Delusion: A Haunting Psychological Thriller of Wrongful Conviction, Guilt, and Buried Truths

by Peter Abrahams

The monster storm "Bernardine" did more than devastate the tiny Gulf Coast community of Belle Ville.

It uncovered suppressed evidence that exonerates a man wrongly imprisoned for murder.

Twenty years ago Nell Jarreau identified Alvin "Pirate" DuPree as the murderer who killed her boyfriend right in front of her—and she later went on to marry the detective, now the police chief, who made the arrest. She and Clay raised a daughter and had a happy life—but now Pirate is free, leaving Nell haunted by doubt, guilt, fear . . . and troubling hints that a rot may be festering at her own family's core. For the sake of her sanity, her marriage, and the safety of those she loves, Nell must uncover the truth about a nightmare that will not end. But the search is leading her into twisting dark alleys she might never escape from . . . where a wild card ex-con waits in the shadows.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Adult, Conspiracy Theories

337 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Librarian 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).

Reviews

[Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm all for an escapist read, but some standards need to be maintained. I mean really...

At one point, a woman recalls having spoken to the police just after her boyfriend's murder, and she reflects that she babbled about inane things and probably would've even told them she was pregnant, except that she hadn't yet learned she was pregnant. Mere pages later, she says her boyfriend was delighted when she told him she was pregnant, and he probably died stepping in front of her to protect the child. Huh? She didn't find out until after he was dead, but she told him before he died?

Later, a guy gets forced into a pick-up truck at gun-point. Later, when he's told to get out, it's a police cruiser instead. Funniest part is at the end the author thanks his editor. For what, I wonder?

[Maggie the Muskoka Library Mouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read Peter Abrahams before, and I really like his ability to write a suspenseful novel with twists that surprise you. Once I began this book, I had trouble putting it down, and I was racing to the end in no time.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Post listen review: This book was ok. It wasn't great. It's a case of mistaken identity that turns out to be more elaborate than that. The plot was essentially predictable but some of the characters were kind of interesting. I did get a bit annoyed at the main protaganist constantly saying, "I don't understand" when it was pretty obvious to all of us what was going on.

There were a couple of twists and turns but nothing amazing. I kept thinking it was about to go in a really bad and dumb direction but it never did so points for that. I would call this a solid average maybe.

Pre-Listen guess: They don't have the audiobook edition of this on Goodreads right now but this is an audiobook I am listening to. I am guessing it will be an ok book but I will probably like it more because after all the romance and literary novels I have had lately, a plain old suspense book sounds kind of refreshing.

[Desiree Elkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I too often find the same problem with most crime novels. I enjoy the character development in the beginning, as the plot begins to unfold, slowly. But, about half way through I pretty much know that Professor Plum did it, in the library, with the candlestick. And let me be clear here, I can be kind of ditsy when it comes to figuring it all out..which means watching cheesy crime drama shows and cliche suspense thriller movies are still entertaining to me. I guess I just want a little more originality when it comes to these novels! Because, if *I* can figure it out merely halfway through the book, I'm sure my husband is in the know within the first few chapters.

3 stars because although the story was easily figured, the characters had me guessing a bit. Limp ending though.

[Emjay · Rating 2 out of 5]

20 years ago Nell Jarreau witnessed the murder of her boyfriend. Justice for whites in LA was swift and her identification of Alvin DuPree, a black, sent him to a maximum security prison for life. But new evidence popped up proving DuPree's innocence. Now he's back and Nell realizes that she has identified the wrong man. Her reality is becoming more and more of a delusion. This was a "really liked it" until the contrived ending.

[Papalodge · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the characters.
The results of the hypnosis didn't seem to add to the story. That was weird.
Halfway through the story, maybe even earlier, I figured out what had happened. However, I felt obligated to finish reading to the end. Liked the ending. Didn't like the epilouge type of second ending.

[Lois Duncan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peter Abrahams' books are "good reads." But I always come away feeling as if there are missing pieces, undeveloped characters, conflicting pieces of information. Things seldom seem to fall together properly. This doesn't mean that I don't intend to read more of his books, because I enjoy his writing, but it does mean I don't feel comfortable giving this book four stars. I wish I did.

[Cecily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed by the ending. And I agree with the other review, highly predictable.

[Szaarotka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jaka jest moja opinia? Taka – po skończeniu książki nie wiedziałam, co ze sobą zrobić.

[Lyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twenty years ago Nell Jarreau witnessed the murder of her fiancé, Johnny Blanton. Alvin DuPree was convicted of the killing on her testimony and spent the next nineteen years in prison. But after a hurricane destroys much of the small southern town of Bell View, a videotape is found exonerating him.

At first Nell is sure the evidence will be found fraudulent. When that doesn't happen she struggles to understand how she could have made such a horrible mistake. What really happened?

Nell is married to the detective who arrested Dupree. Clay Jarreau is now Chief of Police and together they have raised Norah, the daughter Nell conceived with Blanton. Norah is being tortured by accusations made by her grandfather about her mother's marriage to Clay soon after the trial. Accusations that she doesn't share with her parents, while trying to find papers written by Johnny just before his death.

Guilt forces Nell to search for the truth about DuPree's conviction. She also wants to find the real murderer. Clay meanwhile is determined that DuPree not settle in Bell View. For the first time in their marriage, Nell and Clay are on opposing sides of a situation. Clay isn't eager to investigate why the videotape didn't surface sooner. His attitude forces Nell to go underground with her own questions.

Despite his possible innocence, Alvin DuPree is unlikeable and possibly mentally unbalanced. He lost an eye in prison during a confrontation with a gang member. He still carries a homemade weapon that he managed to construct and hide from prison guards. He is always only a step away from violence. Don't miss Delusion.

[JBradford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Abrahams has written at least 20 novels and is cited by Stephen King as his favorite American suspense novelist, but this, so far as I recall, is the first thing I have ever read by him. I found it a remarkably complex novel for so simple a basic plot, made more intense by having the point of view oscillate back and forth between the protagonist, a young woman who 20 years ago served as the eyewitness accuser of her lover’s murderer, and the antagonist, the low-life who was put in prison as a result. They clearly have two different understandings of what really happened, and Abrahams cleverly keeps the suspense running strong as we follow the interaction between these two characters and the others involved in the story: the woman’s husband, her collegiate daughter, and a woman reporter trying too hard to find the truth, along with a few other minor characters. The action takes place in Belle Ville, a southern bayou town nearly destroyed by a hurricane the previous year (sound familiar?) and Little Parrot Cay, a Bahamian island paradise, with some plot tightening facilitated by flashbacks to the murder scene, as well as by evolving tension between the principal characters. The ending is a whirlwind of sudden denouement as the different characters reveal their true nature and the truth is at last revealed.

[Trish · Rating 1 out of 5]

Overall an entertaining Abrahams yarn, but not his best. What the novel lacks, I think, is a competent protagonist. The central character, Nell, wants to figure out what happened 20 years ago when her fiance was stabbed (and when she identified the wrong man as the killer) but Nell is ... naive and obtuse. I think her confusion and ineptitude are realistically drawn, but it makes narrative progress, especially in the final pages, haphazard. The only character who is intelligently, doggedly trying to piece together the truth is reporter Lee Anne, who the reader sees only through the eyes of other characters. And when (SPOILER) Lee Anne is killed, Abrahams has to resort to an unsatisfying rush of revelation and violence -- everyone converges on the Bastien mansions and exchanges injuries (blows to the head, slashing wounds, a shot to the head). The end leaves a few points hanging, and as other reviewers have noted the "coda" is disappointing. Justice isn't served and the characters' reactions seem off; both Nell and her daughter appear to forgive the man who covered up the fiance's murder and framed the wrong man, and no matter how sketchily drawn the character of the daughter is this forgiveness seems unlikely.

[Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Synopsis: Nell Jarreau witnessed the murder of her boyfriend and was able to finger the killer from a police lineup and he was sent to spend his life in prison. After twenty years, additional evidence surfaces that exonerates the convicted killer Alvin DuPree. Nell can hardly live with the guilt of sending an innocent man to prison and her sweet, caring husband is no help as he was the detective in the original case and has no desire to unearth the past.

My Review: The story was based on an interesting premise and the storyline jumped between Nell Jarreau and the falsely convicted felon Alvin DuPree which kept things interesting as the story unfolded. I had no big complaints about the book. The story wasn't predictable and there weren't too many unexpected twists and turns. I would pick up another book by Abrahams in the future. (Edit: As I was typing in the labels for this post I realized this is the second book by Abrahams that I have read.)

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a somewhat predictable mystery. The character of Nell is somewhat wishy washy in most situations. Twenty years prior she had been the only witness in the murder of her boyfriend but she sent the wrong person to jail. She just didn't seem to have a backbone till maybe the end of the book.

Her daughter, Nora, I just wanted to slap silly. She gets in trouble in College comes home with a major attitude but won't talk to anyone about what is the problem. OK, a teenager. However, all of a sudden she calls the man who raised her since she was 2 her stepfather and keeps asking her mother if she loved her biological father (the murder victim).

Pirate was the man wrongly accused and sent to jail for 20 years. Then a mysterious tape proving his innocence shows up after a hurricane. He gets out and things start to look up for him and then all goes to hell. I did feel for him.

All in all Delusion was OK but there weren't too many surprises.

[Lighthearted · Rating 2 out of 5]

20 years ago Nell witnessed the murder of her boyfriend---her testimony led to the conviction/imprisonment of Alvin DuPree. A recently-discovered videotape now proves that DuPree was elsewhere at the time of the murder. As Nell tries to determine how she could have made such a mistake, she turns to her husband of 18 years for help (he was the lead detective from the case at the time)---but his increasingly odd behavior has her wondering if he knew of DuPree's innocence all along . . . .

Intriguing premise with at least one really good twist (Nell discovers DuPree at the scene of another crime). That said, the characters just didn't draw me in---DuPree, while innocent of the Blanton murder, is a dangerous, scary and unsympathetic character; Nell seems one-dimensional. The 'epilogue' second ending bothered me.

[Jack Heath · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars. I wasn't sure about this one, but it was surprisingly enjoyable. A young woman, Neil, and her boyfriend, Johnny, who is soon to be her husband, are out for an evening walk. He gets attacked and murdered. The police investigate; she identifies who she saw and a man is sent to prison for the crime. Neil goes on to marry the police detective who handled the case. But years later a video tape accidentally emerges which puts Alvin Dupree, the convicted murderer, kilometres away at the key time. How could this have happened? She begins to ask questions. The book's only flaw is that the likely suspect became apparent to me earlier than one would anticipate but the novel flows nicely. Lots of suspense. You are full of your own questions, the top two being: "Why is this happening to Neil?" and, "Will she live through the tale?" (summer 2017)

[Laren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many years ago, Nell witnessed the murder of her fiance, and her testimony put a man in prison for life. Now new evidence proves he couldn't have been at the murder scene at the time it was taking place, so he is released from prison. Could she really have been wrong about who did it, or did they just release a murderer back into society?

This book is told through multiple points of view, and the author does a fantastic job of making those voices different and distinct from each other while keeping them all an important part of the puzzle as the story develops. This was very well written, and not completely predictable. Peter Abrahams is well on his way to putting his name on my "must read" list of authors.

[Amy Rumler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up as a result of a challenge I gave myself to find new to me authors in my local library. I must say, I did enjoy the story. Although there was a few plot points that the editor neglected to catch (pregnancy timeframe and a truck suddenly becoming a police cruiser). But, regardless, it was a good story. I thought I knew the ending about halfway through, but I was about 3/4 through when I realized I may be wrong and started to realize there were other possiblities. The action came fast and furious at the end when everything started to blow up.

I will definitely read other books by this author and hope his editors are better in his other books. I would recommend it as a good read.

[Reece Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast-paced, vivid characters, lots of surprises. This is what you want in a suspense novel.
True, the ending wraps up too quickly and makes for an unsatisfying conclusion, but the abruptness is in keeping with the style of the novel, which doesn't overstate itself but strikes you like a bolt of lightning.

Many reviewers have remarked that the character, Nell, is too dim-witted to see who the killer is when it is so obvious to the reader. This surprises me. You people do realize that the narrative is told in the third person using multiple perspectives, right? The reader is made privy to elements of the story that the characters are not. It makes sense that she would be confused about what was happening.

[T. Mason Gilbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not as good as his Perfect Crime book but the characters are well-written. I like the little things Peter Abrahams does that help give you an insight into the person's character. The story was okay but I had it figured out about halfway through. Another reviewer pointed out there were inconsistencies in the plot such as the main character not knowing she was pregnant until after the baby's father's death but later she says she told the father about it. Huh? Don't expect glaring errors like that from a traditional publisher. The book was okay even though I knew where it was going. The ending was a little contrived and not well thought out. It could have been a much better ending.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fans of Peter Abrahams will not be disappointed with his new offering. Delusion tells the story of Nell Jarreau whose testimony 20 years ago sent a man to jail for life. But a legal defense fund takes on his case and gets him released
thanks to a tape that washes up after a hurricane. This is a book in complex shades of gray--good guys, bad guys, justice and love all have a multidimensionality in this book that makes it hard to put down. The many twists and turns of the plot keep it engrossing to the surprisingly realistic
end.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nell Jarreau witnessed the murder of her boyfriend. Her testimony sent the killer to jail. Twenty years later, he is sent free when proof of his alibi mysteriously resurfaces.

Nell's world is turned upside down, but she is determined to find answers. Regardless of which direction she turns, more questions arise as to what she really saw and what really happened that night.

Good story although it felt a bit rushed. Underdeveloped secondary characters became distractiing especially Nell's daughter, Norah.

[Doug]

After 20 years in prision Alvin DuPree was freed after being wrongly accused of murdering Nell Jarreau's boyfriend on the strength of Nell's testimony. Nell is determined to find out why when something was so crystal clear she made an error in identifying the killer. Good story but the most interesting part was Dupree's time in prison reading the book of Job in the Bible. While he identified with Job his interpretation probably was no theologically correct which in the end may have caused his demise.

[Mark Soone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fine read from Abrahams who is quickly rising up on my list of favorite authors (I can say with confidence that he is clearly in my top 500 at the very least!).

This was IMHO not as good as pressure drop or crying wolf but still managed to warrant 5 stars from me....4 would be as low as I would go (I wish we had a 10 point rating system...I would likely go 9).

Again the characters and plot were very enjoyable and well developed. Their was plenty of action and suspense making wait to see what would happen next!

[Prajna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was billed on the cover as "A Novel of Suspense", but I didn't think it delivered. I figured out the whole thing half way through the book. I did like the writing style and the different character's perspectives, especially Pirate's. The first few chapters were very gripping and drew me in quickly. I was just disappointed that it fell a bit flat in the end. Also, there were a few inconsistencies as well. This was my first time reading a book by this author, so maybe I'll try another one. I see from the reviews that this is one of his weakest ones.

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed after reading a glowing review of this book. It has a promising plot, and setting the story in the aftermath of a Katrina-like hurricane offers endless possibilities for intrigue and mystery. But the dialogue often seemed to get in the way and drag the story on and on. When the subtitle is "A Novel of Suspense" you set your self up for a real thriller, not a book that has you thinking "come on with it, already." I also found the ending quite unsatisfying -- I suppose it's meant to be startling or shocking but I found it abrupt and disappointing.

[Margee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A woman who helped put a man known as Pirate DuPree behind bars for the murder of her boyfriend discovers that new evidence has proved him not guilty. This revelation puts in jeopardy her relationship with her daughter, her friends, and her husband, the detective who sent DuPree to jail. Suspense builds as various people connected with the case are murdered, finally driving the woman to seek out the only person who might help her rectify her mistake.

[Gossymotto · Rating 2 out of 5]

I Liked this one better than Oblivion but still not really that great. I'm still wondering what the fuss is about Abraham's writing. I find that there are to many things in his books (at least the two that I have read) that rely heavily on coincidence. It's a big city story, but the way everyone happens to someone know everyone else, suggests that they all live in a place like Dog River.

One more try with "The Tudor" and if it's not any better than I'm giving up on Peter.

[Tyra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audio version of this novel and was underwhelmed. The main character, Nell, didn't seem strong enough to carry the weight of the story. I found her neither likeable or unlikeable. You might say that I didn't care if she lived or died. A secondary character, Pirate, didn't show what he was capable of until the last chapter, which came as a surpise to me. Lastly, the crime--something about the core of engineers and a bridge--didn't seem severe enough to warrant deaths.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abrahams is one of my favorite suspense novelists. I appreciate not knowing what's coming - maybe suspecting - but not knowing. Abrahams doesn't write "down" to his readers - he assumes we're smart and I like that. The premise of this book is that life can turn around in a heartbeat - what we think we know, what we believe to be true can fall apart like a house of cards. I definitely recommend this author and this book!