Press Release: Fragile by Lisa Unger
FRAGILE
A Novel
By Lisa Unger
“[A] nail-biting nuanced whodunit.” —People Magazine
“Unger’s taut and edgy tale stealthily plumbs the depths of desperation that grow more dangerous with the passage of time.” —Booklist
“A rich tapestry of psychological wounds . . . Cleverly plotted and emotionally engaging.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Fragile delivers everything that Lisa Unger’s readers have come to expect— a thrilling story that affects complicated and nuanced people. But it’s also a sensitive meditation on the very nature of family and community and the ties that bind us to one another.”—Laura Lippman, New York Times bestselling author of I’d Know You Anywhere
New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger mastered the art of the page-turner with her previous novels Beautiful Lies, Black Out, and Die for You. Her fiction has been reviewed everywhere from People and Entertainment Weekly to the Associated Press, Parade, New York Daily News, Miami Herald, Chicago Tribune, and more. Her novels have also been selected by Weekend Today and Good Morning America as top summer reads.
While Unger is known for writing literary thrillers, FRAGILE (Shaye Areheart Books, August 3, 2010) is somewhat of a departure from her previous novels. This is the book that she has been trying to write, in one way or another, for twenty years. The story behind the novel began long ago, while Unger was still in high school, when a classmate she knew was abducted and murdered. It was a stunning event in a quiet, idyllic suburban town that forever changed the way she saw the world. FRAGILE is not about the actual event, though there are similarities—a missing girl, a community in turmoil. But in FRAGILE, there is a connection to a devastating murder nearly thirty years earlier, a town mired in secrets, and characters buckling under the weight of a lifetime of lies.
Despite their mostly happy marriage, Maggie and Jones find themselves at odds over raising their son, Ricky. While Jones struggles to connect with his son, Maggie has a hard time letting go of the little boy Ricky once was. When Ricky’s girlfriend, Charlene, disappears, Jones questions his son’s possible involvement in the case while Maggie comes to Ricky’s defense.
With Charlene’s disappearance, Jones can’t help recalling a memory from his high school days, when another young girl went missing…only this time her body was found. Jones is anxious to keep that horrible event firmly in the past. His involvement with the case goes far deeper than anyone—even Maggie—imagines.
While Unger’s previous novels were rooted in the thriller realm, FRAGILE will appeal to readers of Jodi Picoult, Anita Shreve, and Jacquelyn Mitchard. Suspenseful, sensitive, and subtle, Unger has crafted a compelling story that tests the bonds of family, trust, and community, and just how fragile they can be.
About the Author
Lisa Unger, is a New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of literary thrillers. Her novels have been published in more than twenty-six countries around the world. She was born in Hartford, Connecticut, but grew up in the Netherlands, England, and New Jersey. A graduate of the New School for Social Research, Lisa spent many years living and working in New York City. She then left a career in publicity to pursue her dream of becoming a full-time author. Her previous books are Beautiful Lies, Sliver of Truth, Black Out, which was awarded the Silver Medal in the Florida Book Awards Genre Fiction category for 2008, and Die for You. She now lives in Florida with her husband and daughter.
