Review: THE SHATTER POINT by Jon O'Bergh

Everyone has a breaking point. So begins Jon O'Bergh's suspenseful novel, The Shatter Point, an intriguing study of contemporary society wrapped inside a ghost story that is wrapped inside in a thriller. The novel confronts issues such as Internet celebrity, social media culture, and extreme thrills. But it also explores timeless issues of love, loss, and the ways in which we are haunted by our pasts.

Set in Southern California's Orange County and historic Pasadena, the plot follows two parallel sets of characters whose lives eventually intersect. The past intrudes in unwelcome ways for each character. Donna remains troubled by a previous marriage that turned sour when the husband became abusive. Her son Billy fears that he inherited his father's propensity toward violence. Feelings of inadequacy haunt Asher from his years being bullied. Ruth hides a series of traumatic incidents from her youth. Jada's craving for stimulation leads eventually to disaster.

Much more than just a ghost story, the novel is a study of individuals under stress. The curious reader will discover different layers of reality versus fiction within the book. In a world haunted by the ghosts of the past--where reality is manufactured for popular consumption--how do we know what is real and what is fake, what is true and what is imagined? After the shatter point, the horror will become all too real. 

 

 

 

My review: "Everyone has a breaking point." Beware of Horror Place―the most shocking extreme haunt in the world.

Welcome to Horror Place, a place of humiliating torture if you go by the video of that poor girl.

Story follows the lives of several characters. Jada and Asher are a young couple that couldn't be more different; Ruth is an aging widow battling feelings of loss and regret; and Phil and Donna Woods, owners of Horror Place. The reader delves deep into the psyche of these characters. For instance, Asher has always been the quiet loner and has displayed violent tendencies in retaliation to his abuse from bullies. Interesting enough, the lives of these characters intersect in subtle and intricate ways; however, they also ripple out to other lesser-known characters, which I thought might've been unnecessary.

A good portion is on the construction and development of Horror Place. I sort of thought that the place already existed, so there was a little confusion there. In actuality, the scariness doesn't really have much to do with Horror Place at all; instead, it's on the shatter point of the characters―they're "snap" moment. There was some definitive potential there.

Well-versed and impeccably detailed. In fact, I can almost say it's too detailed. I mean, it really goes deep into the lives and background of each primary, secondary, and tertiary character―damn near everyone actually. I just thought that there were too many characters tightly clustered together in this tiny, compact novelette of seven lengthy chapters. It was almost hard to keep track.

I liked the historical significance and references to So Cal and the OC. After all, I'm a Cali girl myself. The book is enriched with historical facts, which may have taken away from the story a little. The author's exploration of psychological effects of emotional stress and turmoil was surely intriguing, and there were some suspenseful moments; however, it wasn't quite what I was expecting.

My rating: 3 stars