Customer Reviews

Delusion

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the first book by Peter Abrahams that I have read. It intertwines the lives of a convict and the woman who put him behind bars for the murder of her husband. The book drags on at the beginning, but quickly picks up and becomes a page-turning suspense novel. I was very disappointed by the ending as it did not seem to resolve the conflict well. Also sometimes Abraham's choice of wording seems to be fragmented.

In the end you wind up disappointed. (At least I did)

Friendship can lead to all kinds of results, as this suspense novel proves. Moreover, the consequences can not only be unanticipated, but lead to more complications than the human mind can conceive. But this author does a pretty good job of conjuring up as many as he can think of.

About 20 years before the story takes place, Nell Jarreau was strolling along the bayou with her boyfriend when they were attacked by a masked man demanding money. The boyfriend was then knifed and murdered. Nell kicked the attacker and the mask fell for a moment, giving her a glimpse of the man's face. Based on her ID, a man was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. A year later, she married one of the detectives, who, as the story is told, is now the Chief of Police, both apparently living happily until a telephone call changes everything.

As a result of hurricane damage, a tape is found exonerating the apparently falsely incarcerated convict. Nell feels guilty about having sent an innocent man to prison, but her memory of the attack is at best hazy, and she goes about attempting to investigate the matter. She meets with the released man, tries hypnosis and attempts to find the truth. Before the reader can reach the end of this well-paced novel, there is a dearth of clues pointing one to a logical conclusion. Yet the ending is consistent with the single earlier clue, and the characterizations are finely tuned. A well-written tale, and one which is recommended.

I've read 14 of Abraham's 17 books. They range from unbelievably perfect to just so-so...but this book? What happened?

When it was released, I read some pretty negative reviews --- the Publisher's Weekly review was particularly surprising. Sadly, having just finished this book, I would have to concur with them.

Almost every positive element of the usual PA suspenser is not here. The characters are flat and unappealing: the heroine has such a flat, nondescript affect it's hard to conjure up any feelings (like or dislike) for her; the "villain," unjustly accused (or not) con Alvin DuPree is a mix of the over-the-top verbosely irritating simpleton who ruined "Crying Wolf" and a pastiche of cliches of other jailbirds from other, better PA books; the only character who is remotly interesting is reporter Lee Ann Bonner, and any uniquely human foibles she could espouse are quickly sucked up and obliterated by her "girl-detective-cum-narrator" nonstop train of over-expository verbiage.

And then there's the plot, which creaks with the subtlety of a rapidly collapsing barn door. It's detours are almost laughably telegraphed pages in advance and the ending is not only unbelievable (a common occurance sometimes in PA's books) but ALSO horribly unsatisfying (something that never occurs, until now).

Add to this that the heroine and her cop husband have the exact conversation about 25 times in the course of 200 pages:

"Clay, what if I fingered the wrong man?"

"You didn't."

"I think I did."

"You DIDN'T!" Clay storms out.

Only in the last third of the book do things speed up, and then only slightly.

Peter, you need some fresh ideas. You're a wonderfully talented writer, but "Delusion?" Come on, you're not even trying here.

Nell Jarreau's geologist fiancé was murdered on a summer night in Louisiana as they were walking. Her eyewitness identification of Alvin Dupree resulted in a life sentence for the killer. Nell married the lead detective on the case; they raised her daughter and led an idyllic life for nearly 20 years until a hurricane struck. During the cleanup, new evidence surfaced that ultimately proved Dupree innocent. He was released from prison and Nell's world began coming apart.

Nell wonders if she made a mistake. Is this new evidence credible? Who is telling the truth? Is the reporter lying to write a sensational story? The suspense level in this book builds and builds as Nell discovers inconsistencies and possible alternate theories. The man who she believes killed her fiancé is free, her husband is uncommunicative and angry, and her college student daughter, once open and chatty, is now closed and sullen, demanding information about her birth father's life. The plot thickens, new clues surface, new motivations are uncovered and the twists and turns continue.

Those of us who love genre fiction, particularly suspense and thriller titles, come to a novel with a certain set of expectations. Some of these are carried unconsciously, like the house keys we place in our pockets or purses as we multitask through a few other necessary chores. We don't think about them until they're absent; the effect is then disconcerting.

Peter Abrahams is one of those disconcerting craftsmen who makes it a practice to color outside of the lines, to rearrange the furniture in the middle of the night so that toes are stubbed. What he does --- and in some ways better than anyone else --- is drag the fictional world kicking and screaming just a bit closer to our own world, where too often we wonder about our friend, our neighbor, why the heck he did that, and never get an answer.

Abrahams sets a new bar for himself in DELUSION, set in Belle Ville, a fictitious southern Louisiana community (and I think modeled roughly after the Northshore area, for those seeking a more specific reference point) that is recovering from a deadly and devastating hurricane. This storm is a metaphor throughout the book, one that grows in importance, even in its aftermath, as the story progresses.

Nell Jarreau is at the center of a domestic hurricane, which has been calm, placid, even happy, though born out of tumult. Two decades prior to the primary events of DELUSION, Nell was engaged to Johnny Blanton, a geology major whose life was abruptly cut short in front of Nell when he was viciously murdered. Nell's eyewitness testimony was instrumental in convicting Alvin DuPree (later to become known as "Pirate"). Nell's life gradually regained some normalcy. Pregnant with Blanton's child at the time of the killing, she gave birth to a daughter whom she named Norah and ultimately married Clay, the police detective who investigated Blanton's murder.

Nell's life is turned upside down, however, when new evidence is discovered that exonerates DuPree and results in his release from prison. Innocence notwithstanding, DuPree is a complex and frightening man; how much of his dark side was wrought in prison, and prior thereto, we never really learn (how would one quantify it, in any event?). He feels, not unreasonably, that he is owed something, but it is not necessarily money. When DuPree returns, everyone --- both within the novel and without --- waits for the explosions.

The question in DELUSION looms: If DuPree did not murder Blanton, then who did? And why? The obvious answers are not so obvious; and as they are slowly revealed, one by one, Nell and Clay's marriage, like the case against DuPree, begins to quietly disintegrate. Nell is unable to let the matter lie, even as those around her, including her husband, quietly warn her away. The ultimate answers are layered, complex and, of course, troubling.

The conclusion is quietly shocking, especially when one considers the potential implications of them in all of their glory. Abrahams is well-acquainted with the complexities and unpredictability of human nature and emotions. DELUSION continues his exploration into those dark and uncharted waters.

Nell Jarreau is a 30-something woman with what appears to be a storybook life: a loving, passionate marriage; a daughter on the college track, a beautiful home and a fulfilling career. Her life begins to unravel in the aftermath of a locally devastating hurricane when evidence is uncovered in a twenty-year-old murder case in which she was the primary witness for the prosecution.

It is fascinating to watch Nell's attempts to deny, yet absorb, the damning facts that reveal themselves in this suspenseful novel. The author's insight into the mind of the falsely-convicted yet not innocent defendant is compelling. And the inner tension of Nell's husband due to the part he has played in the false conviction comes through without need for sidebars or explanations.

I picked this book up because it was the first one on the shelf in the New Book section and don't have a moment's regret.

Pirate aka Alvin DuPree has been in prison 20 years for murder. He lost an eye in prison and has taken to reading the Bible especially the story of Job. A young female lawyer who is a member of a justice group that find wrongfully convicted felons and help them get a new trial comes to see Pirate. A terrible hurricane - Bernadine - has devastated the town of Belle Ville and now a security tape from a liquor store across town from where the murder took place proves that Alvin DuPree was not the killer. He was accused of stabbing Johnny Blanton, a geologist, in the course of a robbery. Johnny's fiancée Nell was there and was the eyewitness who identified in a lineup and in court Alvin DuPree as the assailant.

Nell is married to Cole Jarreau who was the lead detective on the case and is now Chief of Police in Belle Ville. They got to know one another through the case and a year later dated and then married. Cole adopted Nell's daughter Norah whom she was pregnant with when Johnny was killed. There are also a couple of brothers who are very rich with one the mayor of the town (Kirk) and the other owner of a huge corporation. How Norah's depression and anger along with Nell's guilt and Cole's seeming nonchalance all come together with Alvin DuPree's release from prison and the search by some for the real killer is an interesting story.

The two main things that bothered me was that none of the characters were very likable and had way too many flaws. Also there was a lack of suspense with the reader (at least I did) fairly easily guessing who the real killer is. Nevertheless, a nice read especially for summer!

20 years ago Nell and her boyfriend Johnny were out walking and talking under the full moon. In the shadows lurks a person bent on robbery, or so they thought. Johnny is killed in what we are to beleive is a botched robbery attempt, and later come to find it was so much more. Nell was able to see enough of the murderers face; enough so that her eyewitness testimony sends Alvin "Pirate" DuPree to jail for a good long time.

Flash forward 20 years and the events of that night and the trial start to unravel. New information is found forcing the release of "Pirate" onto the community.

And here is also where this book starts to fall apart for me. I kept waiting (in vain) for the build up of suspense; since that's the genre this book is published under, and it never came!!! Nell is now married to Clay Jarreau,the detective that helped crack the case, who is now the Chief of Police of the very same community where the crime took place. Nell is of course, devastated that this criminal is out of jail. And in time her guilt at now knowing her testimony put the wrong man behind bars eats at her...but not in a way that I can sympathize with. And isn't it important that we have sympathetic feelings for at least one of these main characters?

Add to this mix is her daughter Norah, who has come home unexpectedly from school. (and quite frankly Norah is a whining, witchy, dishonest, baby in a nineteen year old body) We also meet a very sneaky, manipulative reporter, Lee Ann, who quite frankly does get her "just desserts", Kirk and Duke Bastien and a whole bunch of other assorted characters who just seem to be in the book as filler, although they might have been meant as attempts at red herrings. It felt more to me like he (the author) had to add some pages to round out the story.

At any rate, the plot finally comes together and suspense kicks in the last 30 pages (of a 300 page novel). The characters are for the most part; flat, lifeless,ineffectual and mostly shrewish (especially Nell) the dialogue is unbelievable and very abrupt, the actions of the characters make little sense at times.

The story was boring, forced, erratic and left us too many times scratching our head and muttering, "why was that part needed?".

All in all a mildly suspenseful read with no real "nail biting, smack yourself on the head with excitement while exclaiming - I never saw that one coming" moments. It should have been under the category Mysteries.

Maybe the Katrina catastrophe is too vast to be turned so easily into the mere backstory for a thriller plot, not this soon. I get it that Bernadine equals Katrina, Belle Ville equals New Orleans, and maybe there were some liability issues that led to these name changes, but they forced the novel into a fakey mode it never really gets out of.

I yield to no one in my admiration for Peter Abrahams, and his new Ingrid Levin Hill book is among the best he's ever written, but DELUSION just never takes fire. Nell is a conflicted character at best, and why does Abrahams lay such stress on her museum/curatorial background if none of it is going to come up later in the story? It's ironic that a woman trained to see things should get something wrong so badly, but Abrahams never points this up, in fact, by the middle of the story you realize that no one is gaslighting Nell, she really did mis-identify the wrong man, and blaming somebody else doesn't take her off the hook.

As for the subplot of Norah, the horrid Lindsay Lohan type daughter, well, as other reviewers have noted, Norah is unsalvageable. Ok, Abrahams, we get that you're doing a postmodern update of Hamlet. But if you want a good modern suspense re-do of HAMLET, you should have taken notes on Charlotte Armstrong's 1960 novel A LITTLE LESS THAN KIND, for it does everything you have tried to do, but far better, and nearly 50 years ago. And also you could have hired a copy editor who could have counted for you the number of times you used the phrase "tiny weapon" in regards to Pirate's eye socket, and given the editor a bonus for eliminating at least half of them because it's ungodly bad.

Better luck next time because, you are a genius and my fan worship will never end, you have already proven yourself over and over, America's greatest suspense writer, and in France you'd be a legend.

This one starts slow but I've read many Peter Abrahams books and I know I like his writing so I stuck with it and it was worth it. By the end I was gasping out loud. Maybe not his absolute best but definitely worth reading :)