The Point of Fracture [Paperback]

Frank Turner Hollon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 20, 2006

A troubled woman, bent on revenge, implicates her husband, his family, and a Southern community in an unsolvable murder. With its swift prose and shrewd insight, The Point of Fracture is both a gripping page-turner about a perfect crime and a poignant portrait of the human psyche.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

This literate potboiler explores how far a damaged spouse will go to frame her husband for a crime. Michael Brace is a novelist-turned-layabout, sucking dry a small inheritance along with untold bottles of bourbon. His latest stalled project represents his attempt to understand the effect years of childhood abuse have had on his wife, who spends most of her time locked in the master bedroom of their Alabama home battling migraines. When Suzanne discovers the manuscript, she channels her rage into an elaborate plot against Michael. But while it's interesting to watch her vengeful plan unfold, it mostly feels like an intellectual exercise. Not much is revealed about Suzanne beyond her anger, and it's hard to care for Michael when he can't be bothered to care for himself. And just when attorney Hollon seems poised to kick the story into high gear with a dramatic court case, he instead brings it to an abrupt close with one of the oddest deus ex machina devices in the genre. The book is fine for what it is, but it could have been much more. Frank Sennett
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“A very talented young author who tells his story well.”
–W. E. B. Griffin, best-selling author of The Brotherhood of War and Badge of Honor

“. . .so thought-provoking and real and beautiful that I believe it has changed me forever.”
–Silas House, author of Clay’s Quilt and A Parchment of Leaves --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Lawson Library (October 20, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596921064
• ISBN-13: 978-1596921061
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #115,511 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hang on for the ride!, December 29, 2005

By 

MLPlayfair (Ravenna, OH) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Point of Fracture (Hardcover)

"The Point of Fracture" by Frank Turner Hollon is a smart book that happens to be a mystery. It can even be called a literary thriller. Its action and characters drew me in almost immediately, and I could hardly bear to set it down.

Michael Brace is 37 and lives in South Alabama with his gorgeous wife, Suzanne. The two share a bad, sad marriage. But to everyone who knows them, they seem perfect together. They are almost too good at acting happily married. Michael's kind of lazy and unmotivated. Suzanne has a lot of issues, including frequent, debilitating headaches that may be driven by the emotional pain from her father's abuse. But she is seeing a psychiatrist. So she's trying to get help, right? Then the lies begin. Suzanne is not a woman you will soon forget.

This is kind of an anti-love story. We see a crime from the first spark of an idea in the murderer's mind through its planning and step-by-step execution and then through the trial that follows. The meticulous murder is almost elegant in its completeness.

The book is insightful and eloquently written: "He thought, the souls of men are touched by different hands. They were meant to be strange to one another. It is this strangeness that can sometimes bring us together, at certain times, in certain places, for a certain purpose."

There are layers in the well-structured plot. It's very gripping, with no comic relief. The drama features a murder trial with a twist -- well, a couple of twists. It reminds me of a "Columbo" mystery in that we the "audience" know who did what and get to watch it unfold, but we're the only ones who know. It builds in intensity, and once it gets going, it's relentless. When you see where the book is taking you, it's all you can do to fasten your seat belts and hang on for the ride, and I doubt you'll see where it's going to end before the ride is over. And I won't even give you a HINT as to how it ends.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An extremely well-written novel that will make Hollon a household name, September 27, 2005

By 

Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Point of Fracture (Hardcover)

I'm really not sure where to begin with THE POINT OF FRACTURE by Frank Turner Hollon, or even what to tell you. It is extremely well-written --- so well-written in fact that I had to basically set aside all of my other reading for a day or so because its prose was still echoing around in my head. It is also profoundly unsettling, not in an in-your-face manner but similar to what James Tiptree, Jr. so famously described as a pretty pink birthday cake with a razor blade inside.

The source of the unsettlement here is its characters, who are so true-to-life as to be painful. There's Michael Brace, a not-quite functioning alcoholic who lives in the shadow of his fabulously successful older brother Phillip and who is entangled in a strange, loveless marriage with the beautiful Suzanne. Suzanne is both truly mad and brilliantly mad, and she is also very angry; we never learn exactly why she is so angry, but the depth and extent of her insanity is slowly revealed during the first half of the book. Suzanne may be possessed of heartstopping beauty but her scars run deep below her surface. When she exacts revenge on those around her --- revenge against disappointment, perhaps, or their failure to make things better for her --- the repercussions echo and resonate far from Suzanne's epicenter.

We know from the first paragraph of THE POINT OF FRACTURE that all is not well, when we find out that Michael and Suzanne sleep apart as a matter of constant practice. As we learn more --- that Suzanne has severe headaches, and Michael spends A LOT of time drinking and fishing, watching television, and other such pursuits with friends he has known since childhood --- the elements of a disaster waiting to happen coalesce. Suzanne is a master manipulator, and is especially adept at using her beauty and dormant sensuality with a cold, detached and sinister twist. Her plan, even when it passes out of her control, unfolds perfectly, almost to the end. One element that she could not have anticipated changes the outcome of everything; yet one cannot walk away from this novel without feeling that Suzanne's plan may have been successfully carried through.

Frank Turner Hollon is not a household name as yet, though THE POINT OF FRACTURE may well change that for him. This is a work to be read, explored, and experienced repeatedly. Very highly recommended.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FLAWLESS, October 14, 2005

By 

Deana Heath Clark "petals and pups" (Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Point of Fracture (Hardcover)

Absolutely flawless in every regard. Frank Turner Hollon knows the legal system like nobody's business and the plot of this book is to-the-bone good. Even the throw-aways are worth the price of admission: The Driver's Education scam is priceless and the little details just shine. His best yet, and that's saying a lot. This guy should be rich with this kind of talent.