Abandon

... and it provides hours of discussion because it is so interesting to work through as you try to pull together what did or may have happened. Is there a ghost? Is the story a lie? Who is the narrator? Who died? Did they really die? It is a dark novel, but it is fun.

I'm normally a very quick reader, flying through books. So I knew there was something wrong when it took me a week to read Abandon. The problem wasn't me, it was the book. Almost nothing happens in the novel. It's slow moving and, quite frankly, boring. Much of the narrative is repetitive, focusing on the inner turmoil a narrator we don't know enough about to care. Characters are poorly developed, the action isn't well plotted and the entire book moves in fits and starts. And as our narrator describes his "descent into hell" things only get more confused and more boring.

Desmond's attempt to write a more literary horror novel fails in almost every respect. By the time I reached the last page, I just didn't care anymore. The verdict: don't bother.

That said, Abandon does at least tell a coherent story, once you go back and re-read a few things and puzzle it out. It meanders a bit, and it becomes fairly clear early on that the protagonist is less influenced by ghosts than he is simply criminally schizophrenic - put more simply, I never believed any ghosts were present (even if some nominal doors are left open for that interpretation), and was far ahead of the surprise plot revelations the whole way.

The greatest problem this book has is that none of its characters are really sympathetic. The most sympathy that can be evinced is for the victims, not because they are likeable (or unlikeable either, for that matter), but simply because they don't deserve to be murdered. None of them are developed enough to have any feelings about, one way or the other - they merely exist as ciphers for the crazed protagonist to deal with. The protagonist (who is never even given a name) tells the entire story in first-person narrative, and is so painfully self-absorbed that an unbiased presentation of the victims wouldn't be possible anyway, even if he bothered to talk about them more.

This would make a good movie, if the plot were presented more comprehensibly. However, the slated upcoming Paramount film sounds actually more confusing than its source material - it turns the protagonist into a woman (Katie Holmes), which, given some of the plot turns of the novel, is going to be problematic at best...though it sounds, from early reports, as if it's all been pretty thoroughly rewritten into a completely different piece, anyway.

The novel's narrator is a very confused senior who is trapped between the love of two women and who still feels guilt from his ex-roommate's suicide. But now, things are about to get even more crazy when he begins seeing the ghost of an ex-student everywhere. His craziness grows to the point where he'll no longer be able to see clearly between what is real and what isn't.

The plot itself has its moments, but there isn't enough material here to sustain an entire book (and the novel itself barely has 250 pages). It takes nearly 100 pages for the plot to really begin and when it does, Desmond's style becomes very messy. It's almost as if he doesn't know if he wants his novel to be a dramatic exploration of the hectic campus life or if he wants it to be a ghost story. Both stories are okay, but the mix does not mesh well once it is all blended together.

I have to admit that I was very disappointed by this book, especially after hearing so many great things about it. Hopefully, Desmond will find his voice (and a good editor) with his futures tries.