Heartbroken

Starred review from February 27, 2012
An island on an Adirondack lake becomes both a haven and a hell for three women in Unger’s tense psychological thriller. Kate Burke’s annual visits to Heart Island, owned by her wealthy parents, never go smoothly, mainly because of the uneasy relationship she has with her imperious 75-year-old mother, Birdie. Kate expects the next visit will be even more upsetting because she’s written a novel based on journals kept by her aunt and grandmother that’s a thinly veiled story of a love affair that ended in tragedy on the remote island. Meanwhile, Birdie has visions of a dark intruder prowling Heart Island at all hours. Finally, Emily, a waitress drifting through life, feels powerless to resist as her boyfriend pulls her into schemes that will betray the people closest to her. Unger (Die for You) skillfully builds the fissures in each of these women’s lives as she illustrates the power of the heart and the corrosive nature of lies. Agent: Elaine Markson: Markson Thoma Literary Agency.

June 1, 2012
Unger's latest offers a triumvirate of strong women pitted against a shared past and dangerous future. Birdie Heart loves Heart Island more than anything else, and that includes her family. She's tied to the island in a way that is nearly visceral; so much so that she fought her siblings to the point of estrangement to gain ownership of it when her parents died. Now, she and her husband, Joe Burke, host an annual gathering of family on the small island that is barely touched by modern conveniences. Only this year, no one really wants to go other than her grandchildren, the son and daughter of Birdie's daughter, Kate. With her brother, Theo, bowing out, dutiful daughter Kate proceeds with plans to take the kids to the island, but last-minute complications end up with her leaving her son and husband behind and taking only daughter Chelsea and her friend, Lulu. Independent of their preparations, Emily, a waitress at the Blue Hen, waits tables and returns home to worthless boyfriend, Dean, a druggie and thief who struggles to control Emily and work as little as possible. After causing a rift between Emily and her mother, Martha, Dean and a very dangerous associate of his hatch plans to rob the Blue Hen and take Emily along for the ride. Emily, seemingly incapable of telling Dean "no," goes along with his plans and the two are caught up in a terrible sequence of events that lead them on a collision course with Birdie and the girls. Unger is a master at building characters that crackle with personality and purpose, and the women in this novel are no exception. Birdie, unhappy with everything in her life, is particularly well-drawn, but the character of Emily remains a puzzle. Unger undoubtedly meant for Emily to come across as sympathetic. Everyone who encounters her feels inexplicably sorry for her, but in the long run, she's an unlikable young woman who makes terrible life-altering choices. Unger knows how to write a taut thriller, but one improbable character keeps this book from being extraordinary.

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March 15, 2012

Birdie Burke, a harsh, difficult woman, invites her relatives for a vacation at the family's property, Heart Island. This secluded spot in the Adirondacks is the backdrop for a tale of family intrigue and dark secrets, as the stories of three women unfold: Birdie, her daughter Kate, and the sad and confused Emily, who has been drawn into a maelstrom of crime and emotional torment through her relationship with her very troubled boyfriend. As Kate fights to cope with her mother's controlling personality, her own daughter, Chelsea, suffers from a painful lack of self-confidence and falls for a young man she knows only online. VERDICT In Unger's (Darkness, My Old Friend; Fragile) latest engrossing thriller, the author's in-depth portraits of three different women searching for answers to their own set of difficulties will captivate fans of mystery and psychological suspense. This is one of Unger's best novels yet.--Linda Oliver, MLIS, Colorado Springs

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 15, 2012
Unger is back to the excellent form of her first two novels in this half family saga (part 1) and half high-adrenaline thriller (part 2). Kate, mother of two, understands just how lucky she is to have met and married Sean, a real-estate agent with a big heart and a large capacity for love. These qualities were sorely missing in her first marriage, let alone in her upbringing, led by her cold and judgmental mother, Birdie Burke. Emily is a young woman just starting out, but it seems she's destined to make bad decisions. Her boyfriend, Dean, had shown such promisehandsome, good construction job, dreams for their futurebut has since lost his job and now mixes with a bad crowd. What joins these two apparently unrelated stories is the mysterious Heart Island, a small, private enclave owned by Birdie's family for years. The island is both beloved and feared, holding wonderful memories as well as frightening ghost stories for Kate, her siblings, and even Birdie, who is so at one with the island that she refuses to leave it, even as it appears to be sucking the life out of her. Unger delivers compelling, fully drawn characters while at the same time putting the thrill in thriller. A first-class page-turner. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Unger's novels have sold more than one-million copies in the U.S. and have been translated into 21 languages; her latest, promoted heavily to librarians and book groups, will only add to those numbers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)