DELUSION
Peter Abrahams
William Morrow
Thriller
ISBN: 9780061137990

Those of us who love genre fiction, particularly suspense and thriller titles, come to a novel with a certain set of expectations. Some of these are carried unconsciously, like the house keys we place in our pockets or purses as we multitask through a few other necessary chores. We don’t think about them until they’re absent; the effect is then disconcerting.

Peter Abrahams is one of those disconcerting craftsmen who makes it a practice to color outside of the lines, to rearrange the furniture in the middle of the night so that toes are stubbed. What he does --- and in some ways better than anyone else --- is drag the fictional world kicking and screaming just a bit closer to our own world, where too often we wonder about our friend, our neighbor, why the heck he did that, and never get an answer.

Abrahams sets a new bar for himself in DELUSION, set in Belle Ville, a fictitious southern Louisiana community (and I think modeled roughly after the Northshore area, for those seeking a more specific reference point) that is recovering from a deadly and devastating hurricane. This storm is a metaphor throughout the book, one that grows in importance, even in its aftermath, as the story progresses.

Nell Jarreau is at the center of a domestic hurricane, which has been calm, placid, even happy, though born out of tumult. Two decades prior to the primary events of DELUSION, Nell was engaged to Johnny Blanton, a geology major whose life was abruptly cut short in front of Nell when he was viciously murdered. Nell’s eyewitness testimony was instrumental in convicting Alvin DuPree (later to become known as “Pirate”). Nell’s life gradually regained some normalcy. Pregnant with Blanton’s child at the time of the killing, she gave birth to a daughter whom she named Norah and ultimately married Clay, the police detective who investigated Blanton’s murder.

Nell’s life is turned upside down, however, when new evidence is discovered that exonerates DuPree and results in his release from prison. Innocence notwithstanding, DuPree is a complex and frightening man; how much of his dark side was wrought in prison, and prior thereto, we never really learn (how would one quantify it, in any event?). He feels, not unreasonably, that he is owed something, but it is not necessarily money. When DuPree returns, everyone --- both within the novel and without --- waits for the explosions.

The question in DELUSION looms: If DuPree did not murder Blanton, then who did? And why? The obvious answers are not so obvious; and as they are slowly revealed, one by one, Nell and Clay’s marriage, like the case against DuPree, begins to quietly disintegrate. Nell is unable to let the matter lie, even as those around her, including her husband, quietly warn her away. The ultimate answers are layered, complex and, of course, troubling.

The conclusion is quietly shocking, especially when one considers the potential implications of them in all of their glory. Abrahams is well-acquainted with the complexities and unpredictability of human nature and emotions. DELUSION continues his exploration into those dark and uncharted waters.

    --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

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