Heartbroken

A Novel

By: Lisa Unger

Narrated by: Amanda Carlin

Long after anyone expected Kate to do anything with her life, she did. Using the journals left behind by her aunt and grandmother, she wrote a novel based on a very real, generation-old love story that ended in tragedy. On the other side of town, Emily is about to set fire to her life. She's in a dead-end job and is involved with the wrong man; she can feel herself being drawn into darkness, with horrific consequences. With nowhere to go, she finds herself on the run.

Without knowing each other, and with lives that couldn't be more different, Kate and Emily head to the same point on the map: Heart Island, an idyllic place in the middle of a lake in the Adirondacks, owned for generations by Birdie Burke's family. The harsh and unyielding Birdie is at one with this island, which has a terrifying history all its own. She, too, has consequences to face.

Heartbroken is a tense, mesmerizing novel about the limits of dysfunctional families, of an island haunted by dark memories and restless ghosts, and of the all-too-real demons we must battle.

©2012 Lisa Unger (P)2012 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Unger delivers compelling, fully drawn characters while at the same time putting the thrill in thriller. A first-class page-turner." ( Booklist)

"[A] tense psychological thriller.... Unger skillfully builds the fissures of each of [her characters'] lives as she illustrates the power of the heart and the corrosive nature of lies." ( Publishers Weekly)

"Will captivate fans of mystery and psychological suspense. This is one of Unger's best novels yet." ( Library Journal)

an okay book - not as good as her first novel.

What did you like best about Heartbroken? What did you like least?

good character development - but - I was always waiting for "something" to happen.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I guess the most interesting was about "Birdie" the mother of the Heart family. The least interesting was about "Lulu" - a spoiled - beautiful teenager - and all of her "manipulations".

What aspect of Amanda Carlin’s performance would you have changed?

none - it was good

Was Heartbroken worth the listening time?

hummm............. I guess - a little slow. I wasn't as "anxious" to listen to it everyday (on my run) like I usually am with other really good novels.

Any additional comments?

Better off listening to Unger's first book "Beautiful Lies" - now that was an awesome page turner - I'm still "waiting" for her to write another one like that!

depressing

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Written well - story okay - but was really depressing - no happy endings here

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

depressing

What three words best describe Amanda Carlin’s voice?

fine

Do you think Heartbroken needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

nope nope nope - hard to go from that depressing

Can't even get into it

What would have made Heartbroken better?

I like a lot of her other books, but this is in a different style. I don't even know if I'll finish it.