VJ Books Blog

(John Hutchinson, Nov. 10, 2008)

A couple of years ago a friend turned me on to an author named Blake Crouch.  His first book, Desert Places, a genuine edge-of-your seat thriller, just blew me away.  It turns and twists as you live the horror of a man tormented by a serial killer, framed for his unbelievable acts of psychotic cruelty.  It’s not horror novel, at least it’s not delegated to that genre, but it is a mystery with the suspense and terror only expected from the masters of that field.

 

Next, came Locked Doors, a sequel that made the original tame by comparison. 

 

We came to know Blake and were pleased to promote these books.  The response was incredible, as our friends and customers discovered an amazing new voice in suspense.  Shortly after our promotion for Locked Doors I had a conversation with Blake about his next book, and at the time I was a little disappointed to learn that he was not going to continue the series started with the first two books.  Time passed.

 

Out of the blue, I received a copy of a manuscript called Abandon.  It was from Blake, and I devoured it.  My ill-conceived disappointment over his choice not to immediately follow the first two with a sequel was completely forgotten.  This book is sure to be a major hit, but you’ll have to wait until next July to get your copy. 

 

Until then just consider:

 

One place.

Two stories.

One hundred thirteen years apart.

 

Abandon, Colorado

Elev. 11,039 feet

Pop. 123

 

The year is 1893, and the residents of this remote mining town perched high in the Rockies stand on the brink of becoming the last great mystery of these mountains.  On Christmas Day, every man, woman, and child will disappear, belongings forsaken, meals left to freeze in vacant cabins.  Not a single bone will be found.

 

Abandon, Colorado

Elev. 11,039 feet

Pop. 0

 

The year is 2006, and two backcountry guides lead a history professor, a journalist, a psychic, and a paranormal photographer deep into the Colorado wilderness to the distant ruins of Abandon.  Ostensibly, they’ve come to shoot the ghost town and see what they can learn of the mass disappearance more than a century ago.  But some have ulterior motives, and they are all on the verge of discovering that twenty miles from civilization, with a blizzard bearing down, they are not alone in the ghost town of Abandon, and the past is very much alive. 

 

In the meantime if you haven’t discovered Blake Crouch, you can still get signed copies from VJ Books.  You will not be disappointed.