Delusion [Kindle Edition]

Peter Abrahams (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Mistaken identity and a decades-old coverup collide in this underwhelming Southern thriller from Abrahams (Nerve Damage) set in the wake of a Katrina-like hurricane. Nell Jarreau's eyewitness testimony sent Alvin Pirate DuPree to prison for the murder of her then-boyfriend, Johnny Blanton. Twenty years later, Nell is shocked when a mysterious tape surfaces that exonerates DuPree. Warned by her husband, Clay—the lead detective on Johnny's case and now the chief of police of Belle Ville, a New Orleans–like city—to leave the case alone, Nell is haunted by her role in imprisoning an innocent man. When an old reporter friend resurfaces to research the DuPree story, and Nell's daughter, Norah, who is Johnny's biological child, starts behaving oddly, Nell realizes she must uncover Johnny's true killer before her life spins out of control. Guilt or innocence aside, DuPree is a highly unlikable and inarticulate character, while Nell herself is too one-dimensional to carry the dramatic weight of the story. Fans of Abrahams's complex earlier novels will hope for a return to form next time. (Apr.)
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From Booklist

Abrahams, who has been dividing his time lately between literary thrillers for adults (his stock-in-trade for years) and his award-winning Echo Falls mystery series for kids (the second volume, Behind the Curtain, appeared in 2006), returns to the adult beat with this psychological suspense tale. Nell Jarreau considers her life to be perfect: a loving husband; a job she likes; a nice home; a beautiful daughter. But that wasn’t always so; her first love (and the father of her daughter) was gunned down 20 years before. Now, based on new evidence, the man imprisoned for the crime has been exonerated. “Pirate” is free. Could Nell’s identification all those years ago have been wrong? Did she send an innocent man to jail? Her husband, one of the men who investigated the case, reassures her; it’s just one of those legal snafus, he insists. But his odd behavior and questions posed by an ambitious reporter are puzzling enough to make her doubt herself. In the meantime, Pirate enters a world he no longer understands and tries to apply his jailhouse mentality to new feelings and situations. As the story unfolds through the measured, very different perspectives of Pirate and Nell, readers catch a glimpse of how betrayal and loyalty can be equally deadly. --Stephanie Zvirin

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 377 KB
• Publisher: HarperCollins e-books; Reprint edition (October 13, 2009)
• Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0016P2FDI
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Peter Abrahams - "criminally gifted" according to the New York Times Book Review - is the author of 27 novels. These include the New York Times bestselling Echo Falls mystery series for middle-graders (DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE, BEHIND THE CURTAIN, INTO THE DARK) and REALITY CHECK (2009) for teens. Among his adult books are OBLIVION (Shamus prize finalist), THE FAN (made into a movie with Robert DeNiro) and LIGHTS OUT (Edgar award finalist). DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE was a finalist for the Edgar best young adult mystery award and won the Agatha in the same category. BEHIND THE CURTAIN and INTO THE DARK were Agatha finalists. In her Cleveland Plain Dealer review of NERVE DAMAGE (2007), Michelle Ross wrote: "I swear, if one more literary person says in that oh-so-condescendng tone, 'Oh, I don't read ... mysteries,' I'm going to take a novel by Peter Abrahams and smack him on his smug little head." REALITY CHECK won the best young adult mystery Edgar award in 2010. ROBBIE FORESTER AND THE OUTLAWS OF SHERWOOD STREET, January 2012, is first in a new middle-grade series about a twelve-year-old Robin Hood in contemporary Brooklyn.
As Spencer Quinn, Abrahams also writes the New York Times bestselling Chet and Bernie mystery series: DOG ON it, THEREBY HANGS A TAIL, TO FETCH A THIEF, and THE DOG WHO KNEW TOO MUCH. He has a website - peterabrahams.com; and so does Chet - chetthedog.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Slow Start, but redeems itelf in the middle and cops out in the end, July 27, 2008

By 

Benjamin Miller (Clarence, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Delusion: A Novel of Suspense (Hardcover)

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)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Past is Prologue, June 23, 2008

By 

Ted Feit (Long Beach, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Delusion: A Novel of Suspense (Hardcover)

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.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Wow...for PA this is simply AWFUL...., October 17, 2008

By 

Robert F. Gaydos (Nashua, NH United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Delusion: A Novel of Suspense (Hardcover)

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.