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3.37 AVERAGE
3.37 AVERAGE
The book had an interesting concept. I liked reading about what happened in the past as well as what was going on in present day. I just felt that the book plodded along and I had to force myself to finish it. It started to drag way too much and quite honestly I didn't like any of the characters. There wasn't any "feel good" parts about the book. I won't be reading this one again.
This book was a raw, brutal, visceral experience in the best way. I was utterly captivated by Crouch's ability to paint such a vivid picture of life in an 1800s mining town. Reading about Abandon of old made me infinitely grateful to live in today's modern era with all its amenities: central heating, running water, women's rights.
Crouch has an uncanny skill when it comes to painting pictures with words--especially the gruesome, gory, and bone-chilling. I loved the short chapters and the fast pace and ended up staying awake way past my regular bedtime on a few occasions because I was desperate to find out what happened next.
The story continues to haunt me, long after I've turned the last page.
Crouch has an uncanny skill when it comes to painting pictures with words--especially the gruesome, gory, and bone-chilling. I loved the short chapters and the fast pace and ended up staying awake way past my regular bedtime on a few occasions because I was desperate to find out what happened next.
The story continues to haunt me, long after I've turned the last page.
Have you ever read a book that leaves you wondering if you're naive to think that the majority of people are good? This is that type of book. A group of hiking guides, historians, writers, and ghost hunters use a rare pass together to visit the mining ghosttown of Abandon in the mountains of Colorado. While everyone in the group is aware of the story of the entire town vanishing on Christmas day 1892, most of the group is not aware of the rumors of millions of dollars of gold that vanished along with them. And that gold seems cursed in the worst way. Nobody who touches it seems to live to tell the tale. The gold continues to inspire the worst traits of humanity in those who lust for it. I don't think I've ever read a book with so many despicable characters.
This has a different feel than the other books I've read by Blake Crouch (the Wayward Pines series and Dark Matter), but it will keep you turning all 521 of its pages fast enough to make your eyes ache after you're done. You get adventure as the group hike in and plenty of terror as you find out what the characters have in store for them. The storyline goes back and forth between present day and 1892. While this is not normally a storytelling device I enjoy, it worked perfectly here because the hikers encounter a place in one chapter and then it comes alive in the next chapter with people who lived there when Abandon was still intact and not a dangerously crumbling ruin. The ending is bittersweet. Eventually, you realize that there's at least a triple word play on the title of the book.
I probably would have given the book a higher rating if the characters weren't almost all such unbelievable terrible people.
This has a different feel than the other books I've read by Blake Crouch (the Wayward Pines series and Dark Matter), but it will keep you turning all 521 of its pages fast enough to make your eyes ache after you're done. You get adventure as the group hike in and plenty of terror as you find out what the characters have in store for them. The storyline goes back and forth between present day and 1892. While this is not normally a storytelling device I enjoy, it worked perfectly here because the hikers encounter a place in one chapter and then it comes alive in the next chapter with people who lived there when Abandon was still intact and not a dangerously crumbling ruin. The ending is bittersweet. Eventually, you realize that there's at least a triple word play on the title of the book.
I probably would have given the book a higher rating if the characters weren't almost all such unbelievable terrible people.
DNF. I really like Blake Crouch but I just didn't vibe with this one. I came looking for another Dark Matter and left about halfway through a bit underwhelmed.
Another reader posted a review of this book calling it the 'old bait and switch', and they're exactly right.
I read the description of the book, and thought it sounded like an awesome premise: in 1893, an entire town disappeared. In 2009, a group of people are visiting the town, and the past comes back to haunt them, or something along those lines.
I was thinking it would be something really cool that made an entire town vanish into thin air: aliens, a mystical force, a plague, some crazy creatures, SOMETHING...
What actually happened? In 1893, two awful men rob the town's rich guy, proceed to murder him and other random people, and then the town preacher goes insane and locks the remaining residents in a cave. In 2009, a horrible guy tricks a nice couple and his estranged daughter into going to the town for a 'paranormal investigation', but in reality he's working with three awful guys in trying to find the lost gold.
I can't even tell you how pissed I am at how much time I lost on this book. It's all a complete lie, and like I said above, a bait and switch. I didn't care about any of the characters, I didn't care about the outcome, frankly, I found the book incredibly stupid, and a complete waste of time and energy.
I think I have other books by Blake Crouch on my to-read shelf, and after reading this pointless book, I'm probably going to never read anything else by him ever again.
I read the description of the book, and thought it sounded like an awesome premise: in 1893, an entire town disappeared. In 2009, a group of people are visiting the town, and the past comes back to haunt them, or something along those lines.
I was thinking it would be something really cool that made an entire town vanish into thin air: aliens, a mystical force, a plague, some crazy creatures, SOMETHING...
What actually happened? In 1893, two awful men rob the town's rich guy, proceed to murder him and other random people, and then the town preacher goes insane and locks the remaining residents in a cave. In 2009, a horrible guy tricks a nice couple and his estranged daughter into going to the town for a 'paranormal investigation', but in reality he's working with three awful guys in trying to find the lost gold.
I can't even tell you how pissed I am at how much time I lost on this book. It's all a complete lie, and like I said above, a bait and switch. I didn't care about any of the characters, I didn't care about the outcome, frankly, I found the book incredibly stupid, and a complete waste of time and energy.
I think I have other books by Blake Crouch on my to-read shelf, and after reading this pointless book, I'm probably going to never read anything else by him ever again.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I was expecting something more like Dark Matter or Recursion. It is not like that at all. It was okay. Thriller/adventure set in CO mining town.
When I first began reading Abandon, I thought it was going to be a ghost/haunting story. When I first realized that it was not, I was initially disappointed. However, my disappointment waned as the story progressed.
Abandon was the name of a remote mining town. In 1893, everyone simply disappeared. The town was discovered empty on Christmas day, with food on the tables, no signs of struggle, everyone just gone. The story goes back and forth between 1893 and 2009 (the year of the original copyright), telling the story of what happened in the town, and following a history professor, his journalist daughter, and some others, including a couple of "psychic photographers," as they gain access to this town.
Eventually we find out what happened to all of the people in the town, so that mystery is solved. The point of the story, at least what I got out of it, is what greed can do to people. Essentially, that is what this story is about . . . greed. You see, "thar's gold in them thar hills!"
At some point, the owner of the mine was robbed and killed by some folks who lived in the town. His gold was stolen, and then hidden in the mine. But due to circumstances, they never got back to retrieve it. The history professor knows about this gold, and that is why he is going to Abandon, pretending to be interested in the history of the town. Unfortunately, there are others who know about this gold, as well.
It's a thrilling story, indeed, complete with betrayal on all sides and unexpected, sometimes tragic, plot twists. The ending isn't entirely satisfying, but it is fitting, because it illustrates the consequences of greed when it completely takes a person over.
Abandon was the name of a remote mining town. In 1893, everyone simply disappeared. The town was discovered empty on Christmas day, with food on the tables, no signs of struggle, everyone just gone. The story goes back and forth between 1893 and 2009 (the year of the original copyright), telling the story of what happened in the town, and following a history professor, his journalist daughter, and some others, including a couple of "psychic photographers," as they gain access to this town.
Eventually we find out what happened to all of the people in the town, so that mystery is solved. The point of the story, at least what I got out of it, is what greed can do to people. Essentially, that is what this story is about . . . greed. You see, "thar's gold in them thar hills!"
At some point, the owner of the mine was robbed and killed by some folks who lived in the town. His gold was stolen, and then hidden in the mine. But due to circumstances, they never got back to retrieve it. The history professor knows about this gold, and that is why he is going to Abandon, pretending to be interested in the history of the town. Unfortunately, there are others who know about this gold, as well.
It's a thrilling story, indeed, complete with betrayal on all sides and unexpected, sometimes tragic, plot twists. The ending isn't entirely satisfying, but it is fitting, because it illustrates the consequences of greed when it completely takes a person over.
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Crouch's books are like fast-food - not very filling yet oddly satisfying. I was expecting a ghost story, but this is a crime thriller, and even though it wasn't what I expected, there were plenty of implausible twists and turns that kept me interested.