Follow Me
I’ve been on a bit of a kick for reading purely for escapism, so you’re getting two mystery/thriller reviews in a row.
Lisa Unger’s Fragile is one I had picked up on the bargain shelves some time ago at Barnes and Noble. And last week, I just wanted some pure fun reading, so I cracked open this one.
From the Amazon Summary:
Everybody knows everybody in The Hollows, a quaint, charming town outside of New York City. It’s a place where neighbors keep an eye on one another’s kids, where people say hello in the grocery store, and where high school cliques and antics are never quite forgotten. As a child, Maggie found living under the microscope of small-town life stifling. But as a wife and mother, she has happily returned to The Hollows’s insular embrace. As a psychologist, her knowledge of family histories provides powerful insights into her patients’ lives. So when the girlfriend of her teenage son, Rick, disappears, Maggie’s intuitive gift proves useful to the case–and also dangerous.
Eerie parallels soon emerge between Charlene’s disappearance and the abduction of another local girl that shook the community years ago when Maggie was a teenager. The investigation has her husband, Jones, the lead detective on the case, acting strangely. Rick, already a brooding teenager, becomes even more withdrawn. In a town where the past is always present, nobody is above suspicion, not even a son in the eyes of his father.
“I know how a moment can spiral out of control,” Jones says to a shocked Maggie as he searches Rick’s room for incriminating evidence. “How the consequences of one careless action can cost you everything.”
As she tries to reassure him that Rick embodies his father in all of the important ways, Maggie realizes this might be exactly what Jones fears most. Determined to uncover the truth, Maggie pursues her own leads into Charlene’s disappearance and exposes a long-buried town secret–one that could destroy everything she holds dear. This thrilling novel about one community’s intricate yet fragile bonds will leave readers asking, How well do I know the people I love? and How far would I go to protect them?
While I had an inkling of what might be a part of the story, and I wasn’t wrong, I still enjoyed reading this one. I liked the characters. I liked turning the pages to see what Unger would reveal next. In fact, I stayed up late reading one night so I could finish the book and know what happened.
This one is good escapism- and I’ve bought the second book in this series. If you’re looking for something fun to read during Holiday downtime, this one might be the perfect pick for you.