Broken Glass

Chances are every life, even that of social worker Sam, has something in its growing-up background that shouldn't have happened. This comes back to haunt him in a low-key, believable, sparely-written book that starts with a high school 25th reunion. There are no cliché characters or predictable plot twists here as we follow the events that occur after high school friends reunite. The author lulls you with details of Sam's rather mundane life, and then socks you with moments of high drama which are described vividly and skillfully. Yes, you can put the book down, but you will jolly well pick it up again because you need to know how Sam fares and you certainly need to know who done it. It is a pleasure to read a book where the telling of the tale never calls attention to itself. Such invisible writing is difficult to do although Weyman Jones makes it look easy.

This tale of young friendship, threatened 25 years after an initiation rite goes tragically wrong, quickly becomes a humdinger of a mystery with all the right ingredients -- trust and perfidy, suspicion and accusation, supposition and logic, violence and murder, with clues strewn along the way which do nothing to spoil the surprise ending. Weyman Jones has strayed somewhat from his roots as the author of young-adult novels -- and has pulled it off. A great read.

I've read all three of Jones' books. They get better all the time. I found the characters credible, the pace kept moving, and a lot happened in not too many pages. I was surprised to find that I could imagine this on the stage as well as on the silver screen. It impresses me how completely Jones seems to command each of the different cultures in his stories--Indian, Treasure hunters, and LI suburbia with a social work slant. This was a good length for a mystery story--too many of them are too long these days.

In Suffolk County, New York twenty-five years ago, a high school junior Freddy fell from the fire escape of the Falcon Nest Hotel during a "club" initiation. Freddy remained in a coma for a few years as his family fell apart in their grief before Freddy finally died. Over the years though she married and divorced one of them, Freddy's sister Angela suspects four people were involved in the incident though none of them were seemingly impacted by it as her family was. At a high school reunion she informs Michael, Sam, Jock and Hap that she is suing them in the wrongful death of her sibling. Stunned, social worker Sam is further dismayed when Michael's son Mike is caught in a stairwell with an underage client; instead of filing the report he allows history to repeat itself by hiding the truth. However, when someone murders Angela, Sam with the help of his girlfriend, concludes he must face up to his role in the tragedy confronting his three friends. BROKEN GLASS is an intriguing crime thriller starring a beleaguered protagonist struggling with doing the right thing as for the second time in his life, loyalty to his friends comes in conflict with what he knows he needs to do. The terrific ensemble brings depth then and now, but the conscience and center of the tale is Sam. His dilemmas as a teen and as an adult make for a fine moral thriller, which asks when does one blows the whistle on a friend, family member, etc. Harriet Klausner