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Loading... End of Storyby Peter Abrahams
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.  Sunflower6_Cris | Aug 28, 2009 |  Peter Abrahams has been a favorite author of mine for years, so I had high expectations for this book. Unfortunately, I was rather disappointed in this one. The plot had great potential, and started out very good. But near the middle of the book everything seemed to go flat. Even though the story was laid out well, as good authors know how to do, I found myself losing interest and getting rather bored. I could almost have predicted how the entire second half of the book was going to go. Although the ending held a couple nice final unexpected twists, overall, this book was mediocre at best. (  ) porchsitter55 | Oct 4, 2008 | Aspiring NYC writer ends up teaching writing to tough prison inmates, one of whom she befriends and believes innocent. She plays detective to discover the truth of his story and unbelievable solves what the local cops could not. However, the characters, story, and twist and turns kept me reading this excellent mystery with a slightly suprising ending. I would read more of and recommend Peter Abrahams to my friends. (  ) slkrbru | Nov 21, 2007 | The first Abrahams book I've read, I picked it up based on Stephen King's blurb and the fact that Joyce Carol Oates is a fan. Fans of fast thrilling reads won't be disappointed, I finished it in 2 days, postponing sleep to continue reading long into the night to find out what happened next. The story: struggling writer takes a part-time job teaching creative writing to inmates at a state prison. She begins to suspect that her best student may be innocent of the charges for which he has been imprisoned. From there, it leaves you guessing, which all good thrillers should do. I didn't see the ending coming, so that's a plus in my book. I'll definitely be reading more of this author. ( ) TheTwoDs | Apr 26, 2007 | Now here's a book worthy of following up Oblivion, one of my favorite books ever. PA has really found his strength, IMHO, and it does *not* lie in writing conventional mysteries (though he does those far better than the average bear as well). He writes true suspense that has a foot planted in psychology without giving the plot over to lugubrious consideration of the psyches of the characters. Ordinarily I like my characters well fleshed out, but I think it's to PA's credit that he can write characters like Ivy and Harrow, and even secondary characters like Morales and Claudette, who you feel you understand even though you have only a dusting of information about them. One thing. I may be missing something here, but what were Joel and Danny and Whit and Dragan doing in this book? For a long time I expected them to be involved somehow in a convoluted and brilliant plot mechanation. (Danny/Felix do provide the setup, I suppose, but that could be whittled to a paragraph.) Best I can figure, they set up the themes of selling out and whether moral certainty is an illusion. And I'm all for that. Really. I think it's just that when a new book emerges from several genres...thrillers and literary, I guess...the contract with the reader gets re-written. It's kind of fun to have one's expectations turned inside out in this way, and it also makes me hope for more such books. (  ) swl | Apr 6, 2007 |  no reviews | add a review
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| Book description |
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Ivy Seidel dreams of becoming a writer, a great American novelist. But running low on money and concerned that her writing might lack a depth and darkness, she takes a job teaching creative writing -- at a maximum-security prison. It is a world she has never experienced before, one ruled by enigmatic codes of honor, ceaseless aggression and absolutely savage violence.
But one of the prisoners there is unlike any of the others, and unlike any man she has ever met before. Vance Harrow is unique. He is soft-spoken, charismatic and brilliantly talented. Two things trouble Ivy deeply. First, she suspects that Harrow shouldn't be in prison at all. He possesses an intellect that separates him from the other inmates and a selflessness that might just get him killed. Second, he has at the same time deep reservoirs of rage and brutality that seem perfectly in line with the other prisoners -- a dichotomy Ivy finds difficult to reconcile.
Trying to understand the complex picture, perhaps even get some recognition for a writer as gifted as Harrow seems to be, Ivy begins to ask questions. How did such a man end up in prison in the first place? Is he truly guilty? If not, who could have been responsible for putting him there, and why hasn't he tried harder to free himself? But the more questions Ivy asks to free a man she believes to be innocent, the more attention she draws to herself. Soon other people begin to ask questions -- about Ivy Seidel.
In the span of just a few days, Ivy's life will be completely turned upside down. What begins as an inquiry into one man's innocence may explode into a love affair, and what begins as an obsession to save one man's life might just end up costing Ivy her own.
(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:52 -0400)
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Wikipedia in English
I would recommend A Perfect Crime by Peter Abrahams. (