Broken

by Daniel Clay

Book Overview

Until that fateful afternoon, Skunk Cunningham had been a normal little girl, playing on the curb in front of her house. Rick Buck-ley had been a normal geeky teen-ager, hosing off his brand-new car. Bob Oswald had been a normal sociopathic single father of five slutty daughters, charging furiously down the side-walk. Then Bob was beating Rick to a bloody pulp, right there in the Buckleys' driveway, and life on Drummond Square was never the same...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061561045
• ISBN13: 9780061561047
• Release Date: September 2008
• Publisher: Ecco Press
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

REALLY WORTH A 4.5 STAR RATING. Thought provoking!!!

If you plan to read this book, clear your schedule because you won't want to do anything else until it's done. It grips you immediately. Skunk Cunningham 11yrs old lives with her father, brother and nanny. Skunk watches neighbour bully Bob Oswald batter teenager Rick Buckley. When Ricks parents ring the police to report the beating. Bob turns the story around and reports to the police that the 19 years old Buckley raped his thirteen year old daughter Susan. No one messes with one of Oswald's five daughters as the solo parent he is not concerned with the truth. In this case the police Doctor confirms that Susan is a virgin. Charges were dropped. Skunk avoids the Oswald girls like they have the plague they demand money from Skunk or they will bash her up. Skunk pays as they are as insane and violent as their dad. Meanwhile Rick is afraid to go outside because he knows Bob Oswald will attack him again. So he stays in his bedroom and even with all his parents begging for him to join them for meals and to talk to them he stays in his room. But he is slowly going mad.

Excellent book not for the feint of heart

I was so engrossed by this book that I stayed up until 3am to finish it and had to drag myself to work that morning. It is a well-written, but trying story of a small cul-de-sac of families who are all damaged by a troubled family and its fetid tentacles. No one escapes this book unscathed, and some don't escape at all. "Broken" had an interesting dichotomy for me as I couldn't put it down, but the story weighed heavy on my heart. I stayed up late the last night because I was obsessed with the story, but also wasn't sure I could take another night entrenched in such a sad story. If you can handle it, you'll love it.

Worth the sacrificed sleep!

At first I was a little skeptical about the book because of how similar it seemed with To Kill a Mockingbird (Skunk and Jed?). However, a quarter of the way through it was very apparent that the book was going to take a path of its own (and not for the worse!). This book is the first book in a long time that I have't been able to put down. Definitely worth the sacrificed sleep!

You've Gotta Read This Book

If you want to read a riveting book that's reminiscent of To Kill A Mockingbird, then get a copy of this book. I picked it up on a short flight to Toronto and I was nearly finished before the plane landed. Since then, I passed it onto my sister. She couldn't put it down. This is a great debut novel and I can't wait to read Daniel Clay's next book!

dark bleak character study

In Southampton eleven year old Skunk Cunningham lives with her father, brother and au pair. Skunk watches bully Bob Oswald batter teenager Rick Buckley; a few minutes after beating Rick up badly, Bob reports to the cops that the nineteen years old Buckley raped his thirteen year old daughter Susan. No one messes with one of Oswald's five daughters as the patriarch is not concerned with the truth; in this case the police Dr. Mortimer affirms Susan is a virgin. Charges were dropped. Skunk avoids the Oswald girls like they have the plague as they are as insane and violent as their dad. Meanwhile Rick is afraid to go outside because he knows Oswald is not through with pummeling him. Finally unable to remain self incarcerated as he is going crazy, Rick reenters society looking for someone to beat up. Although the plot is skeletal, this is a dark bleak character study. The Oswald brood is a fascinating family as Bob's argument that Rick harmed his daughter is based on fear she overtly displays; he is unable to take responsibility that her fear is of him. However, it is the metamorphosis of Rick from frightened shadow to avenger against those he feels affronted him like the female his age who told him his pecker was microscopic as well as the Oswalds. Not for everyone as the desolation and hopelessness oozes throughout, fans who appreciate the dark side of human interactivity will want to read aptly titled BROKEN. Harriet Klausner