of Carnegie Steel Company President Henry Clay Frick in July of 1892. Police officials in New York City enlist Detective Sergeant Robert Falconer and his men to shadow the noted anarchist leader Emma Goldman to find evidence of her complicity in the crime. As Falconer investigates Goldman, however, he slowly realizes that she is being targeted by a mysterious band of assassins, and he beseeches her to allow him to keep her safe. Goldman refuses to surrender to fear, though, and instead, determines to maintain her very active life of an anarchist leader and public speaker. Meanwhile, Falconer's friend, Inspector Charlie Penwill of Scotland Yard, has shown up in New York City with French Inspector Prosper-Isidore Houllier to track down a dangerous anarchist who has fled France for North America. As Falconer confronts and engages with the shadowy order of assassins targeting the stubborn Miss Goldman, he lends help to the two inspectors in their desperate search for the French "bomb thrower" who just might be targeting a candidate for the Vice Presidency of the United States. And, to make matters worse, Falconer soon discovers that the woman he loves, famed journalist Nellie Bly, is also intent on solving the mystery of the secret order of assassins that is slowly leaving a trail of bodies in New York City.

Sean Moynihan was raised in Vermont and New York State. After working as a professional actor on television and stage for a decade, he moved to Colorado and entered law school. He presently works as a criminal prosecutor. When not in the courtroom, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two kids. "The Fall" is his second novel, following the release of Book One of his Robert Falconer Mystery series, "Here," in 2019.