Delusion

Written by Peter Abrahams

Narrated by Ken Marks

Hailed as a master of suspense, award-winning author Peter Abrahams crafts an absorbing psychological thriller. Twenty years ago, Alvin DuPree was jailed for murdering Nell Jarreau's boyfriend-on the strength of Nell's testimony. Now, Alvin has been exonerated. Wondering whether she was delusional, Nell searches for answers by digging through her painful past-and sets foot on a path leading directly to Alvin. "The best writer of psychological suspense around."-NPR

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 20, 2008
• ISBN: 9781436151382

Peter Abrahams

Peter Abrahams is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty-five books, including the Edgar Award-winning Reality Check, Bullet Point, and the Echo Falls series for middle graders. Writing as Spencer Quinn, he is also the author of the Chet and Bernie series—Dog on It, Thereby Hangs a Tail, and To Fetch a Thief. He and his wife live in Massachusetts with their dog, Audrey.

Reviews for Delusion

[terran_9 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A woman mistakenly identifies a man as a killer and he is sent to prison. When he is exonerated by new evidence, her life is turned upside down.

[nx74defiant · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was really slow to get going. I was able to figure out what the "twists" would be at the end.

[lindap69 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

When new evidence surfaces, Nell sets out to determine if she sent the wrong man to prison and what part her husband had in the process. another suspenseful page-turner

[shearon_3 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I thought this book had promise: set in a small Louisiana city after a hurricane; a man is freed after 20 years incarceration based on a mistaken eyewitness identification; the eyewitness happens to be married to the (now) police chief who originally investigated the crime, the murder of her then boyfriend (and father of her then unborn child). It had all kinds of great, juicy potential. But a more predictable telling of this story, I do not think I can imagine. The bad guys have "bad guy" written all over them from their first appearances. The heroine is a total irritant. The freed convict starts out intriguing enough, but quickly regresses into a whiner like everyone else. The author did not really do anything with the post-hurricane setting (just had the characters complaining about the residual stench) and then at the end threw in the idea that maybe there were some racial issues going on (oh, what a wild thought: the possibility of racial conflict in Louisiana).I am sure you have other things on your reading list.

[ardwick_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Pleasant story about a woman who has to revisit the murder of her fiancee (and her child's father) nearly 20 years ago. The man found guilty was released and the heroine realises that hr happy life is not as straightforwards as it seems.

[cats57_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Delusions: A Novel of Suspense by Peter Abrahams20 years ago Nell and her boyfriend Johnny were out walking and talking under the full moon. In the shadows lurks a person bent on robbery, or so they thought. Johnny is killed in what we are to beleive is a botched robbery attempt, and later come to find it was so much more. Nell was able to see enough of the murderers face; enough so that her eyewitness testimony sends Alvin "Pirate" DuPree to jail for a good long time. Flash forward 20 years and the events of that night and the trial start to unravel. New information is found forcing the release of "Pirate" onto the community. And here is also where this book starts to fall apart for me. I kept waiting (in vain) for the build up of suspense; since that's the genre this book is published under, and it never came!!! Nell is now married to Clay Jarreau,the detective that helped crack the case, who is now the Chief of Police of the very same community where the crime took place. Nell is of course, devastated that this criminal is out of jail. And in time her guilt at now knowing her testimony put the wrong man behind bars eats at her...but not in a way that I can sympathize with. And isn't it important that we have sympathetic feelings for at least one of these main characters? Add to this mix is her daughter Norah, who has come home unexpectedly from school. (and quite frankly Norah is a whining, witchy, dishonest, baby in a nineteen year olds body) We also meet a very sneaky, manipulative reporter, Lee Ann, who quite frankly does get her "just desserts" Kirk and Duke Bastien and a whole bunch of other assorted characters who just seem to be in the book as filler, although they might have been meant as attempts at red herrings.At any rate, the plot finally comes together and suspense kicks in the last 30 pages (of a 300 page novel). The characters are for the most part; flat, lifeless,ineffectual and mostly shrewish (especially Nell) the dialogue is unbelievable and very abrupt, the actions of the characters make little sense at times.All in all a mildly suspenseful read with no real "nail biting, smack yourself on the head with excitement while exclaiming - I never saw that one coming" moments. Wait until it comes out in paperback.