107 - Fragile; Lisa Unger

Fragile is Lisa Unger's 5th novel, and it is not part of a series. Her latest book takes place in a quaint town known as The Hollows, about 100 miles outside of New York City. It's the type of town where everyone knows everybody and dirty little secrets don't stay secrets for long in this town.  Maggie Cooper and her husband Jones grew up in this town, and even though they found it somewhat suffocating growing up, as adults they chose to raise their only son Ricky here.

Maggie is a psychologist and Jones is a detective on the local police force. Their son Ricky is a rebellious 17 year old, complete with nose ring, black attire and a Goth girlfriend named Charlene Murray. Charlene is a bit of a lost soul with Goth style, complete with vampire makeup. Maggie and Jones are not thrilled about Ricky and Charlene's relationship, and it seems Ricky is becoming more and more distant.

When Charlene goes missing, the community is reminded of a similar incident that occurred when Maggie and Jones were growing up in this very town. In that incident some twenty year's earlier the abduction of a female classmate ended in her death.  Even though an individual was arrested for that crime and confessed year's earlier, it seems that the dirty hands of others who might have been involved are still residing in The Hollows.  Now Jones is the lead detective on Charlene's case and he is acting very strange.  There are no shortage of suspects in this case, and even not everything is as it appears.

My THOUGHTS - Fragile is certainly more mystery than thriller, which is a change from the author's previous books: Beautiful Lies, Sliver of Truth, Black Out and Die for You, all of which I read and enjoyed (especially the first two). This novel certainly kept me interested and guessing as there were numerous characters/suspects to keep the story interesting. I thought the alternating points of view kept the story fresh, as little by little more and more secrets were revealed. Not my favorite Unger novel, but still a worthwhile read. RECOMMENDED - 4/5 Stars (A finished copy was sent to me by the publisher for review).