Dismantled: A Novel

Jennifer McMahon

Jun 2009 · Sold by Harper Collins

About this ebook

“An eerie and gripping tale of suspense….A triumph.”
—Boston Globe

A stunning and chilling thriller from the author of the New York Times bestseller Island of Lost Girls that further burnishes her reputation as "One of the brightest new stars of literary suspense" (Los Angeles Times online). 

When Henry, Tess, Winnie, and Suz form the Compassionate Dismantlers in college, the first rule of their manifesto is, "To understand the nature of a thing, it must be taken apart." But their penchant for acts of meaningful vandalism and elaborate, often dangerous pranks results in Suz's death in the woods of Vermont—a tragedy the surviving Dismantlers decide to cover up.

Nearly a decade later, Henry and Tess are desperate to forget, but their guilt isn't ready to let them go. When a mysterious Dismantler-style postcard drives a past prank victim to suicide, it sets off a chain of terrifying events that threatens to tear apart their world and engulf their inquisitive nine-year-old daughter, Emma. Is there someone who wants to reveal their secrets? Or is it possible Suz has found a way to enact revenge?

Full of white-knuckle tension with deeply human characters caught in circumstances beyond their control, Jennifer McMahon's enthralling story proves that she is a master at weaving the fear of the supernatural with the stark realities of life.

Ratings and reviews

Oh Dismantled, where to begin with this one, so many words, amazing, captivating, disturbing, heart pounding… This was one of my first Suspense/Thriller books that I have ever read and well it did not disappoint, but it did set the bar incredibly high. From the start of the first page up until the last you are left guessing, hoping and not sleeping! The writing is beautiful and the characters were developed and deep, which is something I have to have when reading, if the characters fall flat then…the book goes with it. One thing that ALMOST stopped me from reading this was the number of comments around the tense the book was written in. While typically when a book flips from present to past back to present, and then oh back again, I want to rip my hair out. But, Jennifer McMahon did it with such fluid transition in her writing that without it I feel like the whole tone of the book would have been wrong. Overall, a TOTAL “must read” and a “will read again!” This was my first Jennifer McMahon read and I now have a number of her works on my “to-read” list.

Loved this book. Great story..kept me hooked. I didn't want to put it down

Very good

About the author

Jennifer McMahon is the author of Dismantled, the New York Times bestseller Island of Lost Girls, and the breakout debut novel Promise Not to Tell. She lives in Vermont with her partner, Drea, and their daughter, Zella.