Author:  Paula Treick DeBoard          
Publisher:  MIRA
Genre:  Adult Fiction
Source:  Harlequin MIRA

Publication Date:  October 28, 2014

Goodreads:  From the author of publishing sensation The Mourning Hours comes a powerful new novel that explores every parent’s worst nightmare.

The Kaufmans have always considered themselves a normal, happy family. Curtis is a physics teacher at a local high school. His wife, Kathleen, restores furniture for upscale boutiques. Daniel is away at college on a prestigious music scholarship, and twelve-year-old Olivia is a happy-go-lucky kid whose biggest concern is passing her next math test.

And then comes the middle-of-the-night phone call that changes everything.Daniel has been killed in what the police are calling a freak accident, and the remaining Kaufmans are left to flounder in their grief. The anguish of Daniel’s death is isolating, and it’s not long before this once perfect family find themselves falling apart. As time passes and the wound refuses to heal, Curtis becomes obsessed with the idea of revenge, a growing mania that leads him to pack up his life and his anxious teenage daughter and set out on a collision course to right a wrong.

An emotionally charged novel, The Fragile World is a journey through America’s heartland and a family’s brightest and darkest moments, exploring the devastating pain of losing a child and the beauty of finding healing in unexpected ways.

Ope’s Opinion:  The beginning of the book grabbed my attention.  It made me want to keep reading.  It was a bit sad, but I wanted to see where the story was going to go.

The middle was a road trip that was very long and tedious.  There was too much detailed description with not enough really happening.  At one point the mother was looking for the father and she just happened to know where he was at each turn – it felt unrealistic.

The ending is not anything you could figure out or guess ahead of time.  The ending sort of frustrated me – can’t explain without giving too much away. The story was wrapped up at the end.

Rating:  Three Chairs – I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.