Dismantled: A Novel [Hardcover]

Jennifer McMahon (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 16, 2009

“An eerie and gripping tale of suspense….A triumph.”
—Boston Globe

 

The author of the New York Times bestseller Island of Lost Girls, Jennifer McMahon returns with Dismantled—a stunning and chilling thriller that further burnishes her reputation as, “One of the brightest new stars of literary suspense” (Los Angeles Times online). Stewart O’Nan, author of Songs for the Missing, calls Dismantled, “A fun, twisty thriller. Expect comparisons to The Secret History.” Readers of Laura Lippman, Tana French, and Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones will not be able to shake this breathtaking tale of the dark consequences of a group of college friends’ belief that all things—and people—must be taken apart to be truly understood.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. A prank gone wrong drives this outstanding novel from bestseller McMahon (Island of Lost Girls). The summer after graduation, four friends, who formed an art group called the Compassionate Dismantlers at Vermont's Sexton College, live together in a remote cabin and commit increasingly brash acts of sabotage. When they go too far and their leader, Suz Pierce, dies, the group disbands, vowing never to speak about what happened. Ten years later, two of the group, Henry DeForge and Tess Kahle, are unhappily married with a nine-year-old daughter, Emma. When the suicide of a Sexton friend sends a PI digging into the past, Henry and Tess fear that the dead may not be truly buried. By alternating the present-day lives of Henry, Tess and Emma with the origins of the Dismantlers, McMahon allows the inexorable sense of dread to build incrementally. Perhaps most memorable are not the young artists but Emma, a child whose intense imagination only adds fuel to the slow-burning fire. (June)
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From Booklist

“Dismantlement equals freedom.” “To understand the nature of a thing, it must be taken apart.” These are the credos of the Compassionate Dismantlers, a subversive clique of art majors in a Vermont college spearheaded by a sexy and diabolical prankster. Suz purports to be an eco-saboteur, but jealousy and revenge are her primary motives. How strangely bewitched her followers are, how dangerous their actions become, and how wretchedly things go wrong. Nine years after the outlaw group’s catastrophic demise, survivors Henry and Tess live isolated in the countryside, harboring a ruinous secret. Now it seems that the time of reckoning is at hand. As their sweet, preternatural nine-year-old daughter, Emma, grows increasingly, even maniacally devoted to her imaginary friend, inexplicable messages appear, crucial objects disappear, and someone is watching, if not stalking the increasingly freaked-out family. Are the Dismantlers reassembling? In her third, elegantly spooky mystery revolving around the vulnerability of a young girl and a haunting past, McMahon fashions a fresh and entrancing ghost-in-the-woods tale replete with startling psychoses, delectable Hitchcockian motifs, and dangerous attractions. --Donna Seaman

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Harper; 1 edition (June 16, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061689335
• ISBN-13: 978-0061689338
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #731,565 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born in 1968 and grew up in my grandmother's house in suburban Connecticut, where I was convinced a ghost named Virgil lived in the attic. I wrote my first short story in third grade. I graduated with a BA from Goddard College in 1991 and then studied poetry for a year in the MFA in Writing Program at Vermont College. A poem turned into a story, which turned into a novel, and I decided to take some time to think about whether I wanted to write poetry or fiction. After bouncing around the country, I wound up back in Vermont, living in a cabin with no electricity, running water, or phone with my partner, Drea, while we built our own house. Over the years, I have been a house painter, farm worker, paste-up artist, Easter Bunny, pizza delivery person, homeless shelter staff member, and counselor for adults and kids with mental illness -- I quit my last real job in 2000 to work on writing full time. In 2004, I gave birth to our daughter, Zella. In 2005, we left the woods (for now), and moved to Barre, Vermont -- producer of one-third of all the granite gravestones and mausoleums in the US.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#20 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Horror

#20 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Horror

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 36 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Save your time & money... Waste of pulp... June 28, 2010

By Sir William

Format:Hardcover

Where to begin??? I can't believe that a handful of professional critics offered any praise at all for this drivel... I guess that fact alone says all that needs to be said about the state (and honesty) of book reviews in today's press... But I digress. "One of the brightest new stars of literary suspense" -- LA Times. Puh-Lease...

For starters, there are more than a few plot and factual inconsistencies and errors. Take the wooden moose 'sculpture' for example. It is made entirely of wood and stands 6' tall at the shoulder. Yet, somehow, 4 college kids fit it into the back of a regular van and drive it around. WHAT??? In what world does that make any sense? And then (spoiler alert if you are a masochist and read this book), to top it all off, those meddling kids put this same 6' tall wooden moose in a canoe with two people and row it out onto a lake! Really?!?! Are you kidding me?!?! SCOOBY-DOO, where are you??? I have to admit that I did almost enjoy the belly laugh that I got from that scene -- two people in a canoe with a 6' moose paddling around... that is funny stuff right there. I would hazard to guess the author has never been in a real canoe... nor could pick one out of a line-up. They are actually narrow, unstable crafts... and the ones carved from actual trees sink very easily.

And then there is the sophmoric writing style... the often maligned "It was a dark and stormy night..." now has a rival in "He pushes the button on his key chain to unlock the truck... The truck beeps its mechanical hello." Again, REALLY?!?!? 'Mechanical Hello'? LOL.

Finally, the author commits the most cursed, lazy, and cheap trick in the (ahem) book... SHE INTRODUCES A NEW CHARACTER IN THE LAST 5 PAGES OF THE BOOK! Hello...!!! This is known as 'Cardinal Sin NUMERO UNO' among mystery writers and fans alike. My 6-year-old could write a mystery/suspense/literary thriller if given this kind of license. Utter crap. Luckily I bought this book at a real store that will buy it back. I feel soiled for having touched it.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Is Suz dead or alive? September 21, 2010

By Frank J. Konopka VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

This is the third book I have read by this author, and I have enjoyed them all very much. This latest work tells of four college friends who form a `society" to "dismantle" things with which they do not agree, including an annoying college professor. The book takes place in the present day, but there are flashbacks to a time 10 years previously when Suz, one of the group, supposedly died and was put into a lake to hide her body.

The present then concentrates on two of the remaining members, who are married to each other and have a 9 year old named Emma. Now Emma is a very odd child, with a fixation on the number 9 and also the painting of a moose named Francis. She puts the plot in gear by sending postcards to all of the society members (she doesn't realize that Suz is supposed to be dead), in the hope that if they all get together again, possibly her parents estrangement will end. Best laid plans, however...

Excitement builds as a series of strange happenings occur, and Emma's invisible friend appears to be the source of most of them. One of the other society members shows up at the old lake house which was used by the society, and where Suz was put into the lake. It also appears that Suz may not be dead after all, and might be seeking revenge against her former cohorts. Many things happen, and it wouldn't be fair to future readers to discuss them, for that would spoil the plot of an excellent book that I highly recommend, especially to those folks who have read this author's previous works.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "The only true creative force is chaos, Babycakes." August 3, 2010

By lb136 VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

In "Dismantled" Jennifer McMahon riffs on the old four friends from college have a secret past, and creates a ghost-suspense tale that doesn't lose its focus or its pace, and I found it incredibly entertaining.

Ms. McMahon plays with time and tense here, as well as multiple points of view, and throws in a double twist at the end. Why? Well, because she can I guess.

There's misperception, misdirection, misunderstanding, wise children, dumb adults, imaginary friends, and 90-pound doll filled with sand. Throw in a suicide, a private detective, a woman of mystery who wants to be a patron to an artist, a colorful Vermont town, a deserted cabin on a lake, and--oh yeah--a Moose named Francis, and you have all he ingredients for a thrilling ride. And you get one.

If you find sociopaths fascinating, if you think the journey's more important than the destination, if you realize that some families are just plain dysfunctional, and/or if you're looking for a well written, suspenseful thriller, here you are. If you like Lovecraft, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Joyce Carol Oates, Elizabeth Hand, and/or (and this is just a bit of a stretch) Roxana Robinson, here you are.

Enjoy.