Nog found Shar's sudden burst of brittle laughter surprising.

She laughed at some silly things Chris and I said, and it was laughter brittle and hard, not at all her kind of laugh.

Echoing off the tile walls, the sizzle-splash of the falling water sounded like the hissing of serpents and the brittle laughter of strange children.

Not brittle and mad laughter, as Micky might have expected.

There was brittle laughter.

She was virtually weeping with brittle laughter.

A burst of brittle, feminine laughter met his arrival, and he goggled at the beautiful woman curled up in the center of a large round bed.

But it was brittle laughter.

Then she laughed, bright, brittle laughter.

An ugly cackle of brittle laughter welled up in his throat.