Book Review: End of Story

Reviewed By: Woodstock - RAM

End of Story     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Peter Abrahams
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Thriller   Psychological Suspense   Woman Main Character
William Morrow 2006

Ivy Seidel is like millions of other people hoping to hit the big time in one of the creative arts. Living in a tiny apartment in Brooklyn and keeping body and soul together working as a waitress in a bar, Ivy's success so far has been in building an impressive stack of rejection slips from publishers who have considered her short stories.

A friend moves away and offers Ivy the chance to take over his job - teaching creative writing at a maximum security prison. Ivy's contacts there startle her. She has no point of reference for the way men imprisoned communicate, settle petty grievances, or manage to survive. Yet primarily for the pittance she will be paid, she perseveres in weekly trips upstate.

Her contact with one inmate who displays a deft way with words and an impressive creative skill sets off a chain of events which finds Ivy in way over her head. To say much more would give away far too much of the action. This is a riveting read, tense and engrossing.

However, Ivy suffers from a tendency all too common in suspense fiction. The tiniest dose of common sense coupled with half an hour spent contemplating possible outcomes would have saved Ivy a great deal of grief. And when the reader finally reaches the closing paragraphs of the book, it's clear that Ivy's troubles have only begun.

Woodstock - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Woodstock - RAM