PUBLICATION DATE: MAY 25, 2010

aila lived a charmed life.  She had a loving family, was wealthy, and strikingly beautiful, but at the age of fifteen, one night changed everything.  That one defining moment instigated a string of choices that led to her current predicament.  Six months ago she shot a man and fled her life as a call girl in Chicago to begin anew in Greenville, South Carolina.  Unfortunately, her past caught up with her.  The brother of the man she shot wants a lot of money to compensate for his loss.  Though her family is capable and willing to pay the money, she refused to call them believing she can disappear again.

Meanwhile Laila’s brother, Lex, has learned she’s in trouble.  He doesn’t know exactly what has happened or even where she is, simply that he needs to find her and try to help her.  His search eventually leads him to the only friend Laila has made during the six months in her new home, a co-worker, Kyle.  Both are determined to help her and both are willing to risk their lives for her, but the question remains why?  In a powerfully gripping, intense story, supernatural elements emerge as both sides fight for Laila.

It is early in the year, but Broken is definitely going to be in my top ten favorites for 2010.  It’s been awhile since I’ve read a book this intriguing, suspenseful, and haunting.  It is a fantastic story and one that has earned Thrasher a new fan.

There is a feel to this story from the beginning that things are just a little off.  There is a mystery that surrounds Laila and Thrasher does a great job of revealing it a little bit at a time.  We never find out the complete story, but what we do find out about her life is fascinating.  Her story is dark and brooding, filled with violence and despair.  This is not a happy story.  While it does offer hope, the majority is anything but hopeful.  It has an oppressive atmosphere and succeeds in helping the reader to feel Laila’s isolation and hopelessness.  Being a Christian for so long, it’s often times hard to remember what it’s like to be without God, to be without hope. Broken immerses the reader into those feelings of loneliness and separation from God with masterful writing and raw emotion.

Broken has a wonderful array of characters, but the best is Laila.  There is little reason for the reader to like her.  She’s beautiful, but cold.  She has a wonderful guy ready to win her love, but she can’t overcome her fears and doubts.  She had the opportunity to live a charmed life and fled.  Underneath her choices and attitude though, we get a touching look at this totally broken young lady.  By seeing Laila’s life, the reader gets a better grasp of the chain of events that can lead to personal devastation and hopelessness.  This is a fictional story, obviously, but much of it is true.  That’s what makes this story powerful.  Fiction grounded in a harsh cold reality that many live in and through.  When Thrasher created Laila, he made a broken young lady, devoid of hope, that’s not too difficult to find in the real world.

From beginning to end Broken is a gripping story.  The characters are alive, the writing is wonderful, and the story excellent.  The themes are modern and relevant.  The action is intense, the setting dark and haunting.  The supernatural and spiritual elements were worked into the story well and enhanced the book.  I really can’t say enough about Broken—it is absolutely fantastic.