Worst book ever. I would give zero stars. Painful. ( )

Ooh, I forgot how much I liked this. ( )

This book really makes you feel an aching for the many people in this world that live this way. Everyone wants a family unit that will love you unconditionally and have your back. ( )

This book really makes you feel an aching for the many people in this world that live this way. Everyone wants a family unit that will love you unconditionally and have your back. ( )

In Half Broken Things by Morag Joss the psychological suspense builds slowly until it reaches a fever pitch by the end of the book. This is a story of three lonely and obviously slightly disturbed people, Jean, Michael and Steph who appear to find refuge when they come together. Jean is a house sitter and has been told that due to her age this is her last assignment, Michael is an unsuccessful petty thief and pregnant Steph is on the run from an abusive boyfriend. Living an illusion that they are family, they set up housekeeping in Walden Manor, the house that Jean is currently the caretaker of. Her assignment is from January to September and as they settle more and more into the house, the reader can see that these three have no intention of giving up their illusions when the rightful owners return.

Living off the manor’s provisions, caring for the garden and grounds, they ignore the outside world and bond together and revel in their new found security. Of course, the clock is ticking and the day of final reckoning is coming closer. Suddenly things start to go sideways with the arrival of an unexpected visitor.

Morag Joss allows things to advance slowly, but as the characters’ self-preservation becomes more extreme, she builds more and more tension into the story. This gradual unwinding of the fantasy life these three are living speeds up and eventually a chain of events is unleashed that brings the story to a dramatic close. Half Broken Things is a thought provoking story of moral complexity and I am a huge fan of this author as she displays a deftness with her characters and their situation that has the reader both appalled and yet with a small part that is rooting for them. ( )