Shatter (novel)

Professor Joseph O'Loughlin (referred to as Joe throughout the novel) is tasked by the police with stopping a woman, Christine Wheeler, from committing suicide, only to fail. When Wheeler's teenage daughter appears onto his doorstep, she insists that her mother would not have jumped off a bridge as she did, for she was not suicidal and had a fear of heights. Haunted by his failure to save her and driven by a need to understand what caused her death, Joe searches for the truth, only to be caught up in a string of murders all while dealing with his own problems with Parkinson's disease and his marriage.

• Ned Kelly Awards for Crime Writing, Best Novel, 2008: winner[2]
• Crime Writers' Association (UK), The CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, Best Thriller, 2008: shortlisted[3]

Sue Turnbull, in The Age, was impressed with the novel: "Thematically complex, artfully structured, beautifully written and observed, Shatter confirms Robotham's place in the front row of crime."[4]

Reviewing the book in Dark Scribe magazine, Rick R. Reed compared the villain to Thomas Harris's Hannibal Lecter and went on: "Shatter really has it all when it comes to the thriller genre: it’s fast-paced, has uniquely and wonderfully-drawn characters, contains a great mystery at its center, and makes you want to read more from Michael Robotham."[5]