all pride is gone, all expectation, all faith, all desire. I own that moment. It belongs to me. That's when I hear the sound. The sound of a mind breaking.
It's not a loud crack like when bones shatter or a spine fractures of a skull collapses. And it's not something soft and wet like a heart breaking. It's a sound that makes you wonder how much pain a person can endure; a sound that shatters memories and lets the past leak into the present; a sound so high that only the hounds of hell can hear it.
Can you hear it? Someone is curled up in a tiny ball crying softly into an endless night.
Download the first chapter of Shatter• Winner of the 2008 Ned Kelly Award
• Shortlisted for the 2008 CWA Steel Dagger
• Shortlisted for the ITV3 Breakthrough Thriller
• Shortlisted for South Africa's Boeke Prize
'Gideon Tyler, the deranged villain of this exceptional suspense novel, is a devil so persuasive he's able to talk his victims into killing themselves. His opposite number, psychologist Joe O'Loughlin, must match wits with Tyler to save his wife and child from deaths almost too horrible to contemplate. Don't get into the second half of this book before that Green Day concert, or you'll end up staying home to see how it all comes out.
'Dark, deep and brooding; everything a psychological thriller should be. A frightening situation brings crime uncomfortably close to home.’
'SHATTER is a gripping journey into the weaknesses and strengths of the human psyche, a story of humanity and inhumanity - and of how one can become the other… [It] will have you turning the pages compulsively, desperate to get to the end, but not daring to miss a word.'
'Robotham is a fine storyteller and his characters, including the hard-bitten detective Veronica Cray, are captivating.'
'The reader is drawn inexorably into the story because the characters are very convincing as real people in a tragic situation...genuinely terrifying.'
'It's a clever novel by a very talented storyteller.'
'Michael Robotham's outstanding debut THE SUSPECT was so inventive and raw it caused a tremor of excitement among thriller fans. Now again he proves he is becoming a master at making the earth move.'
'This is Robotham's fourth and best psychological thriller, proving what a home grown talent he is.'
'SHATTER is psychological suspense at its finest.'
Even the sharpest readers may not anticipate all of the plot’s agile switchbacks or foresee the chilling climax.'
'Robotham is a fine storyteller and his characters, including hard-bitten detective Veronica Cray, are captivating.'
'Fast paced and exciting, like riding in a car spinning out of control, this is a great book.'
'It's unusual to find a book that balances equal measures of nuanced character development and pulse-pounding plot. Shatter pulls it off brilliantly.'
'Thematically complex, artfully structured, beautifully written and observed, SHATTER confirms Robotham's place in the front row of crime.'
'Nail-biting suspense of the highest order.'
'My tip for 2008 is Michael Robotham's SHATTER...it's superb, powerful stuff.'
'SHATTER is a highly contemporary, yet strangely gothic story that grips you and keeps you super-glued to those rapidly turning pages. Robotham is not merely a name to watch out for in the future, he is a dazzling and established name to look for right now.'
'As pleasurably upsetting as anything I've read...Robotham's style inhabits the realm of ideas where writerly cadence, sociological consequence and, above all, eventful narrative, coalesce into wonderfully dense detailed novels of place and character. He is simply one of the most pleasing crime writers to read.'
'[a] frightening, compelling investigation into the darker reaches of the mind...and one which raises the vexatious issue of society's responsibility for the monsters it creates...'
'Nailbiting suspense of the highest order.'
'Michael Robotham delivers another gem, confirming his growing reputation - not for nothing are his sales in the Netherlands totallying more than 200,000 copies sold.'
'If you want a book that keeps you on the edge of your seat, trembling and shaking, then read SHATTER. It is Robotham's best book so far and will be difficult for him to surpass.'
'This is a novel with a crocodile grip. Sometimes the tension is too much and you pause. Otherwise you cannot put it down.''
'Brilliant.'
'SHATTER is without a doubt, from first to last, a book to cherish…the author whips the reaer along at breakneck pace to places they would rather not be on almost every page. SHATTER is truly exhilarating stuff…'
'Other authors have penned good vs evil novels. Shatter is one of the finest.'
