What do you think?
Rate this book
Abandoned
Chaos ensues when terrorists take out the Worldwide electrical and communications grids. Two wounded warriors, two Buddhist monks, two AWOL Army Warrant Officers, an electrical engineer, and an FBI agent face annihilation from overwhelming odds and supernatural forces. In a valiant attempt to save themselves and the world, they must face their deepest fears. Has God turned his face from humanity in their gravest hour or chosen a side?
610 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2015
7 people want to read
About the author
Paul Dale Anderson
35 books28 followersPaul Dale Anderson has written more than 27 novels and hundreds of short stories, mostly in the thriller, mystery, horror, fantasy, and science fiction genres. Paul has also written contemporary romances and westerns. Paul is an Active Member of SFWA and HWA, and he was elected Vice President and Trustee of Horror Writers Association in 1987. He is a current member of International Thriller Writers, Author’s Guild, and an Active Member of MWA and MWA Midwest.
Paul has taught creative writing at the University of Illinois at Chicago and for Writers Digest School. He has appeared on panels at ThrillerfestXI, Chicon4 and Chicon7, X-Con, Windy Con, Madcon, Odyssey Con, Minncon, the World Horror Convention, and the World Fantasy Convention. Paul was a guest of honor at Horror Fest in Estes Park, Colorado, in 1989. He is currently the chair of the 2015 HWA Stoker Awards Long Fiction Jury.
Paul has taught creative writing at the University of Illinois at Chicago and for Writers Digest School. He has appeared on panels at ThrillerfestXI, Chicon4 and Chicon7, X-Con, Windy Con, Madcon, Odyssey Con, Minncon, the World Horror Convention, and the World Fantasy Convention. Paul was a guest of honor at Horror Fest in Estes Park, Colorado, in 1989. He is currently the chair of the 2015 HWA Stoker Awards Long Fiction Jury.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 28, 2015
How to begin? I am already composing the score to the movie that I think must be made of this magnificent book. Uneasy skies that hint blue-grey, the beginnings of the chant Om A Ra PA Cha Na Dhih by Manjusri Bodhisattva in the background…camera pans in. Lush trees, stoplights, billboards, subtly moving to brief shots of abandoned factories and houses; closer still: A Buick snaking along Harrison Avenue in my home town of Rockford, Illinois. Then, suddenly, the music changes as the Buick begins weaving frantically in and out of traffic to lose the metallic blue Ford Focus following. Terror. Menacing music now, cut to a maze of confusion, a frantic man trying to hide in an empty factory with broken windows, and then we’re dropped into the action: horrific manslaughter, after which the two shooters climb back into their Ford Focus and calmly carry out their plot to bring the dead man back to life.
OK. I admit – I do not often read thrillers. I especially shun violence. But just when I get my breath, this book segues elegantly into a bucolic scene in central Cambodia, and I marvel at the seamless introduction of Buddhist monks into this energy. And so continues Abandoned, which draws the reader in many directions, seemingly without effort. Combine the supernatural, and government agents, and terrorists who dismantle electricity and communication worldwide, and imagine a book that takes the reader through these scenes without jarring transitions, without confusing quick cuts, without that perplexing moment we all know and dread: “What? What’s going on here?” This book, while literate and multilayered, is simple to follow. Paul Dale Anderson’s masterful prose, meticulous research, broad scholarship, vast knowledge of distant cultures, easily understood descriptions of military maneuvers, and tender glances of love that run like threads through this tapestry make Abandoned a book that this chick-lit reader was immediately able to read and comprehend and enjoy. I grew with this book. I learned. I held my breath. I cried. I read the book and then I read it again, and the trip was different the second time around. Deeper.
Paul Dale Anderson has, indeed, written the Great American Novel. He has taken the theme of good versus evil and given readers just enough of a glimpse of primal fear to be deeply moved, but compelled to read on because the words move toward a certain climax that is both thrilling and gentle. I am in awe of this writer and I am elated that Abandoned is part of a series. I’ve already started Darkness, and I look forward to reading the rest of his work. Paul Dale Anderson’s brilliant talent promises to bring rich, exhilarating, and cinematic reading for years to come. And all that being said, the sheer humanity and humility that shines through these pages tells me that I am holding the work of a genius.
So you read this review, and you ask me: “What is this book about?” I can only give one answer. Read it. You won’t regret the ride.
OK. I admit – I do not often read thrillers. I especially shun violence. But just when I get my breath, this book segues elegantly into a bucolic scene in central Cambodia, and I marvel at the seamless introduction of Buddhist monks into this energy. And so continues Abandoned, which draws the reader in many directions, seemingly without effort. Combine the supernatural, and government agents, and terrorists who dismantle electricity and communication worldwide, and imagine a book that takes the reader through these scenes without jarring transitions, without confusing quick cuts, without that perplexing moment we all know and dread: “What? What’s going on here?” This book, while literate and multilayered, is simple to follow. Paul Dale Anderson’s masterful prose, meticulous research, broad scholarship, vast knowledge of distant cultures, easily understood descriptions of military maneuvers, and tender glances of love that run like threads through this tapestry make Abandoned a book that this chick-lit reader was immediately able to read and comprehend and enjoy. I grew with this book. I learned. I held my breath. I cried. I read the book and then I read it again, and the trip was different the second time around. Deeper.
Paul Dale Anderson has, indeed, written the Great American Novel. He has taken the theme of good versus evil and given readers just enough of a glimpse of primal fear to be deeply moved, but compelled to read on because the words move toward a certain climax that is both thrilling and gentle. I am in awe of this writer and I am elated that Abandoned is part of a series. I’ve already started Darkness, and I look forward to reading the rest of his work. Paul Dale Anderson’s brilliant talent promises to bring rich, exhilarating, and cinematic reading for years to come. And all that being said, the sheer humanity and humility that shines through these pages tells me that I am holding the work of a genius.
So you read this review, and you ask me: “What is this book about?” I can only give one answer. Read it. You won’t regret the ride.
Displaying 1 of 1 review