Shatter

An unexpected pregnancy sparks a relationship in McCarthy’s fourth True Believers novel (after Believe), but the resultant trappings of melodrama fail to bring the story to life. College student Kylie Warner, heartbroken over her boyfriend’s infidelity with her best friend, has a one-night stand with her chemistry tutor, Jonathon “Darwin” Kadisch. During her subsequent pregnancy, they bond over her ex’s attempts to get her back, hyperemesis, and the work and worry of juggling school and baby-planning for both of them. Kylie and Darwin are both such practical, committed, stable people that even the best efforts of a genre-standard, one-dimensional villain can’t pull them apart long enough to generate real conflict. The characters are well depicted, but the clichéd obstacles in their way make the story forgettable and shapeless. (Sept.)