I wasted a week on this book, that is for sure! Everything about it was great, until the last 50 pages when all the questions were answered.

This is a thriller set on a college campus, specifically in a Logic and Reasoning class. Professor Williams opens his 6 week class by informing the class that if they don't find a girl named Polly by the end of the 6 weeks, she will die. It sounds super exciting, and I can't put the book down.

As the book unfolds the class seems to find clues to this mystery everywhere they go. They also find that the mystery they are working on parallels in a mystery of Deanna Ward, a girl that disappeared a few counties over years ago, and was never found. The students think that they have walked into not just a game, but something much more sinister.

The ending is ridiculous. I was actually angry that after all this build up and suspense I am left with this unbelievable ending. I suggest passing on this book. While the bulk of it is very engaging, the way it ends and how the questions are wrapped out falls short of the mark. Its like the author, Will Lavendar worked really hard on the entire book and then at the end just gave up and threw in an ending that didn't make a lot of sense ( )

The setting is the fictional Winchester University. Students who enrolled in the mysterious Professor Williams's class, Logic and Reasoning 204, are unprepared for the unconventional syllabus set forth by the teacher: Find a hypothetical missing girl named Polly. If after being given a series of clues and details, the class has not found her before the end of the term in six weeks, she will be murdered. At first, the students are intrigued and excited. This is not your average college class! But excitement turns to dread and mistrust as the stakes get higher and higher and the boundaries between what is true and what is false start to blur. Could Polly be a real person? Is this real life or a class exercise? Readers follow along with two students as they struggle to solve the mystery and save Polly -- and possibly themselves. This was a great, intriguing premise for a book, and it moves along quickly. Although the author gives you enough information to make you uncertain as the eventual outcome, I felt the characterization was weak. This was the classic case of a book where the plot seems to take precedence over the writing or characters, which kept it from being a really great book. However, if you enjoy fast-paced thriller that is a bit different from the norm, this might be a good read for you. ( )

There were a lot of convoluted twists and turn in Lavender's first novel, but I think it all worked...almost. I think the last few lines set it up for either a sequel or one last twist. Either way, it was not needed. I thought the writing was tight for the most part, and it held my interest until the end. ( )

Obedience
By Will Lavender

Obedience sets us up on the first day of logic class for some students. The professor doesn’t bring and syllabus, but instead gives them an assignment to find a missing girl named Polly. He sends out emails each week with new clues and details. The class must find her before the end of the six week term or she will be murdered!

The students are both intrigued and puzzled by what they are suppose to be doing. As they gather more information, they begin to question whether this girl might really be missing. Is the class assignment really teaching them logic and reasoning or are they trying to solve something more sinister? The story starts to take over the lives of some of the students as they find new clues that seem to mix the assignment with reality.

Will Lavender’s debut book mixes academia and mystery to a heightened level of paranoia. The puzzles and twists and turns of the book flood your mind as you try and figure out what is real and what isn’t. At times, it almost becomes overwhelming keeping everyone straight. I really wanted to love this book, but even at the climatic ending, I still felt a bit lost. The story line intrigued me, but there never was an ‘aha’ moment for me, which I really wanted to have!

Take a chance, read the book yourself and see what you think.

Rating: 3/5 ( )

The premise of this book drew me in -- I was excited about a novel that applied rigorous philosophical methodology to a murder investigation. Too bad there is nothing remotely philosophical (let alone rigorous) in the author's approach to this mystery. The characters occasionally mention applying the rules of logic to the case, but nine times out of ten they wind up relying on pure intuition, or worse yet, the very obvious hand of the author guiding them where they need to go.

I wanted this book to be a perfectly orchestrated intellectual puzzle -- instead it was a mess of unlikeable characters behaving in unconvincing, sometimes downright preposterous ways. Also, it went on way too long... two thirds of the book are devoted to the heroes wandering around rural Indiana, asking people questions, and coming away with absolutely no new information. What a waste! ( )