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Nerve Damage
Sometimes the dead live on in your dreams . . . at least that's true for Roy Valois. His wife, Delia, died fifteen years earlier while working for a private think tank and he has never forgotten her. Roy is a well-known sculptor in the art world. His newest piece, a magnificent creation he calls Delia , has just been finished, a sign that he's found a little closure at last. Then Roy gets some news of the grimmest kind. It's the kind of news that forces thoughts in unexpected directions, such as the contents of one's obituary. Roy and his lawyer, a close friend, find themselves wondering whether Roy's obituary will mention a big goal he scored in college hockey. Roy's friend suggests that they could probably find out. With some help, they hack into the morgue files of the New York Times . There's no mention of the goal, but something else about his obituary bothers Roy. According to the New York Times , his wife was working for the United Nations when she died—not the think tank. At first, Roy thinks it's a simple mistake, but when a conversation with the writer of his obituary fails to clear things up, he suspects something more. The deeper he digs, the more confusing his wife's past becomes. Delia's former colleagues deny ever knowing her, the building that housed the think tank has supposedly served as the offices for another organization for decades, and Roy can't find any records of its existence. Who was Delia? Who did she work for? How did she really die? Did she really die ? With time running out, a desperate Roy won't stop until he knows the truth about the woman he can't stop loving.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
26 people are currently reading
298 people want to read
About the author
Peter Abrahams
117 books419 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Peter Abrahams is an American author of crime fiction for both adults and children.
His book Lights Out (1994) was nominated for an Edgar Award for best novel. Reality Check won the best young adult Edgar Award in 2011. Down the Rabbit Hole, first in the Echo Falls series, won the best children's/young adult Agatha Award in 2005. The Fan was adapted into a film starring Robert De Niro and directed by Tony Scott (1996).
His literary influences are Vladimir Nabokov, Graham Greene, and Ross Macdonald. Stephen King has referred to him as "my favorite American suspense novelist".
Born in Boston, Abrahams lives in Falmouth, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod. He is married and has four children including Rosie Gray. He graduated from Williams College in 1968.
Peter Abrahams is also writing under the pseudonym Spencer Quinn (Chet and Bernie Mysteries).
Peter Abrahams is an American author of crime fiction for both adults and children.
His book Lights Out (1994) was nominated for an Edgar Award for best novel. Reality Check won the best young adult Edgar Award in 2011. Down the Rabbit Hole, first in the Echo Falls series, won the best children's/young adult Agatha Award in 2005. The Fan was adapted into a film starring Robert De Niro and directed by Tony Scott (1996).
His literary influences are Vladimir Nabokov, Graham Greene, and Ross Macdonald. Stephen King has referred to him as "my favorite American suspense novelist".
Born in Boston, Abrahams lives in Falmouth, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod. He is married and has four children including Rosie Gray. He graduated from Williams College in 1968.
Peter Abrahams is also writing under the pseudonym Spencer Quinn (Chet and Bernie Mysteries).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 135 reviews
November 11, 2011
The low overall rating of this book really surprises me. It has all the subtle creepiness of Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window." Sort of a "is-there-something-weird-going-on-or-is-it-just-my-imagination," kind of a way about it. With the other references to "Oblivion," I need to pick that one up and read it too. This one is highly recommended.
I don't often re-read books, but I just re-read this one. Still really like it, some of the dialog was getting to me, but the storytelling is top-notch.
I don't often re-read books, but I just re-read this one. Still really like it, some of the dialog was getting to me, but the storytelling is top-notch.
December 8, 2011
It was difficult to get through this one, but by the time I realized how much I disliked it, I really had invested too much time in it to give up.
This is the story of a metal sculptor who discovers he has an inoperable cancer...he has 4 months (or so) to live. He manages to sneak a peak at his NYT obituary, and is puzzled by the entry concerning his late wife. Investigation ensues, and conspiracy looms large. I am not particularly fond of conspiracy stories (which is the only reason I cut this book some slack and didn't give it only one star), and this one was thin (at best).
The protagonist seemed to me to be especially thick, the amount of driving he was doing (VT to DC on a regular basis) seemed unlikely for a person with his illness. He was not a likeable person. The relationship he and his late wife shared seemed odd, too. It just didn't ring true to me. And did I mention that Mr. Valois was pretty much a jerk? In trying to present him as naive, the author went a bit overboard. The character just strikes me as rather self-centered and intentionally ignorant. Why someone as highly intelligent as Delia (or as she is portrayed) would ever have married him in the first place totally escaped me.
Unless you have nothing else (and I mean not even the label on your soup can) to read, avoid this one.
This is the story of a metal sculptor who discovers he has an inoperable cancer...he has 4 months (or so) to live. He manages to sneak a peak at his NYT obituary, and is puzzled by the entry concerning his late wife. Investigation ensues, and conspiracy looms large. I am not particularly fond of conspiracy stories (which is the only reason I cut this book some slack and didn't give it only one star), and this one was thin (at best).
The protagonist seemed to me to be especially thick, the amount of driving he was doing (VT to DC on a regular basis) seemed unlikely for a person with his illness. He was not a likeable person. The relationship he and his late wife shared seemed odd, too. It just didn't ring true to me. And did I mention that Mr. Valois was pretty much a jerk? In trying to present him as naive, the author went a bit overboard. The character just strikes me as rather self-centered and intentionally ignorant. Why someone as highly intelligent as Delia (or as she is portrayed) would ever have married him in the first place totally escaped me.
Unless you have nothing else (and I mean not even the label on your soup can) to read, avoid this one.
September 13, 2017
What a carnaval. Peter Abrahams writes extraordinary mystery Dramas. The way he manage to show physical and mental struggle with words is mind blowing. Though the plot is complicated this book is a smooth read and not something you want to put down before the end.
July 3, 2025
I had high hopes for this one, but it was truly more terrible than Oblivion. This author does a great job of sucking you in with the first 10 chapters, then boring you to tears in the middle, then making it exciting the last few chapters, in this case the last 5 pages were good. I wouldn't waste your time.
February 7, 2022
I suspect that everyone who has a favorite author does not love all that author's books equally. I'm as big a fan of Peter Abrahams as I think there is, and I admire all of his works, but I don't love them all, and NERVE DAMAGE is a book I love only because of the things that are in every Abrahams novel: the smooth dark glide of the prose, and the off-the-nose quality to everything every character says and does that Abrahams himself has called "the power of the oblique," a quality that deepens the reader's engagement with the text far beyond that of what most works of crime fiction do.
NERVE DAMAGE is a Peter Abrahams book I struggle to love, though I kind of do anyway for the above reasons, which are in abundant evidence. But this book in many ways feels like Abrahams in a creative holding pattern, with many of his characters echoing — strongly — characters and plot fragments from earlier works of his, rendering them more pallid that perhaps necessary. And plotting, especially in third acts, has never been Abrahams' strongest suit, and in this one the plot sails so far over the top of one's ability to suspend disbelief as to be distracting. You read Abrahams for reasons other than plot, but the thin characters and canned conflicts in NERVE DAMAGE don't make that easy.
Nonetheless, there are pleasures to be found in NERVE DAMAGE, mostly in Abrahams'd deliciously dark prose, rendered here with a leavening sliver of black humor. As a political power broker tells the story's POV character, terminally ill artist Roy Valois, who's on a mission into his late wife's murky power-adjacent past to find out just what happened to her: "Twenty or thirty years into a life in politics, they got nothing left inside to know. What’s not sold and bartered just got pleased away." He adds: "You’re thinking Washington and Lincoln. Pretty clear that those days are long gone. We’re in a late Roman phase, just scratching and clawing to hold on.”
There are worse ways to do that than by reading Peter Abrahams novels, even this one.
NERVE DAMAGE is a Peter Abrahams book I struggle to love, though I kind of do anyway for the above reasons, which are in abundant evidence. But this book in many ways feels like Abrahams in a creative holding pattern, with many of his characters echoing — strongly — characters and plot fragments from earlier works of his, rendering them more pallid that perhaps necessary. And plotting, especially in third acts, has never been Abrahams' strongest suit, and in this one the plot sails so far over the top of one's ability to suspend disbelief as to be distracting. You read Abrahams for reasons other than plot, but the thin characters and canned conflicts in NERVE DAMAGE don't make that easy.
Nonetheless, there are pleasures to be found in NERVE DAMAGE, mostly in Abrahams'd deliciously dark prose, rendered here with a leavening sliver of black humor. As a political power broker tells the story's POV character, terminally ill artist Roy Valois, who's on a mission into his late wife's murky power-adjacent past to find out just what happened to her: "Twenty or thirty years into a life in politics, they got nothing left inside to know. What’s not sold and bartered just got pleased away." He adds: "You’re thinking Washington and Lincoln. Pretty clear that those days are long gone. We’re in a late Roman phase, just scratching and clawing to hold on.”
There are worse ways to do that than by reading Peter Abrahams novels, even this one.
January 24, 2011
Nerve Damage by Peter Abrahams was the latest audiobook I listened to in my car during my commute. It is about a scupltor, Roy Valois, who learns he is dying of an inoperable, incurable cancer. On a whim, he looks up and reads the obituary that will be printed about him in the New York Times. He finds that it inaccurately states where his dead wife worked, and he makes it his mission to investigate and correct this mistake. But is it a mistake? Or are there secrets his wife never told him?
I would classify this book as a conspiracy thriller. The premise really intrigued me, but I had a hard time enjoying it. I simply disliked, almost hated the main character. He just wasn't likable. He was in complete denial about his condition, and while this may be a common stage, he just took it too far.
And his attitude and treatment of others? He just rubbed me the wrong way, and I couldn't get past it.
Overall, the story was exciting, with some good twists and turns. But the ending was too fairy tale happy to fit the rest of the story.
Since I listened to this on audiobook, I had the addition of the narrator to contribute. And I wasn't impressed. The reading was very choppy. Each sentence stood alone. It was very difficult to follow in the beginning, but I did figure out thow to follow, but it didn't make for the most enjoyable listen.
I would classify this book as a conspiracy thriller. The premise really intrigued me, but I had a hard time enjoying it. I simply disliked, almost hated the main character. He just wasn't likable. He was in complete denial about his condition, and while this may be a common stage, he just took it too far.
And his attitude and treatment of others? He just rubbed me the wrong way, and I couldn't get past it.
Overall, the story was exciting, with some good twists and turns. But the ending was too fairy tale happy to fit the rest of the story.
Since I listened to this on audiobook, I had the addition of the narrator to contribute. And I wasn't impressed. The reading was very choppy. Each sentence stood alone. It was very difficult to follow in the beginning, but I did figure out thow to follow, but it didn't make for the most enjoyable listen.
January 30, 2010
I have always been interested in reading the entire library. Many years ago, I went to the stacks in fiction and started at the beginning and got bogged down before I got out of the A's. However, I decided to try it again with books on CD at the local library. The first book there was Nerve Damage by Peter Abrahams. I don't know literary genres that well, but I would classify it as mystery/thriller. It hooked you early on and in spite of its faults I had to finish it. The worst was the dialogue.
For example at a critical moment where time was of essence, a phone call is made and the caller says," I saw the woman and I need you to come."
Answer: "What woman?"
Reply: "Come quick. The woman you told me about."
Answer: "What woman?
Reply: "The black woman."
And so it went and while it was frustrating, the main character was dying of mesothelia cancer, so maybe it was to illustrate his limitations.
I hope the library does not have any more of his books on CD as it will violate my plan to move through the entire selection and I am not sure I can take another one of his novels.
For example at a critical moment where time was of essence, a phone call is made and the caller says," I saw the woman and I need you to come."
Answer: "What woman?"
Reply: "Come quick. The woman you told me about."
Answer: "What woman?
Reply: "The black woman."
And so it went and while it was frustrating, the main character was dying of mesothelia cancer, so maybe it was to illustrate his limitations.
I hope the library does not have any more of his books on CD as it will violate my plan to move through the entire selection and I am not sure I can take another one of his novels.
October 17, 2012
For a while, I thought I was enjoying this book. Alas, it was not to be. While it did suck me in a little, it really wasn't a fun read. Too many flaws. The main character wasn't overly likeable, and seemed so dense most of the time. Maybe the things he said and did were due to his illness and the treatment he was receiving, but if so, that wasn't made clear, so it just led me to believe that he was an idiot. I did enjoy his flashbacks to his relationship with his wife, but there again wondered how he could be so dense to not realize that all may not have been what it appeared to be.
And though I did enjoy parts of the ending, there seemed to be too many loose ends. There was no glimpse into what the immediate or distance future was going to hold, which was maddening considering his illness and the discoveries he made in the last 25 pages of the book.
And though I did enjoy parts of the ending, there seemed to be too many loose ends. There was no glimpse into what the immediate or distance future was going to hold, which was maddening considering his illness and the discoveries he made in the last 25 pages of the book.
August 24, 2023
Review from August 2023
This is the 3rd time I have read this book. The last review from 2017 is exactly right. I wouldn't change a word. Not very optimistic but a very good mystery.
Review from 2017
This is the 2nd time I'm reading this book. I must have read it about 10 years ago and realized that except for liking it and looking for all the books by the author, I actually remembered nothing. And I was right because reading it again seemed like a totally new experience. A good, intriguing mystery that starts on a whim when two friends, one a sculptor, checks on his own obituary and finds a mistake. When he tries to get it changed he finds that there are some people who would rather kill than allow that to happen. A real page turner and well written. Highly recommend for those who love a good mystery.
This is the 3rd time I have read this book. The last review from 2017 is exactly right. I wouldn't change a word. Not very optimistic but a very good mystery.
Review from 2017
This is the 2nd time I'm reading this book. I must have read it about 10 years ago and realized that except for liking it and looking for all the books by the author, I actually remembered nothing. And I was right because reading it again seemed like a totally new experience. A good, intriguing mystery that starts on a whim when two friends, one a sculptor, checks on his own obituary and finds a mistake. When he tries to get it changed he finds that there are some people who would rather kill than allow that to happen. A real page turner and well written. Highly recommend for those who love a good mystery.
December 31, 2013
PROTAGONIST: Roy Valois, sculptor
RATING: 3.25
WHY: Roy Valois is a famed sculptor whose wife, Delia, died 15 years earlier. After a conversation with one of his friends, Roy finds a way to hack into the New York Times files to look at his own obituary to see if it mentions one of his sports achievements. He finds that the information about his wife's occupation is incorrect and tries to get the reporter to correct it. The reporter swears that it is incorrect and is killed shortly thereafter. Chasing down the truth involves lots of complications. I found things to be too convenient for him and felt that the obituary premise was lame. However, the book did keep me reading to find out what was going on.
RATING: 3.25
WHY: Roy Valois is a famed sculptor whose wife, Delia, died 15 years earlier. After a conversation with one of his friends, Roy finds a way to hack into the New York Times files to look at his own obituary to see if it mentions one of his sports achievements. He finds that the information about his wife's occupation is incorrect and tries to get the reporter to correct it. The reporter swears that it is incorrect and is killed shortly thereafter. Chasing down the truth involves lots of complications. I found things to be too convenient for him and felt that the obituary premise was lame. However, the book did keep me reading to find out what was going on.
December 17, 2018
"
ROY VALOIS, SCULPTOR, DIES AT 46
by Richard Gold and Myra Burns
Roy Valois, a sculptor whose large works are displayed in many public spaces around the United States and at several prominent museums, died yesterday at his home in Ethan Valley, Vermont. He was 46."
We first meet Roy Valois when he dreams about his wife, Delia, who died 15 years earlier. A PhD in economics, she used to work at Hobbes Institute, an economic think tank. Roy has just finished a new sculpture, called Delia, an artistic homage to his wife whom he loved so much. Roy is now with Jen and has been planning to propose to her. Yet having experienced alarming medical symptoms he consulted a specialist who offered a grim prognosis. Roy becomes morbidly interested in his obituary, which - like for all famous people - is written well ahead of time in New York Times. The obituary is flattering but it contains incorrect information about Delia's employment history. Roy sets out to correct the info but the data he uncovers makes him lose confidence as to Delia's work record. Where did she work? Who was she? Did he know his beloved wife at all?
Nerve Damage (2007) is a suspense novel slash thriller by Peter Abrahams. The setup is intriguing but having been burnt by the same author's Revolution #9 , with its fantastic setup and complete fiasco of the latter parts of the plot, I was quite apprehensive. Well, indeed, the plot does deteriorate a bit, and much earlier than in Revolution, but it remains marginally interesting; so I kept reading on to the very end, which is too sappy for my taste and relies on a cliché literary device. But the reader will probably enjoy tense scenes like:
A marginally recommended read, far from the three-and-a-half-star quality of A Perfect Crime , yet serviceable when nothing's better around.
Two-and-a-half stars.
by Richard Gold and Myra Burns
Roy Valois, a sculptor whose large works are displayed in many public spaces around the United States and at several prominent museums, died yesterday at his home in Ethan Valley, Vermont. He was 46."
We first meet Roy Valois when he dreams about his wife, Delia, who died 15 years earlier. A PhD in economics, she used to work at Hobbes Institute, an economic think tank. Roy has just finished a new sculpture, called Delia, an artistic homage to his wife whom he loved so much. Roy is now with Jen and has been planning to propose to her. Yet having experienced alarming medical symptoms he consulted a specialist who offered a grim prognosis. Roy becomes morbidly interested in his obituary, which - like for all famous people - is written well ahead of time in New York Times. The obituary is flattering but it contains incorrect information about Delia's employment history. Roy sets out to correct the info but the data he uncovers makes him lose confidence as to Delia's work record. Where did she work? Who was she? Did he know his beloved wife at all?
Nerve Damage (2007) is a suspense novel slash thriller by Peter Abrahams. The setup is intriguing but having been burnt by the same author's Revolution #9 , with its fantastic setup and complete fiasco of the latter parts of the plot, I was quite apprehensive. Well, indeed, the plot does deteriorate a bit, and much earlier than in Revolution, but it remains marginally interesting; so I kept reading on to the very end, which is too sappy for my taste and relies on a cliché literary device. But the reader will probably enjoy tense scenes like:
"First, he cleared the top of the coffin. Then he dug a little side cut, a place to stand. [...He] stepped into the side cut, bent forward, got his hands under the lid of the coffin. Then, straightening his back, pulling with his arms, he slowly raised the lid and laid it aside."Peter Abrahams' prose is very readable without being shallow so I can forgive him several implausible turns of the plot. Paper-thin characterizations of Skippy, Jen, and Mr. Truesdale are harder to forgive, though.
A marginally recommended read, far from the three-and-a-half-star quality of A Perfect Crime , yet serviceable when nothing's better around.
Two-and-a-half stars.
March 10, 2021
This is a page turner. It held my interest and I read it quickly. The main character was sympathetic.
Here's why I only gave it three stars. I don't like novels where an average person suddenly outsmarts all the bad guys. I don't want to give too much away so I will leave it at that. After reading the novel, I didn't really think about it. I like when things are tied up in the end but I also like some ambiguity to chew over. And finally, I like a novel where you get to learn something. By this I mean like a person's career gives you insight into that type of work or a hobby or a location or history. This was purely an adventure.
This type of novel is very popular and I think this is a good choice for someone who is looking for that genre. I guess I could state this is more a beach read than a book club choice.
Here's why I only gave it three stars. I don't like novels where an average person suddenly outsmarts all the bad guys. I don't want to give too much away so I will leave it at that. After reading the novel, I didn't really think about it. I like when things are tied up in the end but I also like some ambiguity to chew over. And finally, I like a novel where you get to learn something. By this I mean like a person's career gives you insight into that type of work or a hobby or a location or history. This was purely an adventure.
This type of novel is very popular and I think this is a good choice for someone who is looking for that genre. I guess I could state this is more a beach read than a book club choice.
August 19, 2025
A good example of the "innocent man caught up in criminal activities" genre. Roy Valois has just been given a couple of months to live. As a sculptor of some renown, he knows that his obituary has already been written and stored away, and out of curiosity he asks a local teenager to hack into the newspaper archives. Interestingly, the obituary has got the details of his life correct, but not those of his late wife. An irritated phone call to the obituary writer to ask him to correct the name of Delia's former employer sets in motion a chain of events that Roy, increasingly incapacitated by his disease and the side effects of the experimental treatment, can no longer control. Trained assassins, helicopters, a multimillionaire art lover, a horse farm... all good stuff.
Enjoyable in its genre.
Enjoyable in its genre.
April 24, 2023
Finished it in short order because I couldn't put it down. I have read the books this man has written under other pseudonyms and don't care. No matter what name he writes under or what character he invents to carry his story, this man knows how to tell a story. Read everything you can get your hands on. He's great.
May 20, 2021
I really enjoyed this mystery - it was a one that built slowly, with the mystery revealing itself as the main character started to deal with his cancer diagnosis.
I was very surprised by the ending.
I was very surprised by the ending.
April 30, 2022
I think I thought I was checking a different book with the same title but got intrigued enough with what was going on that I went ahead and finished the book. Can't say I would recommend it had a few things going for it.
September 7, 2017
A pretty good thriller.
September 27, 2017
very cool book, well written with the false obit stuff, I gave it an 8 out of 10.
November 2, 2020
Felt same way as another person. Invest to much time to give up. I’d say it was a waste of my time but it was an audio book so I only listened when I was driving.
November 27, 2022
(2,5/5)
Istna mieszanka emocji. Przez dłuższy moment czytania książki nie mogłam się od niej oderwać, pochłonęła mnie bez reszty. Ale końcówka totalnie mi się nie spodobała i rozczarowała do granic możliwości! Pozostawiła po sobie ogromny nie dosyt.
Istna mieszanka emocji. Przez dłuższy moment czytania książki nie mogłam się od niej oderwać, pochłonęła mnie bez reszty. Ale końcówka totalnie mi się nie spodobała i rozczarowała do granic możliwości! Pozostawiła po sobie ogromny nie dosyt.
March 24, 2010
Another enjoyable Abrahams thriller, devoured in a day. It doesn't quite match "Oblivion" and "End of Story," possibly because the spy shenanigans are less plausible (although maybe that's my naivete talking).
Sculptor Roy Valois is a virile 47, still playing hockey with his buddies, skiing and snowshoeing and seriously considering proposing to his 34-year-old girlfriend. But then Roy gets some very bad news--lung cancer, the kind caused by asbestos exposure (the legacy of a long-ago summer job). Roy wonders what his obituary will say, and a friend suggests hacking The New York Times to find out. Roy succumbs to the temptation (and the presence in his life of a loser teen-anger who is adept with computers) and finds an error in his obituary. His wife, Delia, dead now for 15 years, didn't work for the U.N. as the obituary claims; she was an economist with the Hobbes Institute, a private think-tank.
He reports the error to a Times reporter who begins nosing around. And then the reporter dies in what could look like a home burglary.
Between experimental chemo treatments, Roy tenaciously pursues the few clues he can find--the widow of a man who worked with Delia, conversations he and his friends recall with Delia about her job, and the suspicious way someone gained entrance to Roy's home and studio, taking away with them only a worthless sketch ... of the Hobbes Institute building in Washington.
Sure, the resolution seems far-fetched, but the ride is fun while it lasts.
Sculptor Roy Valois is a virile 47, still playing hockey with his buddies, skiing and snowshoeing and seriously considering proposing to his 34-year-old girlfriend. But then Roy gets some very bad news--lung cancer, the kind caused by asbestos exposure (the legacy of a long-ago summer job). Roy wonders what his obituary will say, and a friend suggests hacking The New York Times to find out. Roy succumbs to the temptation (and the presence in his life of a loser teen-anger who is adept with computers) and finds an error in his obituary. His wife, Delia, dead now for 15 years, didn't work for the U.N. as the obituary claims; she was an economist with the Hobbes Institute, a private think-tank.
He reports the error to a Times reporter who begins nosing around. And then the reporter dies in what could look like a home burglary.
Between experimental chemo treatments, Roy tenaciously pursues the few clues he can find--the widow of a man who worked with Delia, conversations he and his friends recall with Delia about her job, and the suspicious way someone gained entrance to Roy's home and studio, taking away with them only a worthless sketch ... of the Hobbes Institute building in Washington.
Sure, the resolution seems far-fetched, but the ride is fun while it lasts.
August 10, 2007
NERVE DAMAGE (Suspense-Roy Valois-Vermont-Cont) – G+
Abrahams, Peter – Standalone
Wm. Morrow, 2007, US Hardcover – ISBN: 9780061137976
First Sentence: Sometimes the dead live on in your dreams.
*** Metal sculptor Roy Valois has just finished a masterful piece of sculpture he names for his late wife, Delia and plays an exceptional game during his local hockey night. When talking with a friend and wondering whether his goal that night would someday be mentioned in his obituary, he solicits the help of a young geek to look it up. However, his surprise comes when he sees they’ve listed Delia’s job as being with the UN and not with a private think tank. In trying to clear up this “mistake,” the reporter is murdered and it soon become clear someone doesn’t want Roy questioning the past.
*** Abrahams writes very good psychological/political suspense. In Roy, he has created a character for whom we quickly come to care. He is realistic both as an artist who sees the flaws in his work where others see the perfections, and as a man who still loves playing hockey, still grieves the loss of his wife and is thrown into desperation when he finds he has an incurable cancer. Abrahams has created an excellent race against time and conveys Roy’s frustration beautifully. The plot, as the story progresses, does go over the top but it certainly didn’t slow down my reading. If you’re looking for an exciting one-sitting read or a great airplane book, this is it.
Abrahams, Peter – Standalone
Wm. Morrow, 2007, US Hardcover – ISBN: 9780061137976
First Sentence: Sometimes the dead live on in your dreams.
*** Metal sculptor Roy Valois has just finished a masterful piece of sculpture he names for his late wife, Delia and plays an exceptional game during his local hockey night. When talking with a friend and wondering whether his goal that night would someday be mentioned in his obituary, he solicits the help of a young geek to look it up. However, his surprise comes when he sees they’ve listed Delia’s job as being with the UN and not with a private think tank. In trying to clear up this “mistake,” the reporter is murdered and it soon become clear someone doesn’t want Roy questioning the past.
*** Abrahams writes very good psychological/political suspense. In Roy, he has created a character for whom we quickly come to care. He is realistic both as an artist who sees the flaws in his work where others see the perfections, and as a man who still loves playing hockey, still grieves the loss of his wife and is thrown into desperation when he finds he has an incurable cancer. Abrahams has created an excellent race against time and conveys Roy’s frustration beautifully. The plot, as the story progresses, does go over the top but it certainly didn’t slow down my reading. If you’re looking for an exciting one-sitting read or a great airplane book, this is it.
March 8, 2014
Disappointed.
From Publishers Weekly
In this gripping political suspense novel from Edgar-finalist Abrahams (Echo Falls), Vermont sculptor Roy Valois has never recovered from the tragic death of his beloved wife, Delia, in a helicopter accident while on a humanitarian mission to Honduras. Delia worked for the Hobbes Institute, "a think tank specializing in third-world economic problems." Roy's internal scars have kept him at a distance from others, even as the effects of asbestos exposure in his youth begin to ravage his body. When a chance remark leads Roy to search out the text of his already written obituary for the New York Times, he finds a minor error concerning the Hobbes Institute. That niggling loose thread obsesses the artist, but his efforts to set the record straight reveal that much of what he knew about his wife was a lie. The action and suspense are first-rate, but fans may find fewer insights into human nature than in such brilliant earlier books as Oblivion and End of Story. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Publishers Weekly
In this gripping political suspense novel from Edgar-finalist Abrahams (Echo Falls), Vermont sculptor Roy Valois has never recovered from the tragic death of his beloved wife, Delia, in a helicopter accident while on a humanitarian mission to Honduras. Delia worked for the Hobbes Institute, "a think tank specializing in third-world economic problems." Roy's internal scars have kept him at a distance from others, even as the effects of asbestos exposure in his youth begin to ravage his body. When a chance remark leads Roy to search out the text of his already written obituary for the New York Times, he finds a minor error concerning the Hobbes Institute. That niggling loose thread obsesses the artist, but his efforts to set the record straight reveal that much of what he knew about his wife was a lie. The action and suspense are first-rate, but fans may find fewer insights into human nature than in such brilliant earlier books as Oblivion and End of Story. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
April 7, 2010
I always pick up books about artists so naturally I picked up Nerve Damage by Peter Abrahams.
I enjoyed the story immensely at first, a sculptor lost his wife in a tragic accident. Sealing himself off from the world he retreats to an backwoods studio to continue work on his masterpiece, a sculpture named for his wife. After receiving a hockey injury that doesn't seem to heal Roy, our sculptor, learns of his fatal illness and bad prognosis.
While in treatment Roy becomes to believe that his wife might not be dead and that her whole life might have been a lie. Uncovering government plots and fronts for possible CIA activity Roy gets over his head.
And this is where the book sort of gets out of hand. I really didn't care for the ending, it seemed a little bit of a stretch, but otherwise I enjoyed the story.
I enjoyed the story immensely at first, a sculptor lost his wife in a tragic accident. Sealing himself off from the world he retreats to an backwoods studio to continue work on his masterpiece, a sculpture named for his wife. After receiving a hockey injury that doesn't seem to heal Roy, our sculptor, learns of his fatal illness and bad prognosis.
While in treatment Roy becomes to believe that his wife might not be dead and that her whole life might have been a lie. Uncovering government plots and fronts for possible CIA activity Roy gets over his head.
And this is where the book sort of gets out of hand. I really didn't care for the ending, it seemed a little bit of a stretch, but otherwise I enjoyed the story.
April 4, 2017
Wow, what a good book. I do not believe I ever read a book by this author! I was hooked from the beginning! . I loved the character of Roy and Delia, not to mention his friends. Roys wife has been dead for 15 years. He is just about to ask Jen to marry him when he gets a terrible nose bleed and a cough he cannot get under control. He finds out that he has Mesothelioma and there is no cure. It comes from exposure to asphalt, which he has no memory of ever having. From there the story becomes fast paced. Roy reads a copy of his Obituary. There is a mistake. He decides to have the writer correct it. In tracking it down the writer dies. Is there a conspiracy? Is Roy hallucinating? What is true and what is not? Will Roy survive long enough to solbve the mystery. Who are the good guys and who are the bad? Yum, I loved this book. I give it a 4plus. only becasue I never give a 5.
April 22, 2011
So, the premise is a good one and the writing isn't terrible.
But.
It moved awfully slowly and there were some bumps in the road. Right before I abandoned the book (at 65%) I noted a couple of things: First off, the relationship with Skippy jumped oddly from casual to ?putting him in the will?, but when Skippy is missing and ostensibly in danger, Roy decides to go out of town to investigate another clue in the Delia mystery.
Secondly, it seemed that action and the dialogue between characters was sacrificed for miles and miles of inner dialogue and memory.
This could have been so much more. A downside to reading an audio book is that I can't just flip to the last chapter & skim to find out who/what/when/why. It looks like a trip to the library is in order.
But.
It moved awfully slowly and there were some bumps in the road. Right before I abandoned the book (at 65%) I noted a couple of things: First off, the relationship with Skippy jumped oddly from casual to ?putting him in the will?, but when Skippy is missing and ostensibly in danger, Roy decides to go out of town to investigate another clue in the Delia mystery.
Secondly, it seemed that action and the dialogue between characters was sacrificed for miles and miles of inner dialogue and memory.
This could have been so much more. A downside to reading an audio book is that I can't just flip to the last chapter & skim to find out who/what/when/why. It looks like a trip to the library is in order.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 3, 2008
It took me about 40 pages to figure out what in the hell the mystery was going to be. I know Abrahams genre, and I was confused about why this was a book about a dying artist.
And then it clicked.
The suspense felt forced most of the time -- turns out the mystery had started 15 years before, and the protagonist was just now getting on the ball. Plus, that whole dying thing was going on (tick tock, tick tock). It was hard to care about some covert CIA-type operation without really seeing any of it happen or meeting any of the bad guys in the first place.
But it was well written, angsty and full of vivid descriptions. Plus, reminded me that I (usually) like Abrahams' stuff.
And then it clicked.
The suspense felt forced most of the time -- turns out the mystery had started 15 years before, and the protagonist was just now getting on the ball. Plus, that whole dying thing was going on (tick tock, tick tock). It was hard to care about some covert CIA-type operation without really seeing any of it happen or meeting any of the bad guys in the first place.
But it was well written, angsty and full of vivid descriptions. Plus, reminded me that I (usually) like Abrahams' stuff.
December 22, 2007
A well-known sculptor, still in love with the wife who died 15 years earlier, manages to get a copy of his pre-written obituary and reads that his wife, who he believed worked for a think tank, worked for the UN. As he investigates this bizarre anomaly, he gets in some pretty deep stuff. I actually thought it was going to turn out that he was imagining the whole thing--there are a few red herrings that made me think so, or else I just assumed there was more to the story than this silly mystery/adventure plot. But it's pretty surface-level. The ending was really abrupt and kind of dumb, but it was entertaining enough. Maybe this was more of a beach book. B/B-.
March 26, 2008
Roy, a Vermont sculptor is dying - and he doesn't really know why. Supposedly, he has a rare disease which one can only contract through exposure to asbestos, and he feels sure he never has been. His beloved wife, Deliah was supposedly killed in a helicopter crash 15 years earlier. But was she? Lots of intrigue and subplots which, in my opinion weren't satisfactorily resolved. Not that they weren't resolved, if taken at face value. I guess I just expected more. I didn't like the way he dealt with his characters - too cold - though it may be argued, true to life. Entertaining enough to listen to during my daily walk but nothing I'd want to read again.
January 1, 2012
Roy Valois is a sculptor living in small town Vermont. His wife Delia had died 15 years ago. She worked for a shadowy think tank in DC and was supposed to have died in Venezuela in a humanitarian operation. Roy finds out that he has mesothelioma, a fatal form of lung cancer caused by asbestos exposure. He hacks into the New York Times file server and finds his obituary. In it there is a small error where the author misidentifies the place where Delia worked. Roy determines to spend his last months on earth correcting the error in the obituary. This leads to a shadowy conspiracy that endangers both Roy and the people around him.
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