Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Obedience - Will Lavender

Synopsis from Amazon.com: A complex conspiracy involving the writing of a book drives Lavender's compelling debut, a thriller that will strike some as a mix of John Fowles's The Magus and Stephen King's The Shining. At Indiana's Winchester University, three students—Brian House, Dennis Flaherty and Mary Butler—are taking Logic and Reasoning 204, taught by enigmatic Professor Williams. They quickly learn this is a course like no other. Their single assignment is to find a missing 18-year-old girl, Polly, in six weeks time—or else, Williams asserts, she will be murdered. Is this merely an academic exercise? As Williams produces clues, including photographs of Polly and her associates, the students begin to wonder where homework ends and actual homicide begins. Together with Brian and Dennis, Mary ventures off campus in search of Polly into a world of crumbling towns, decrepit trailers and hints at crimes old and new. A rapid-fire plot offsets thin characterization, though the conspiracy becomes so all-encompassing, so elaborate, that readers may feel a bit like Mary when baffled by her quest: This is what she felt like: led, played, not in control of anything she did.

My Thoughts:

I read a review about this one on Bookgasm and it sounded interesting. The plot sounded like something I've never heard of and I was ready for a new type of mystery! I'm finished with it and not entirely sure I liked it. There were some big holes in the plot and this book really needed a better editor.

For a first book, I'll give him props. It was a good plot and story. It just needed a little bit of help.

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