A Fractured Truth

by Caroline Slate

In The House on Sprucewood Lane, Caroline Slate established herself as a distinctive new voice in psychological suspense, a writer who creates "characters so rounded the reader can hear their ragged... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743418905
• ISBN13: 9780743418904
• Release Date: July 2003
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 342 Pages
• Weight: 1.29 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Intelligent, well-plotted, suspenseful

This book deserves best-seller status. As other reviewers noted, heroine Grace Leshansky has just been released from prison, where she spent 7 years for killing her husband. As Grace begins to adjust to a new scaled-down life -- her husband had already destroyed her bank account -- she tries to learn more about her father, a gambler whose debts had led to frequent confrontations with "enforcers."Author Caroline Slate weaves multiple threads in and out, moving us from present to past effortlessly and skillfully. She keeps us interested in the characters . And, most important, she makes us care about characters whose flaws are both serious and obvious.Grace admits she can be gullible -- and she manages to attract some of the best liars on the planet. Grace's father George, a George Burns wannabe, has earned Grace's love and trust while providing an erratic but eventful home life. Each character embodies a level of complexity rarely found in heroes, let alone minor charactersi After reading the book through, I went back to re-trace some missing parts. All the strands were tied neatly, except for a mention of Grace's "stalking" her grandfatrher: it wasn't clear when she acually did find and follow him.I hope Slate writes more fiction like this one - and gets more publicity and fame, too! A wonderful, thought-provoking all around "good read."

Suspenseful and sinister thriller!

A Fractured Truth is one of the most suspenseful novels I have recently read. The dark language and building of tension kept me turning the pages until the wee hours of the night. I couldn't put it down. Grace Leshanky is convicted of murdering her husband. When she's released on parole, she has difficulty getting on with her life. As the story progresses, the reader gets a glimpse into Grace's life and the sort of marriage she and her husband had. What develops is a twisted story that takes the reader in a whole other direction. As said earlier, I couldn't put this book down. Are you in the bargain for an intelligent, sinister thriller? I recommended A Fractured Truth.

"A Light in the Blackout of 2003"

"A Fractured Truth" grabs your attention and keeps you engrossed. I lit candles and read "A Fractured Truth" from the night of August 14th through the night of August 15th. I almost forgot the heat, darkness and lack of water. I wonderful escape into a world of fascinating people.

A compelling work-A must read

After killing her husband, Grace Leshansky plea bargained a five to fifteen year sentence for manslaughter and was released after seven years. During her prison time she pushed all her friends away except for Sheilah Donlan who not only picked her up from the penitentiary but also got her an apartment and a job in her headhunting business. Now Grace has to adjust to life on the outside knowing that she killed the man who took away her livelihood, her father her and her self-respect.In the first weeks of freedom, Grace realizes her parole officer is a battered wife who hates her, makes friends with a con man like her dead husband, and reconnects with her first love Michael, whose father is indirectly responsible for the mess her life is in. Michael's dad, serving a life sentence, is also the only man who can help her find the father she wants to see one last time.Caroline Slate lives up to the promise she's shown in her debut novel THE HOUSE ON SPRUCEWOOD LANE with her second novel, a powerful work about a woman who is driven to murder, but somehow hooks the reader's sympathy even before all the facts are revealed. The protagonist's relationship with her friends, her lover, and her father ring so true that the audience will shed tears for a woman who was deliberately pushed to her limit by an expert manipulator and brilliant con man. A FRACTURED TRUTH is a compelling powerful story.Harriet Klausner

You want a 'gutsy' read? Look no further.

First, it was a splendid read. I couldn't put it down! The lead character, Grace, IS gutsy and fascinating.Her history (which enfolds slowly) engages the reader in the challenges of a complicated life.The plot takes it's time. Ms Slate's timing is so acute and accurate as to be intriguing in itself.It's a smooth read for all its complexity - I see an audience relishing each twist & turn.The major and minor characters are all distinct with solid and unique voices. Each is 'on his and her own' in any circumstance or confrontation.In all, it is a fine, fine book. As I closed the cover, I said, it should be a 'best seller.' That's the way I see it.