The Fan [Hardcover]

Peter Abrahams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1995

Overcome by an obsession with baseball and his favorite team, broken-down knife salesman Gil Renard becomes dangerously involved when star player Bobby Rayburn suffers a slump. By the author of Lights Out. National ad/promo.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With this taut novel of an overzealous fan's obsession with a baseball player, Abrahams, the author of such compulsively readable thrillers as Lights Out and Pressure Drop, hits one out of the park. From the day Gil Renard's father died outside the ball field where his son was pitching a critical Little League game, Gil has been rabid about baseball. His favorite player is Bobby Rayburn, centerfielder for the Sox (of an unnamed city) who is himself obsessed-with pulling out of a hitting slump. In alternating chapters filled with telling details, Abrahams gradually reveals these men's diverse frustrations, then dramatically brings them together with a violent act of Gil's that relates to his other fixation: a knowledge of fine knives and knifemaking also "inherited" from his father. (It was this knowledge that secured Gil a job with the company that bought his father's business, just as his contempt for their product got him fired.) Abrahams makes Gil's obsessive personality evident from the first chapter, as he "dries up" while talking baseball to a radio talk jock. His eventual slide into madness is frighteningly depicted in this finely crafted, edge-of-the-seat thriller. BOMC alternate; major ad/promo; film rights to Tri-Star.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This dark suspense novel shows the pathological side of fandom. Gil is a rabid fan of baseball's Chicago White Sox who hopes that the team's newly acquired free agent, Bobby Rayburn, will deliver the pennant. Meanwhile, Gil's own life is falling apart. Having lost everything-job, wife, and son-he retains his memories of his own baseball greatness and his obsession with Rayburn as he drifts into robbery and murder. When Gil meets Rayburn and Rayburn shows up Gil's pretensions, a murderous encounter at home plate becomes inevitable. Gil will remind readers of the hero of Robert Coover's Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop. (LJ 6/15/68) in the way that baseball fantasy replaces his actual life. This excellent novel by the author of Lights Out (LJ 2/1/94) is highly recommended. [BOMC alternate; previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 11/1/94.]-Marylaine Block, St. Ambrose Univ. Lib., Davenport, Ia.
--Marylaine Block, St. Ambrose Univ. Lib., Davenport, Ia.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 338 pages
• Publisher: Warner (March 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446518603
• ISBN-13: 978-0446518604
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,612,648 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

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One Man's Obsession Becomes A Psychotic Journey Into Madness, November 3, 2008

By 

Schtinky "Schtinky" (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Fan (Mass Market Paperback)

Gil Renard is a man on the edge, in more ways that one. Unable to keep his marriage together, unable to have a positive relationship with his son, and unable to climb the corporate ladder except for the glossy traps he surrounds himself with. The right car, the right suits; but his attempt at gloss fails when it comes to his one room apartment in a broken down building. Gil barely controls his rage, his drinking, and his contempt for his own son. Lost in his glory days of being MVP pitcher (which we discover was only Little League), he's obsessed with Baseball and player Bobby Rayburn in particular.

Bobby Rayburn is a talented player, batting .314 last season and commanding the largest salary the Sox have ever paid. But there's one problem with him joining the Sox, another teammate Primo has his number: Number 11. Bobby is a womanizer, a player who's in the game for money and fame, who often scorns at his legion of fans. He takes advantage of being away from his wife Valerie and five-year-old son Sean to bed different women every night. When his abilities suddenly take a nosedive, he at first believes it must be due to his eyesight, but discovers his problem lies much deeper than the physical.

Jewel Stern, a sports reporter for JOC radio, loves her career so much she's given up a normal life for it. Though she sees herself becoming "long in the tooth" as a woman, her career advancements more than make up for it.

When Gil finally loses his job, the full force of his psychotic behavior breaks out, leaving behind no more boundaries. He's served a court order to stay away from his son, begins to drink more, and winds out in his old town digging up his father's grave to retrieve his old Little League trophy. He takes up with old friend Len Boucicaut; a childhood friend from Little League who's become a backwoods piece of trailer trash. It's Boucicant that teaches Gil that even legal boundaries are to be scoffed at. Gil, driven by his desire to be "closer to the game", takes his friend's advice and finally finds a way through his madness to get close to Bobby Rayburn.

The book alternates chapters between Gil's life, Bobby's life, and Jewel's life; as each of them begin to closely intertwine as the story progresses. The characters are realistic with individual personalities. There is, of course, a lot of baseball description in the book, and though I'm not a sports fan I still found the storyline intriguing and captivating. 'The Fan' is an excellent tale of one man's degeneration into total madness.

On a personal note, I saw the movie before reading the book, and despite highly different physical descriptions I could only picture the characters from the movie. The endings are quite different, though each story is done very well, so I recommend watching the movie after reading the book. Enjoy!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Taut, tense, and terrifying, August 6, 2007

By 

Henry W. Wagner (Rockaway, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fan (Mass Market Paperback)

Bobby Rayburn, the best hitter in professional baseball, has just signed on with the Boston Red Sox, an act which most believe will ensure the team a pennant. There's just one problem--early in the season, Bobby becomes mired in a slump of epic proportions.

Gil Renard is also in a deep slump. His life is a shambles--he's lost his job, his ex-wife won't let him see his son, and he's drifted into a life of crime to make ends meet. The only things that make his life bearable are baseball and his beloved Red Sox.

Two men, at crossroads in their lives, with little in common except baseball. The Fan tells the tale of how they meet, and the deadly and bloody results as hero worship degenerates into loathing.

Abrahams masterfully draws readers into his narrative, never relaxing his iron tight grip on their attention; then, just when you think you might have guessed where he's going, he delivers a knockout punch guaranteed to leave you reeling right until the very last line of the novel. The last few chapters go by in a blur, as you turn the pages with ever increasing velocity. Taut, tense and terrifying, The Fan is vintage Abrahams, another satisfying thriller from a true master of suspense.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Read, March 15, 2007

By 

Aaron Patrick "AP" (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fan (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a haunting book. I mean that in a good way. You probably know somebody who is only a couple of clicks away from turning into The Fan. It's an especially appealing book if you love baseball, of course. The author does a great job of making you continue to feel for The Fan even though he is very selfish, and not merely disturbed -- although he is clearly that, too.