End of Story [Mass Market Paperback]

Peter Abrahams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 30, 2007

Aspiring author Ivy Seidel accepts a part-time position teaching writing to a group of convicted criminals hoping the experience will add depth and darkness to her own work.

But in the haunting writings of charismatic inmate Vance Harrow she discovers a talent possibly greater than her own. And in the startling, disturbing stories Harrow has to tell, Ivy finds a dangerous new purpose—and a terrifying temptation that lures her into an inescapable world of shadows.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Abrahams (Oblivion) solidifies his reputation as one of the best contemporary thriller writers around with this psychologically deep page-turner evoking the classic noir of Cornell Woolrich. Ivy Seidel, a struggling would-be writer paying the bills by working in a New York City bar, finds herself drawn into an unfamiliar world when she's offered the chance to teach writing at an upstate prison. The naïve teacher is startled to find that one of her students, convicted robber Vance Harrow, is actually more gifted than she is. Unable to believe that he could be both guilty and such a creative talent, Seidel begins to pick at the stray loose threads surrounding his case—despite Harrow's having pleaded guilty to the violent crime. Abrahams manages to make each individual step that his heroine takes into the twisted maze believable, even if it's clear that she's rapidly approaching a precipice that will threaten her life and her mental state. In 2005, Abrahams published his first children's novel, Down the Rabbit Hole. (Apr.)Look for a q&a with Peter Abrahams in a forthcoming issue.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From The New Yorker

Abrahams' craftily plotted novels don't quite fit the "thriller" label, and his characters, too, have a way of defying the genre. Here his appealing heroine, a plucky young woman named Ivy Seidel, tends bar by night, but her ambition is to be a writer. (A not entirely realistic subplot starts with an enigmatic rejection letter from The New Yorker.) When Ivy takes a job teaching writing to inmates at a North Country prison, she witnesses mayhem and murder, and also encounters an inmate who may possess enormous literary talent. Ivy is convinced that the man has pleaded guilty to a crime he never committed, and she's determined to learn why. Abrahams' plot negotiates all sorts of twists, and one watches the progress of his heroine with increasing sympathy and alarm.
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Harper (January 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061130346
• ISBN-13: 978-0061130342
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #837,079 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Stephen King blurb is money . . ., May 2, 2006

By 

Dave Schwinghammer "Dave Schwinghammer" (Little Falls, Minnesota USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

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

Ordinarily I'm pretty cynical about blurbs, but when Stephen King recommends an author, I'm all ears. I think he actually reads the books he recommends; he's never let me down yet.

Peter Abrahams is a suspense novelist, but he spends more time developing his lead character than most. Ivy Seidel is a very compelling character. She's an MFA graduate working as a bartender. When her friend sells a screen play to Hollywood, she agrees to take over his creative writing class at Dannemora. She promptly falls for one of her students, Vance Harrow, who seems to have more talent than she does.

A subplot deals with a story Ivy is trying to sell to THE NEW YORKER, entitled "Cave Man." Abrahams makes this jell when we're introduced to her caveman class. They include gang members and thugs who also seem to have a lot of innate talent, but they're incredibly violent. One of her students is a white collar criminal named Felix Balaban who has incited the wrath of Luis Morales, a gang member who feels Felix has disrespected him.

When Ivy investigates Harrow's background she discovers he was involved in a Casino robbery, but she's convinced he's innocent. She sets out to prove it.

I'm usually a slow reader, but I read this story in a couple of days. However, it has a couple of drawbacks. For one thing, the police officers who help Ivy investigate Harrow's background go way out of their way to help her. She's a fiction writer, not an investigative reporter. And she's never published anything. Certainly she's attractive, but that's not enough motivation. There's also a scene where she needs an extension ladder. The ladder reaches all the way to the third floor of a hospital. She drives a little Saab upon the roof of which she ties the ladder. She also crawls up that ladder like a Chinese acrobat, all the way to the last couple of rungs. But those are just minor quibbles; what really got my hackles up was the ironic ending. Arahams settles for clever rather than appropriateness.

I was all set to give this book five stars until I ran up against that disappointing ending, but that won't stop me from ordering another Abrahams suspense novel; he's written fourteen others, including OBLIVION, THEIR WILDEST DREAMS, and THE TUTOR.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars not convincing as it proceeds, October 6, 2006

By 

Lou Fisher (Hopewell Junction, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: End of Story: A Novel of Suspense (Hardcover)

This novel starts out okay, with a likable, pretty heroin in an unusual situation, and good writing too--but the second half of the book is a far reach, way beyond what can be convincing. The key bit that has her haul around a long, heavy extension ladder and then climb it to the third-story window of a hospital with a two-foot bolt cutter tucked in her belt would be a feat worthy of Wonder Woman. Then to expect the bad guy to come to a desolate meeting point alone and unarmed is the height of naivety. And those are just examples of why I became so disappointed in what promised to be a good read.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Never gets off the ground., September 30, 2006

By 

M. McGinty (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: End of Story: A Novel of Suspense (Hardcover)

I don't understand why some supposed "thrillers" get such wonderful reviews. This book has a good set-up, but the protagonist's actions are so insipid, they're unbelievable. The ending is almost as bad as Donna Tartt's equally overhyped "The Little Friend" ...that is to say very uninspired, lazy, and ultimately a huge disappointment. If you want a great thriller about a writer, with terrific character development and a non-stop plot that actually has you caring about what happens, get John Colapinto's "About the Author" and you'll have a much more satisfying read.