Ivy Seidel dreams of becoming a writer, a great American novelist. But running low on money and concerned that her writing might lack a depth and darkness, she takes a job teaching creative writing -- at a maximum-security prison. It is a world she has never experienced before, one ruled by enigmatic codes of honor, ceaseless aggression and absolutely savage violence.

But one of the prisoners there is unlike any of the others, and unlike any man she has ever met before. Vance Harrow is unique. He is soft-spoken, charismatic and brilliantly talented. Two things trouble Ivy deeply. First, she suspects that Harrow shouldn't be in prison at all. He possesses an intellect that separates him from the other inmates and a selflessness that might just get him killed. Second, he has at the same time deep reservoirs of rage and brutality that seem perfectly in line with the other prisoners -- a dichotomy Ivy finds difficult to reconcile.

Trying to understand the complex picture, perhaps even get some recognition for a writer as gifted as Harrow seems to be, Ivy begins to ask questions. How did such a man end up in prison in the first place? Is he truly guilty? If not, who could have been responsible for putting him there, and why hasn't he tried harder to free himself? But the more questions Ivy asks to free a man she believes to be innocent, the more attention she draws to herself. Soon other people begin to ask questions -- about Ivy Seidel.

In the span of just a few days, Ivy's life will be completely turned upside down. What begins as an inquiry into one man's innocence may explode into a love affair, and what begins as an obsession to save one man's life might just end up costing Ivy her own.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.0 based on 27 reviews)

Derivitive, Preposterous, Made For The Movies

Compliments to this male author for attempting to portray the woman's point of view--until it dawns on you that this is a clumsy and cynical device to sell the book to Hollywood. There is nothing authentic or believable about the protagonist. She is a writer--wow! Where did Abrahams get the idea for THAT? The main male character is literally someone the author dreamed up. He has the insubstantiality and mutability of someone out of a dream. People know something about prisons and might want to know a lot more but this book will not educate them. The one thing the author does know something about is bars. Had he spent less time drinking and hanging out, and done more living, this would have been a better book. The plot is implausible, to put it gently, with an ending you can see coming a mile off.
November 29, 2008

A stylistic masterpiece

My husband and I have read many of Abrahams's thrillers and we agree that this is his best so far. Aside from one of the most appealing heroines in fiction, and an exciting (if, in its final moments, implausible) plot,
Abrahams's ability to convince us that the heroine's love interest, a convict who is aspires to being a writer, really CAN write is simply breathtaking. His "convict" produces paragraphs that are little masterpieces of writing -- and done in an entirely different style and voice than Abrahams's himself. This "fiction within the fiction" is a tour de force. (Post script: I rated this novel FIVE STARS, but I see upon reading the "Preview" I see that Amazon has recorded only four. It deserves the highest rating -- all five stars!)
September 28, 2008

Why did so many people hate this book?

Once upon a time, four guys trying to escape their rural poverty planned the armed robbery of an Indian casino on the New York side of the St. Lawrence River. But they really messed it up; two of the three who went in were killed, as was a casino security guard, and only the third escaped with the money. He apparently double-crossed the fourth man, the brains of the gang, who was waiting with an escape boat --and who ratted him out and later testified against him in court in exchange for a deal and the Witness Protection Program. But they never found the money. Now Vance Harrow, the only one to go to prison for the crime, is doing a minimum quarter-century behind bars in maximum-security. Enter Ivy Seidel, would-be novelist from New York City, who takes a job teaching the writing program at the prison to help make ends meet. She meets the charismatic Harrow, who appears to be a major undiscovered literary talent, and becomes involved in the story of the robbery. And she comes slowly to believe that Harrow is innocent, that Frank Mandrell, the planner and rat, was actually the third man in the casino, not Harrow. The narrative starts out kind of slow but accelerates as Ivy, against all her better judgments, falls for the felon and attempts to prove his innocence, even though he seems not to want her to. Is he really protecting his wife, who also disappeared? Or is Ivy the naive victim of a high-level scam? Abrahams plots a good story, very cinematic, though his usually unadorned style seems a little awkward at times, especially in the dialogues. His characterizations are first-rate, though, and the book is definitely worth a read. This appears to be his fifteenth novel, so I'll have to take a look at some of the others.
July 18, 2008

Becoming My Favorite Author

Peter Abrahams is becoming my favorite author. This is the second book of his I have read (the first being,Oblivion ) and it is really hard to put down.

Whenever you sit and wonder why on earth women fall in love with conflicts, you can think about this story and, on some small level, understand.

This (like Oblivion) is a smart, sexy thriller that keeps you on the edge of the seat.
May 25, 2008

An innocent enters the lions' den

A young barmaid & wannabe writer starts teaching a creative writing class in a prison, and slowly comes to believe in the innocence of one of her pupils, who's doing time for taking part in a violent casino robbery. Is the man truly innocent or is our heroine just deluding herself? Poetic imagery, subtle metaphor, occasional sidebar tangents (usually about the nature of writing) and other "literary" flourishes add richness to the proceedings, but not to the point of subverting the involving thriller plot or the steamy relationship that develops between teacher and pupil. Some may find the darkly humorous close non-respectful of what went before, but I thought it was edgy and satisfying... and maybe just the tiniest bit open to interpretation and debate, which is appropriate for this memorable little art/thriller hybrid.
April 01, 2008

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