The Art of Breaking Glass

Written in 1997, parts of The Art of Breaking Glass have already not aged well; things that were cutting edge technology back then have outlived their usefulness and the explosion of CSIs will have people questioning why some basic protocols are not followed. That's how fast it moves now.

But these little jarring bits aside, Hall's characters and plot do a lot to save the story. When you start with a man who has broken into a wealthy man's home to steal information and plant a bomb for unknown reasons but is on the verge of getting caught, lesser books would have him fight his way out due to super-secret training received at the feet of Himalayan Ninja Nuns. Our guy, Bill, runs to the basement to get naked and take a razor to himself so show more he can feign a psychotic episode that will get him taken to Bellevue. There, he will meet Sharon, a nurse who will take to him as a person and have her own set of problems.

This empathy will lead to explosions. And a lot of confusion over who the good guys and the bad guys may or may not be. And this is what makes a thriller a lot more fun - when we aren't looking at obvious black and white hats...even up to the very last sentence of the book.

One other note:

The only other caution I'll toss out is that this does take place in New York and it does deal with domestic terrorism. Written in 1997, it was just a plot point. I realize that there are those that would prefer to know this information without being surprised by it in the book because it is no longer 1997. show less

This book managed to make New York City interesting and even lovable to me - a feat which I had not thought possible.

The ending wasn't as well-glued-together as it should have been, so getting there was more than half the fun, but that was quite sufficient. A great pleasure of this and of Matthew Hall's first novel, Nightmare Logic, is that he clearly gets sheer simple enjoyment out of having a good mind.

Bill Kaiser is a man motivated by social justice. He also possesses a unique set of skills from computer knowledge to chemistry and explosives. There is also a question of his sanity.

Bill has a particular love for the Carnegie-Hayden building in New York.
This was one of his favorite places growing up and one that his mother said was meant to be for the people. Now there is a chance it could be turned into a for profit prison.

Bill is caught breaking into an exclusive building and poses as insane, being naked and cutting himself.

He's taken to Bellevue Hosp. psych unit and evaluated by RN Sharon Blautner. She works with Bill and sees many good qualities but when he's transferred to a police psych unit, she unwittingly helps him escape. show more After that, her life is never the same.

This is a finely crafted story with sympathetic characters, good pacing and excellent descriptions of New York and the building of the Carnegie-Hayden building. show less

A man pretending to be psychotic becomes obsessed with a psychiatric nurse. Contains sexual content, violence and language.