Customer Reviews

Shatter

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The protagonist of Michael Robotham's "Shatter" is Professor Joe O'Loughlin, a clinical psychologist who teaches behavioral psychology at the University of Bath. He has been married for twenty years to Julianne, a beautiful and successful high-flyer in the corporate world, and they dote on their two daughters, twelve-year old Charlie and three-year-old Emma. Unfortunately, Joe's health has been deteriorating since he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease four years ago. In spite of tremors, twitches, and other alarming symptoms, he is determined not to let his illness define him.

Joe's fortunes take a turn for the worse when he is asked to talk a jumper down from the Clifton Suspension Bridge. When he reaches the site, Joe sees an unidentified female standing in the rain, naked except for a pair of red shoes. She is conducting an intense conversation on a mobile phone. The potential suicide barely notices Joe's presence and is not interested in anything that he has to say. This disturbing encounter foreshadows future similar incidents that will challenge O'Loughlin's ability to cope, both professionally and personally.

The villain turns out to be a psychopath who knows how to bend minds. He boasts, "You've got to be smart. You've got to know people--what frightens them, how they think, what they cling to when they're in trouble." He uses his considerable intellect and patience to threaten and intimidate those he hates. When the police, led by the tough and aggressive Detective Inspector Veronica Cray, finally comprehend what is going on, they desperately try to locate and apprehend the killer. Joe and his buddy, retired DI Vincent Ruiz, lend a hand in the investigation, but they are stymied by a phantom who strikes at will and escapes with ease. What is his motive and what will his endgame be? In spite of Julianne's protests that he is endangering his family, Joe refuses to back off.

"Shatter" has some powerful and wrenching moments, but it is not an unqualified success. Many readers will be skeptical that law enforcement officials would allow a civilian psychologist and a retired detective to attend briefings, read case notes, interview witnesses, and speak to the media. In addition, the identity of the perpetrator, "a bully, a sadist, and [a] control freak," is given away too early. He is a one-dimensional monster, straight out of central casting. Another plot point that might raise a few eyebrows is whether this individual's methods of mind control would work on otherwise confident, poised, and worldly women. Although the conclusion has its share of excitement, it is too predictable to be truly harrowing.

On the plus side, Joe is a sympathetic and caring person as well as an accomplished psychologist who constructs a fairly accurate behavioral profile of the suspect. At first, his marriage to the lovely Julianne appears solid, but it is actually developing ever-widening fissures; Robotham depicts both their tender and wrenching encounters with skill and compassion. The dialogue is generally clever and witty, and there are are some intriguing secondary characters, such as Darcy Wheeler, a mature sixteen-year whom Joe takes under his wing after her mother's death. In spite of its flaws, "Shatter" is a workmanlike and fast-moving novel that should appeal to fans of psychological suspense.

I've read each of Robotham's very impressive novels. When I saw that the U.S. release date of Shatter was pushed back to 2009, I ordered the British edition. It's on sale, so even with the shipping costs the final price was close to the standard, undiscounted price it will carry here.

This may well be his best to date. Reprising his top characters, psychologist Joe O'Loughlin and retired detective Vincent Ruiz, he has moved O'Loughlin from London to Somerset, near Bath. Setting is one of the things that Robotham does brilliantly, whether his characters are in northern Europe or in the sewers of London. Here, the solution of the case turns on the use of cell phone transmission technology and that requires Robotham to have a professional's knowledge of both that technology and the geography/topography of the west country in general, Bath and Bristol in particular. The results are very impressive.

He must also plausibly discuss the realities of abnormal psychology and Parkinson's disease (which afflicts O'Loughlin). Needless to say, he's up to the task. The antagonist is a military interrogator who has gone over to the dark side, utilizing his skills for evil purposes in an attempt to avenge himself upon the friends of his wife who, he believes, has betrayed him. The cat and mouse game is complicated by the fact that Joe's marriage to his wife Julianne is on the rocks and his involvement in this case not only impacts on his marriage but draws his wife and eldest daughter into the antagonist's orbit. To save his marriage and his family Joe must solve the case and find the person who talks his victims into destroying themselves.

The suspense is nonstop and the writing is expert. I stand by my earlier judgment that Robotham is the next big thing in crime and suspense writing. This was one of the top books of the summer for me (since I couldn't wait for the spring of 2009). Don't miss any of his books. Each is superb.

This work does not fall into the general genre that I usually read, but I have to admit that by any definition of the term, this one is a true page turner and for me, was an extremely satisfying read. The over all plot has been pretty well discussed here but if brief:

Psychologist Joe O'Loughlin, is drawn into a rather strange set of terrifying and suspenseful tale of psychological mind control by a twisted but brilliant individual who seems to have the ability to completely control the actions of his victims primarily via the use of a cell phone. He is able to cause his targets to perform acts that simple are not within their nature; such as standing on a bridge naked with only a pair of red shoes and then leaping to her death, despite the best efforts of O'Loughlin and the police.

This is a very complicated and complex read with many factors to consider; not the least being that our main character suffers from Parkinson 's disease and is fighting an on going battle with its devastating symptoms. To further complicate the issue, O'Loughlin's family is drawn into the circle of a truly master criminal; a completely wicked but brilliant psychopath, if you will. The police are at lost ends as to the cause, motive and methods the killer is using and indeed it is baffling to the reader as the story unfolds. Keep in mind that the killer's victims are extremely intelligent and sophisticated women and at first there seems to be absolutely no link between them what so ever.

This book has several things going for it. First, the author is a most excellent story teller. His plot, as with his other works, is absolutely riveting. Secondly, Robotham is a master of describing and controlling his environment. He has a true sense of place and can draw his readers into the particular geographic region he is working with. I will probably be flayed alive for saying this, but I feel he is just as skilled in this aspect of his writing as the old master, Guy de Maupassant. In this case, the author has set his story in the West Country of England, in and around Bristol and Bath. Third, and quite important, the author can and does in this case create at truly twisted villain. Character wise, you like the good guys and despise the bad guys. Forth, and again, very important in a psychological thriller, the author keeps the reader guessing but does not wonder into the realm of the unrealistic; what he writes is understandable, logical and believable!

Of course there are many side paths the author takes us on while spinning his tale; a troubled marriage, a life defining disease and condition, a complicated family and professional life and wonderful interaction between primary characters. The introduction to a very high tech world (an integral part of the story) is either a plus or minus depending upon how you view such things, but I personally found it rather fascinating; knowing little to nothing about techy sort of things...hey, I actually learned some stuff here!

On a personal note, in my particular profession I have worked with many individuals suffering from the ravages of Parkinson's disease and can assure you that this work will give the reader vast insight to this condition which is much more common that generally known. I was gratified to see the author treated this subject with knowledge and understanding.

For those lovers of psychological thrillers, I cannot find any reason not to be delighted with this offering and do highly recommend it.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

Other reviews have ably provided an outline of the plot. The main character (Joe - a psychologist with early stage parkinson's disease) is someone Robotham introduced as the chief protagonist in his debut novel. That novel(Suspect) by far was, and continues to be, his best. The two that followed (Lost and A Night Ferry) left me feeling flat, as the incisiveness and complexity, as well as the quality of the plot, were below par to Suspect (I didn't care about what went on in Lost, and A Night Ferry I struggled to finish). I am a very eclectic reader, poring through anything from your quick and dirty Grisham to the likes of Milan Kundera (right now I am reading Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez- a very nice read so far). I like breadth and so appreciate the right read at the right time. Therefore, I was pretty thrilled with Robotham's Suspect, since here I felt was someone who could write and tell a good, intriguing yarn. But alas, I have been disappointed with his progress.

With 'Shatter' there is some return to what initially attracted me to Robotham. The writing is still strong, and it does serve to propel the story, which moves along at a clip. However, other than the consideration of how someone can place doubts in your head that might leave you feeling helpless, it really is, in the end, a disappointing piece. We read it hoping for some invigorating revelations, as well as some intellectual sword play that leaves us satisfied and the hero victorious. I am not advocating that there be traditional endings and such, as we are all accustomed to get in the thriller/mystery genre. However, one still deserves better, when the set up (somewhat implausible, but only because it hasn't happened to you!) is so well constructed. It is possible that Robotham wrote himself into a corner that he didn't have the heart, time nor energy to remodel - or he simply wanted the "monster" to be evident in Joe, thereby twisting things about so that we ask ourselves who really should be judged (i.e. do our actions create the circumstances?). In any case, whichever way you look at it, the result was a predictable march to a neat and tidy ending. In fact, as you read the first few chapters, you can determine how the final set of chapters are going to proceed. At that point, when you begin a book, one's suspicions of where things are heading is only an inkling. It reflects poorly on a writer in this genre that one is not left stranded in a fascinating place, made a fool of, for daring to think you had it worked out.

So overall, while I stayed with it, and actually looked forward to what was coming up, the end result was deflating. I think Robotham is trying to be a writer, while also trying to give us some kicks. Unfortunately, I think he only managed to merge the two elements in his first novel. In the current one, he went for something deeper, and shattered our expectations. I will, nonetheless, continue to open up a Robotham book, expectant of a kick in the head that leaves me as woozy as the first time.

This is a well-written, fast-paced thriller with well-developed, interesting characters all around. The pace maintains until the very end. The perpetrator of the events that come to occupy the police has devised a unique way to control the actions of his victims via cellphone so that he has no need to approach them at all in accomplishing their deaths, which resemble strange suicides. The leading character, a clinical psychologist who fails in his attempt to help the cops thwart one of these events, is in the early stages of Parkinson's disease. He's another in a line of physically disabled crime-fighters populating fiction these days. I wonder whether his affliction will worsen in subsequent adventures.

Having read all his other books, I was hoping Shatter would be as
good a read. It's not - it's ten times better! Wonderful writing,
great suspense - anyone who likes Rankin, Robinson, Burlingham, etc.
will love this. I can't wait for the next one!

Shatter is a very interesting and orginal story. Joe a clinical pyschologist with Parkinson's disease somehow gets involved with an apparent suicide of a woman. as he investigates this situation, he starts to believe that the woman was cocerced into killing herself. Another suicide takes place, and then Joe's family are threatened. In addition to all this ,Joe has problems with his marriage.

I liked the book, but I felt it moved very slowly at times. I wish the author had edited more. It really is 31/2 stars.

great read 5 stars - suspenseful keeps you readimg well into the night...sometimes "choices" aren't always good things!

"Shatter" is Michael Robotham's best novel yet! It brings back the characters found in the earlier novels, and centers on my favorite, clinical psychologist Joe O'Loughlin. Joe is intelligent and humane, and suffers from Parkinson's Disease--all facets of his personality which conspire against him as well as for him, as he embarks on solving the murders of women who die under the most bizarre circumstances. And the killer? a trained interrogator gone awry (and AWOL). The end is surprising, and layered with many levels of action--a disappeared killer, a marriage on hold, a hero making his way in an alien world. At this writing, the novel is not available in the US--but you should make sure you are on the waiting list when it arrives!

Tony Hill is Val McDermid's psychologist who works with police detective Carol Jordan solving murders (mostly serial ones) in her series novels. They are quite good as is its tv series. Now we have another UKer setting a mystery in England that is also about a psychologist who helps the police. This time it is Joe helping Veronica. He too is a university lecturer and his quirk is that he has Parkinson's disease. If Val McDermid were still writing the Tony Hill novels, I would be harsher on this than I am as being too derivative.

I still like the McDermid novels better and I like Tony Hill's strangeness better. Joe O'Loughlin is the psychologist in this novel and he lives with his family in Somerset. He teaches part-time at the University of Bath. He has a wife and two daughters and is fairly normal but for his interest in serial murders and his disease.

The murders in this novel are pretty interesting. The killer talks the victims into killing themselves. At first this seems preposterous but he has learned these techniques with the army while breaking prisoners. Joe walks into this murderer's first murder scene when he tries to save a woman who is about to jump off a bridge. We learn who the murderer is about half way through and he is a pretty interesting character too.

Like Tony Hill, Joe is very good at noticing every detail of human behavior. So the details he notices in stopping the murders are quite different from what the two detectives aiding him notice. These are a gay woman DI, Veronica, and a retired London Inspector, Ruiz.

If you like this kind of novel, I think it is worth a try.