Review – Abandon by Blake Crouch
Having heard about Blake Crouch’s sci-fi novels, I was excited to get the chance to read his thriller Abandon. A tale of greed, madness and murder, it’s an unrelenting story of desperation.
Split between two timelines – modern day and the winter of 1893, the narrative revolves around the mountain town of Abandon; a mining settlement established in the unforgiving frontier. Opening on a prologue that sets the tone, it captures that lawless and brutal world of early America. Featuring a huge ensemble cast both in the past and the present, each story is concerned with a vast horde of gold and the lengths people would go to to possess the treasure.
When Abigail’s estranged father reaches out to her to accompany him to Abandon and write a magazine article about a couple of paranormal investigators photographing the settlement, she finds herself begrudgingly accepting. A complicated dynamic between tour guides, herself and her father, a historian, the group trek up the mountain to investigate the town. A place with a strange history where every resident disappeared one Christmas Day in 1893, Abandon has sat empty ever since. The photographers, obsessed with ghosts, are excited to explore but Lawrence, Abigail’s father has an ulterior motive – one that will put the whole group in mortal danger.
As the story of Abandon is slowly revealed in the past, characters being brought into view and the truth behind what happened, the awful motives find themselves reflected in the present. In the frozen, snow deep mountains of 1893, two men’s actions take on terrible consequences as they go on a killing spree after robbing the local mine owner. In the present, the promise of all that lost gold, holds a similar obsession, not only for Lawrence and his tour guide friend,Scott, but for other parties too.
Each timeline holds twists and turns and each features a desperate fight for survival against the elements and those willing to do anything to get their hands on the treasure. Whilst the 1893 story holds a terrible revelation at its heart, hinting at a madness, the present circles and mirrors so many elements to consider, not least Abigail’s anguished fight to get off the mountain and find help. Both parts are well written and gripping in equal measure, each with a unique voice, making for a consummate thriller.
A tale of greed, violence and madness, Abandon explores the nature of humanity – both the primal desire to live against all odds and the psychological obsessions of selfhood and selfishness. Brutal and engrossing, it’s an enjoyable read.
Review copy
Published by Macmillan
