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Abandoned
The International Space Station holds a secret and freelance journalist Eric Dundston has obtained a clue that could unravel a mystery that will challenge the very definition of what it is to be human.
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First published January 1, 2019
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About the author
Neal Thompson
1 book32 followersThis is my first novel.
I was a general assignment reporter for a mid-sized daily newspaper in Brockton, Massachusetts, for 22 years. For the last 17 years, I have been working on the newspaper's copy desk, editing stories, writing headlines and designing pages.They say you should write what you know and my aim was to bring the reader into my world as a reporter. The premise is simply my dream of the story I would have liked to cover.
I am a graduate of Boston College, where I earned a bachelor's degree in English.
I was a general assignment reporter for a mid-sized daily newspaper in Brockton, Massachusetts, for 22 years. For the last 17 years, I have been working on the newspaper's copy desk, editing stories, writing headlines and designing pages.They say you should write what you know and my aim was to bring the reader into my world as a reporter. The premise is simply my dream of the story I would have liked to cover.
I am a graduate of Boston College, where I earned a bachelor's degree in English.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
June 10, 2020
Wonderful!
A compelling story, beautifully written. It is presented simply, concise without being overly dramatic or sentimental, yet is fully developed with sufficient details.... Disclosure: I won this book in a Goodread's Giveaway. Glad I entered. Winning the free book moved Abandoned up in my reading list a lot, but it is well worth paying for.
A compelling story, beautifully written. It is presented simply, concise without being overly dramatic or sentimental, yet is fully developed with sufficient details.... Disclosure: I won this book in a Goodread's Giveaway. Glad I entered. Winning the free book moved Abandoned up in my reading list a lot, but it is well worth paying for.
June 7, 2020
Freelance journalist Eric Dundston stumbles onto the story of a lifetime when he turns up at the site of an attempted suicide. Former astronaut George Chang is threatening to jump from the roof of a hotel on Boylston Street; when Eric finagles his way onto the roof, he learns that the man has asked to speak to a reporter. Eric joins him on the ledge where George gives him a cryptic message before jumping to his death, leaving Eric to ferret out the story tied to the now-abandoned International Space Station.
The telling of the tale alternates between articles written by ethical journalist Eric Dundston and the unfolding of the narrative. While astute readers will figure out the secret long before its reveal, Eric's dogged determination will keep those pages turning. Nuanced characters, a strong sense of place, and a realistic plot work together to create an intriguing premise and an important message.
Highly recommended.
I received a free copy of this book through the Goodreads First Reads program
The telling of the tale alternates between articles written by ethical journalist Eric Dundston and the unfolding of the narrative. While astute readers will figure out the secret long before its reveal, Eric's dogged determination will keep those pages turning. Nuanced characters, a strong sense of place, and a realistic plot work together to create an intriguing premise and an important message.
Highly recommended.
I received a free copy of this book through the Goodreads First Reads program
April 19, 2021
The concept behind this book is really interesting. It wasn't very surprising though, after reading just the first chapter and the blurb, it wasn't too difficult to piece together most of the plot. Even so, this was a decent story. At least for the first half, I was hooked. There were a lot of interesting ideas and the exploits of Eric Dundston who played the part of the protagonist, made for entertaining reading. He gets a little cringey towards the end but it wasn't too bad. However, I did not like the second half of the book. It dragged too much and was naive when it came to both the writing and the storyline.
The format of this novel was interesting. A lot of the story consisted of articles and interviews that Dundston wrote. This was overdone though. Many times these interviews ended up saying the same thing and added nothing to the story so I skimmed through. On a side note, I liked how there were so many women in positions of power. It was a refreshing deviation from the norm. However, there were way too many romantic relationships that popped up. It felt a bit unnatural.
Overall, I found this to be a decent read with original ideas. Less than ideal writing, but it was readable.
I received a free copy of this book from the author.
The format of this novel was interesting. A lot of the story consisted of articles and interviews that Dundston wrote. This was overdone though. Many times these interviews ended up saying the same thing and added nothing to the story so I skimmed through. On a side note, I liked how there were so many women in positions of power. It was a refreshing deviation from the norm. However, there were way too many romantic relationships that popped up. It felt a bit unnatural.
Overall, I found this to be a decent read with original ideas. Less than ideal writing, but it was readable.
I received a free copy of this book from the author.
February 16, 2021
(Note: I won this through the author’s Goodreads giveaway.)
What a nice, wonderful and heartfelt story. Unfortunately, that is also one of its weaknesses.
The year is 2040 and we meet freelance reporter Eric Dundston who is listening to the cop radio band and heads to a possible jumper situation. While his photographer partner is already at the scene getting the pictures, Eric finds a way in through the back door of the hotel that this is occurring at. He makes his way up to the roof with the help of his charming personality and is allowed to talk to the jumper, granted by the cop in charge of the scene (Eric knows people). Eric climbs down to the ledge from the roof and tries to see if he can help with the suicidal person.
The man’s name is George and he gives Eric a message. While Eric is writing down said message, George jumps. Of course, the message leads our freelancer on the biggest story of his life. From a senator to an ex wife to a doctor, we discover what this big secret is that George wanted Eric to discover.
First things first, Mr. Thompson does a good job of giving us enough background of all his major players so they aren’t 2D. However, the problem is that most of them felt too much like stereotypes that the reader has read in other books. Don’t get me wrong, for the most part I found myself going along with each of them, but that nagging feeling that I’ve seen them before was persistent.
An example of this is the reporter, Harrelson. We see this guy a handful of times and we know what kind of sleaze ball he is. We’re not surprised at how he acts and his presence seems almost token to the story, like he was a character on the author’s checklist of people that needed to be included. I don’t mind people like this involved in a book I am reading, but him being there doesn’t do anything for the story. Sure, he adds a tiny bit of drama (and trust me it was welcomed as you will find out), but not enough to warrant him to be there, especially since he disappears before the halfway mark.
Sadly, the main characters don’t fair much better. Like I said earlier, they seem well rounded, but some of it comes off as superficial. The ones involved in the coverup of the secret argue with each other because Eric is getting closer to them, but essentially they are nice people who made a bad call. When we get halfway and pass it, while some voice their dissatisfaction with what they did, they’re basically forgiven.
I loved the premise and I found the story easy to follow along, but the biggest problem I had was the lack of conflict. Things were happening, but they weren’t. The first half of the plot felt like it was only there to hurry to the more exciting later part.
To give credit where credit is due, Mr. Thompson creates a scene of the experience being inside and seeing from the outside of a rocket blast off into space that, even though may seem simple to describe, pulls the reader in and actually made me feel something for it. There are tiny gems like this throughout the story that made me wish for more, but the tale was content with the basic. I enjoyed the reporting story sections. Again, it wasn’t enough.
I liked the ending. Even so, it came too easy. It was another byproduct of no conflict in the story. I was waiting for something, anything to happen that would blow my mind, but it didn’t. The author was able to build some tension, but it ended...well, I think I’ve said enough.
The book overall was descent. I held in there, even over the bumps. I was rooting for everyone involved, even while there were some eye rolling moments in response to the thick sappiness. I understand this is Mr. Thompson’s first novel, and while I had some fun times reading it, Abandoned left me a little empty.
(Another note: I don’t usually make grammar comments, but I had to this time. As I see it, Mr. Thompson came from an editor newspaper background, and because of that I noticed he was using the reporter’s method of closing a dialogue paragraph or a line, even though the character would continue into the next paragraph or line. While that would have been fine for the reporter story sections, he did it even in the regular story parts, which became frustrating because it gave me the impression several times that a new character was talking. Also, maybe cut back on the word “just” every few seconds?)
What a nice, wonderful and heartfelt story. Unfortunately, that is also one of its weaknesses.
The year is 2040 and we meet freelance reporter Eric Dundston who is listening to the cop radio band and heads to a possible jumper situation. While his photographer partner is already at the scene getting the pictures, Eric finds a way in through the back door of the hotel that this is occurring at. He makes his way up to the roof with the help of his charming personality and is allowed to talk to the jumper, granted by the cop in charge of the scene (Eric knows people). Eric climbs down to the ledge from the roof and tries to see if he can help with the suicidal person.
The man’s name is George and he gives Eric a message. While Eric is writing down said message, George jumps. Of course, the message leads our freelancer on the biggest story of his life. From a senator to an ex wife to a doctor, we discover what this big secret is that George wanted Eric to discover.
First things first, Mr. Thompson does a good job of giving us enough background of all his major players so they aren’t 2D. However, the problem is that most of them felt too much like stereotypes that the reader has read in other books. Don’t get me wrong, for the most part I found myself going along with each of them, but that nagging feeling that I’ve seen them before was persistent.
An example of this is the reporter, Harrelson. We see this guy a handful of times and we know what kind of sleaze ball he is. We’re not surprised at how he acts and his presence seems almost token to the story, like he was a character on the author’s checklist of people that needed to be included. I don’t mind people like this involved in a book I am reading, but him being there doesn’t do anything for the story. Sure, he adds a tiny bit of drama (and trust me it was welcomed as you will find out), but not enough to warrant him to be there, especially since he disappears before the halfway mark.
Sadly, the main characters don’t fair much better. Like I said earlier, they seem well rounded, but some of it comes off as superficial. The ones involved in the coverup of the secret argue with each other because Eric is getting closer to them, but essentially they are nice people who made a bad call. When we get halfway and pass it, while some voice their dissatisfaction with what they did, they’re basically forgiven.
I loved the premise and I found the story easy to follow along, but the biggest problem I had was the lack of conflict. Things were happening, but they weren’t. The first half of the plot felt like it was only there to hurry to the more exciting later part.
To give credit where credit is due, Mr. Thompson creates a scene of the experience being inside and seeing from the outside of a rocket blast off into space that, even though may seem simple to describe, pulls the reader in and actually made me feel something for it. There are tiny gems like this throughout the story that made me wish for more, but the tale was content with the basic. I enjoyed the reporting story sections. Again, it wasn’t enough.
I liked the ending. Even so, it came too easy. It was another byproduct of no conflict in the story. I was waiting for something, anything to happen that would blow my mind, but it didn’t. The author was able to build some tension, but it ended...well, I think I’ve said enough.
The book overall was descent. I held in there, even over the bumps. I was rooting for everyone involved, even while there were some eye rolling moments in response to the thick sappiness. I understand this is Mr. Thompson’s first novel, and while I had some fun times reading it, Abandoned left me a little empty.
(Another note: I don’t usually make grammar comments, but I had to this time. As I see it, Mr. Thompson came from an editor newspaper background, and because of that I noticed he was using the reporter’s method of closing a dialogue paragraph or a line, even though the character would continue into the next paragraph or line. While that would have been fine for the reporter story sections, he did it even in the regular story parts, which became frustrating because it gave me the impression several times that a new character was talking. Also, maybe cut back on the word “just” every few seconds?)
December 28, 2020
I won a free copy of “Abandon” through the author , publisher and Goodreads.
“Abandon” is a sci- if adventure novel and a bit of a mystery. It begins when Erik Dundston, a free- lance reporter ( meaning no longer employed by any news organization) speeds to the police call on his scanner of a man about to jump from the top floor of a Boston hotel. Using brashness to bypass a friendly cop, he goes to the roof, and there gets to interview the man perched on the edge. The result is terse : the man’s last words are, “ Tell my daughter goodbye, “ and a string of numbers longer than a phone number. With that , he jumps.
It turns out that the jumper was a retired astronaut for NASA who served on the ISS, International Space Station, which has drifted away from orbit, to the chagrin of NASA. Was the Doomed man responsible for its loss? Was there something sinister going on in space? What secret lives on the missing orbiter? As Dundston tries to investigate he senses a coverup at the highest levels of Washington. The bulk of the novel is about how and what he uncovers hidden on the space station.
When I read the description of the book, I thought that the book promised to be that the space station harbored a sinister presence. Perhaps that it had been taken over by alien being or maybe by by a foreign adversary , or perhaps a space virus that might spread to earth and require everyone to cover in their homes in fear. Without giving anything away, I will say that the surprise on the ISS is nothing that exciting.
Erik, the main character is presented as an intrepid investigative reporter, but he is not a particularly interesting one. Although the book was well done and smooth lumpy plotted, the unfolding story was not exciting enough to keep me glued to the 240 or so pages of the book. So do not expect something like Aliens on the dark side of the moon. Do expect a Hallmark Channel version of Lost in Space.
Summary: a pleasant , low intensity Hallmark Channel type of story.
“Abandon” is a sci- if adventure novel and a bit of a mystery. It begins when Erik Dundston, a free- lance reporter ( meaning no longer employed by any news organization) speeds to the police call on his scanner of a man about to jump from the top floor of a Boston hotel. Using brashness to bypass a friendly cop, he goes to the roof, and there gets to interview the man perched on the edge. The result is terse : the man’s last words are, “ Tell my daughter goodbye, “ and a string of numbers longer than a phone number. With that , he jumps.
It turns out that the jumper was a retired astronaut for NASA who served on the ISS, International Space Station, which has drifted away from orbit, to the chagrin of NASA. Was the Doomed man responsible for its loss? Was there something sinister going on in space? What secret lives on the missing orbiter? As Dundston tries to investigate he senses a coverup at the highest levels of Washington. The bulk of the novel is about how and what he uncovers hidden on the space station.
When I read the description of the book, I thought that the book promised to be that the space station harbored a sinister presence. Perhaps that it had been taken over by alien being or maybe by by a foreign adversary , or perhaps a space virus that might spread to earth and require everyone to cover in their homes in fear. Without giving anything away, I will say that the surprise on the ISS is nothing that exciting.
Erik, the main character is presented as an intrepid investigative reporter, but he is not a particularly interesting one. Although the book was well done and smooth lumpy plotted, the unfolding story was not exciting enough to keep me glued to the 240 or so pages of the book. So do not expect something like Aliens on the dark side of the moon. Do expect a Hallmark Channel version of Lost in Space.
Summary: a pleasant , low intensity Hallmark Channel type of story.
August 29, 2020
The international space station has been abandoned for ten years. Former astronauts have moved into different theaters of duty and all is filed as past history. Free lance journalists live for adrenaline rush of a breaking story, a career making story. Eric Dundston is one of those addicts, sleep and eating are secondary byproducts of his free time, he has greater priorities. Senator Grimes, a former astronaut, handsome, and politically seeking upward mobility, has strong toes to his former NASA members. George Chang, a former mission specialist and his ex-wife Amy Chang, also a former astronaut with biological scientific backgrounds, are somewhat silent in the background news world. Life changes for all these character when Eric and his partner, Hank, a free lance photographer, are alerted to a suicidal jumper and race to the scene. Eric finds himself in the world's spotlight as he interviews George on the ledge of the building overlooking a crowd gathered below. Eric is asked to find his daughter. Daughter? NASA records no offspring of George and Amy, what is Eric really hunting for? What can NASA reveal about the evacuation of the ISS? Very interesting story with a probable event that could occur. This was a free book to read and review, I have not connection to anything involved. I likes the human interest aspect, the secret coding and records, the environment is realistic, and characters well described. I would have like a little more oomph in some scenes but author has a good story. A good read.
July 16, 2021
A cool premise for a novel (or movie)!
Let me begin by saying, I want to be Eric Dundston!
I can really see ‘Abandoned: A Sacred Mission’ as a Hollywood Blockbuster. The premise is original and enthralling. The story is told in an unusual and fresh fashion, with some of the narrative taking the form of news articles and social media posts written by the main character, reporter Eric Dundston. I don’t want to provide any spoilers by revealing more, but I was captivated from the get-go.
I will admit that the storyline is a bit far fetched. But so what? The same can be said of many novels and movies. It’s also true that (as some previous reviews have focused on) Dundston may have obtained some of his leads remarkably easily. Yet for me, none of this detracted from the greater plot, which is riveting.
On the whole, ‘Abandoned: A Sacred Mission’ is very well written. There are the occasional copy and punctuation issues (particularly associated with dialogue, which should be fixed in future editions), but nothing to spoil the flow of the story. I for one thoroughly enjoyed it!
The only thing I’d really change about ‘Abandoned: A Sacred Mission’ is the second part of the title, which is unnecessary and may give the false impression the book has religious overtones. I’m happy to see this subtitle has been dropped on Goodreads.
Let me begin by saying, I want to be Eric Dundston!
I can really see ‘Abandoned: A Sacred Mission’ as a Hollywood Blockbuster. The premise is original and enthralling. The story is told in an unusual and fresh fashion, with some of the narrative taking the form of news articles and social media posts written by the main character, reporter Eric Dundston. I don’t want to provide any spoilers by revealing more, but I was captivated from the get-go.
I will admit that the storyline is a bit far fetched. But so what? The same can be said of many novels and movies. It’s also true that (as some previous reviews have focused on) Dundston may have obtained some of his leads remarkably easily. Yet for me, none of this detracted from the greater plot, which is riveting.
On the whole, ‘Abandoned: A Sacred Mission’ is very well written. There are the occasional copy and punctuation issues (particularly associated with dialogue, which should be fixed in future editions), but nothing to spoil the flow of the story. I for one thoroughly enjoyed it!
The only thing I’d really change about ‘Abandoned: A Sacred Mission’ is the second part of the title, which is unnecessary and may give the false impression the book has religious overtones. I’m happy to see this subtitle has been dropped on Goodreads.
February 7, 2021
A good read on a very interesting theme
The story told in this novel, that of the life of the first human born in space, is both unique an fascinating. The author has sculpted characters who are real and believable , within a. setting based on significant research into a space industry in hibernation. My four-star rating
flects my enjoyment of this first-time effort and appreciation for the author's craftmanship. I think this book would be enjoyed by both science fiction and adventure fans.
The story told in this novel, that of the life of the first human born in space, is both unique an fascinating. The author has sculpted characters who are real and believable , within a. setting based on significant research into a space industry in hibernation. My four-star rating
flects my enjoyment of this first-time effort and appreciation for the author's craftmanship. I think this book would be enjoyed by both science fiction and adventure fans.
November 13, 2021
An intriguing story
Abandoned is a very intriguing story, with a feel-good ending, about a reporter (Eric) who interviews a man about to commit suicide. The man’s only comment before his death is a cryptic request.
Being the hard worker he is, Eric follows his nose and reveals the news story of a lifetime. But that’s just getting started. He soon finds himself on a journey with the whole world as his audience.
Even when I suspected what was about to happen, I couldn’t stop myself from smiling at their triumph.
This also gives a unique look into the life of a reporter. Throughout the book are articles from the protagonist about the ongoing story, which gives it a very artistic touch.
Content is relatively clean—small use of profanity. And though sex is briefly mentioned, it does not go into ridiculous detail.
Abandoned is a very intriguing story, with a feel-good ending, about a reporter (Eric) who interviews a man about to commit suicide. The man’s only comment before his death is a cryptic request.
Being the hard worker he is, Eric follows his nose and reveals the news story of a lifetime. But that’s just getting started. He soon finds himself on a journey with the whole world as his audience.
Even when I suspected what was about to happen, I couldn’t stop myself from smiling at their triumph.
This also gives a unique look into the life of a reporter. Throughout the book are articles from the protagonist about the ongoing story, which gives it a very artistic touch.
Content is relatively clean—small use of profanity. And though sex is briefly mentioned, it does not go into ridiculous detail.
June 10, 2020
This is the story of a reporter named Eric who witnesses a suicide. The last thing the man said was "save my daughter" it turns out he lived on a space station for many years. Eric gets the runaround from NASA but keeps digging. I thought the story about the daughter was interesting. What I didn't like was how everything worked out perfectly for Eric any time he had a problem.It was pretty ridiculous. Still a good story though.
June 17, 2020
I won this book in a goodreads drawing.
An ace reporter gets to the scene just as a man is about to leap off the ledge of a building. The man calls out a number. It turns out the man is a former astronaut, and the reporter begins to investigate. It seems the numbers are code for a name...the name of a girl who was born on the space station and was stranded there years ago! Her physique is not strong enough for Earth's gravity. The Space station has left orbit and she needs to be rescued.
By the end there are four couples, where before there were none.
Very readable, but seems somehow naive.
An ace reporter gets to the scene just as a man is about to leap off the ledge of a building. The man calls out a number. It turns out the man is a former astronaut, and the reporter begins to investigate. It seems the numbers are code for a name...the name of a girl who was born on the space station and was stranded there years ago! Her physique is not strong enough for Earth's gravity. The Space station has left orbit and she needs to be rescued.
By the end there are four couples, where before there were none.
Very readable, but seems somehow naive.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 29, 2020
Wonderful read
I really enjoyed this book. It really flowed from beginning to end and I hope the continues to write more books. I have to say I never quite thought that something like this could happen. Everyone needs to read this book and discover Jennifer. I want to thank the author and publisher for gifting this book.
I really enjoyed this book. It really flowed from beginning to end and I hope the continues to write more books. I have to say I never quite thought that something like this could happen. Everyone needs to read this book and discover Jennifer. I want to thank the author and publisher for gifting this book.
June 17, 2020
Interesting read, I enjoyed the mystery element and the subject matter (space exploration). The romantic relationships in this story, particularly Eric/Marsha, seemed contrived & a little bit cringe-worthy to me. Otherwise, I enjoyed this book & would recommend!
November 30, 2020
Wonderful relaxing read
This book was wonderful! It is a quick read but definitely a page turner. I kind of guessed a lot of the bigger elements of the story but it was still just as wonderful reading them as if I hadn't.
This book was wonderful! It is a quick read but definitely a page turner. I kind of guessed a lot of the bigger elements of the story but it was still just as wonderful reading them as if I hadn't.
December 11, 2020
The book was good. Not what I expected. It's a decent palate cleansing book. From the description I was expecting more of a science fiction thriller but it read more like a lifetime movie. It had funny parts and some sappy parts. Overall it was a decent read.
February 9, 2021
Government secret gone too far
How far will astronauts and the U.S. government go to keep a secret from the entire planet. Years after the ISS was left for good, it drifted off towards the moon. Can the ISS and the precious cargo on board be saved?
#GoodreadsGiveaway
How far will astronauts and the U.S. government go to keep a secret from the entire planet. Years after the ISS was left for good, it drifted off towards the moon. Can the ISS and the precious cargo on board be saved?
#GoodreadsGiveaway
February 19, 2021
This book did absolutely nothing for me. It was just hard to even get into after the first few chapters. The big reveal happens early and everything goes all cherries and banana's and nothing bad happens. It was so promising.
It's a pass for me.
It's a pass for me.
May 15, 2021
A fun read
As the title says, this book is fun. I figured out the big secret before the main character seemed to, but that didn't take anything away from the story. Some parts were a bit implausible, but most made sense and all worked together to make an interesting tale.
As the title says, this book is fun. I figured out the big secret before the main character seemed to, but that didn't take anything away from the story. Some parts were a bit implausible, but most made sense and all worked together to make an interesting tale.
May 27, 2023
Good science fiction takes science and extends it into a story. This is about the ISS after it is retired. With good characters and an interesting plot. Its a good what if, with a plan for further exploration of the solar system. No aliens, fusion drive, time warps. Enjoy.
September 15, 2023
Dazzled and Amazed
A very fast paced book that has everything in it. There is sorrow, love, adventure you name it. It makes you feel good about the human race.
Does humankind have a place in space? This book may answer that question.
A very fast paced book that has everything in it. There is sorrow, love, adventure you name it. It makes you feel good about the human race.
Does humankind have a place in space? This book may answer that question.
June 21, 2020
Good book, easy to follow writing and a decent plot. Would definitely read more from this author.
August 4, 2020
Interesting storyline and read
May 16, 2021
You won't put this book down
I am an avid reader, I read every day. I have never read any story even close to this one and probably never will.
I am an avid reader, I read every day. I have never read any story even close to this one and probably never will.
October 12, 2021
It was just OK.
December 27, 2020
The premise of the book was good. An abandoned girl on the space station. Eric, a reporter stumbles on to the story and follows it up to it's conclusion. Things seem to go right for Eric always, maybe a little unbelievable. And the other part I didn't care for were the romance aspects of the book, a little sickeningly sweet. But the book was interesting enough that I wanted to finish it to see what happened.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews