Fractured by Catherine McKenzie (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"Julie Prentice and her family move across the country to the idyllic Mount Adams district of Cincinnati, hoping to evade the stalker who’s been terrorizing them ever since the publication of her bestselling novel, The Murder Game. Since Julie doesn’t know anyone in her new town, when she meets her neighbor John Dunbar, their instant connection brings measured hope for a new beginning. But she never imagines that a simple, benign conversation with him could set her life spinning so far off course.

After a series of misunderstandings, Julie and her family become the target of increasingly unsettling harassment. Has Julie’s stalker found her, or are her neighbors out to get her, too? As tension in the neighborhood rises, new friends turn into enemies, and the results are deadly."

My Thoughts:

Fractured is one of those books where I found myself on the edge of my seat for almost the entire book.  This author sure does know how to create levels of tension that keep the reader immersed within.  I have to fully admit from the beginning that I am a sucker for books where the author is almost able to create a feeling of dread within the reader.  It is like you know that something bad is going to happen or the other shoe is going to drop......but you keep reading because you have to see why and when.  I felt like the author did an amazing job of slowly building up page by page that feeling until I was unable to set the book down.  By that point I had hit the point of no return and needed to see how it was all going to end.  I loved my reading experience of this book for those reasons alone!  

I also really loved how the author created a certain level of distrust that I felt with almost all of the main characters.  As I read this book, I could never quite fully understand each character's motivations and if they were hiding something more.  It added to the overall feel of this book and I have to say that I loved every minute of it.  I found myself constantly guessing trying to figure out how everything was all going to end.  The book is almost broke up into two parts.  Before the mysterious event that happened and then the after effects of what happened.  The reader is left to wonder about that big event until the very end which is why the author's build up is just so good!  I have to be honest though: I was a bit underwhelmed by the ending.  Maybe because I was constantly trying to figure out it out so I had considered it as a possible ending?  I don't really know if I'm being honest, but I just felt like the author did such an amazing job building up to the ending and then it fell a bit flat.  I'm guessing that other readers will feel differently though so don't just take my opinion on it.  

Overall, I found myself really enjoying this book so don't be put off by my minor complaint.  I had heard so many good things about this author and I really can't help but echo them.  I am so glad that I finally gave her a try!  I will definitely be reading more by this author.  I loved how this book almost felt like a breath of fresh air from some of the other stuff that I have been reading.  I'm thinking I need to read outside of the mystery/thriller genre a bit more just for a change of pace.  LOL!  I can easily recommend this book and am going to do just that as I know my Mom and sister would enjoy this book as well.  Recommended!

Bottom Line:  This book is worth reading for the atmosphere the author creates alone!

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher and NetGalley as part of a TLC book tour.  My apologies as I completely missed my original date and am posting this quite late.