Abandoned

By: Dan Foley

Narrated by: Harry Shaw

Every time James Sutton gets close to someone, it ends in disaster. He’s abandoned at birth by his parents, at nine by his best friend Alex and his dog Trixie, at 18, by his girlfriend Donna, and at 30, when his adoptive father commits suicide and leaves James alone...again.

On a rare warm day in January, James witnesses a man suffer a heart attack. The paramedics arrive in minutes and whisk the man away, failing to see the pair of glasses lying on the ground where the man collapsed. For James and his abandonment issues, this will not do.

It’s time for a little payback on behalf of everyone — and every thing — that has ever been neglected or discarded. James is going to set things right again: one body part at a time.

***

“Dan Foley knows the hard truth: that the darkest of monsters reside within the human heart. Abandoned is just plain scary — the kind of horror that’s made all the more terrifying because it could be true.” (Charles R. Rutledge, co-author of Blind Shadows and Congregations of the Dead)

“A deliciously macabre dark comedy that serves as a reminder of just how close we all can be to the brink of insanity.” (Peter N. Dudar, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of A Requiem for Dead Flies and Where Spiders Fear to Spin)

“If the measure of a man is his mind, Dan Foley inhabits a world of horrors that is otherwise unoccupied. Abandoned grabs you from the very beginning and doesn't let go. This one will stay with you long after the last page has been turned.” (John Valeri, Hartford Books Examiner)

“...an inventive and sympathetic exploration of the extreme effects of rejection and isolation. Although there are hints of Fowles’s The Collector as well as Lindsay’s Dexter, this book is all Dan Foley. Abandoned is an exciting portrait of a man struggling to reconcile his cravings for belonging with his urges for bloody retribution. It shows... that Foley clearly has heart — maybe several of them — in jars on his desk.” (Bracken MacLeod, author of Mountain Home and Stranded)

©2016 Dan Foley (P)2020 David N. Wilson

Abandoned But Not Forgotten or Lost

This was a very neat take on a serial killer. I really enjoyed the abandoned aspect of how he decided who his victims would be. Completely different take on serial killers and worked really well. Dan Foley did a great job setting up the psychosis that James has with abandonment and the need for him to find a home for abandoned things. While I didn’t think he should have felt that way, I was along on his journey and felt the need that he had as the story unfolded.

I really liked James, I felt out of all the characters he was the most real. Many of the others filled the proper role but I felt like they were dramatized more like a tv show versus reality. None of that bothered me and didn’t distract, James’s story just really worked well for me, even if it was completely odd. I never felt he was a monster, just someone looking for something to fill the emptiness inside. Something that nothing seems to be able to fill.

The plot is what really grabs you. I really liked how James spirals out of control like an OCD person. The way the story is told really ratchets up the tension and the stress you feel for James. My only real complaint is that I wasn’t satisfied with the ending. I felt that that really fell flat when compared to the buildup. I had a lot of thoughts of where the story was going and I really missed the mark, or I would say the author missed the mark.

Harry Shaw did a great job with the narration. I loved the sound of his voice and thought it really added to the overall story. His body part voices were spot on.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Loved it

A very interesting and original take on a serial killer
If you like fast paced gritty crime stories this is definitely for you
Well narrated and highly recommended
I received a free review audiobook and voluntarily left this review