This is hell—the absolute loss borne from all those slivers of perfection that passed unnoticed, unrelished. [p. 513]
Abandon is a ghost town high in the Rockies. On Christmas Day in 1893, every inhabitant vanished, leaving half-eaten meals on tables, wine freezing in glasses, and Christmas gifts still wrapped. The town is, of course, rumoured to be haunted: there are also tales of hidden treasure.
A small expedition sets forth to explore. The party consists of two experienced guides, a history professor and his estranged journalist daughter, and a married couple who've lost their son and now have an affinity for ghosts and the supernatural. He takes photos, she senses the spirits of the dead.
Unfortunately there are other threats, much more substantial than ghosts: treachery is afoot, and a storm is blowing in. Abigail will discover not only the fate of the townsfolk, but the truth behind the stories. Whether she'll ever get to write about it is another matter.
Abandon was an uneasy blend of suspense, historical fiction -- Abigail's narrative alternates with scenes from the 1890s, when Abandon was a rough gold-mining town -- and action thriller. There is a lot of violence in both timelines, and some grim decisions to be made. And it definitely ends in a minor key (though I'm not sure it ever made it into a major key). A lot of loose ends, too, some of which were disappointing and some merely exasperating. At its best, the writing is precise and evocative -- though sometimes overreliant on period detail and slang -- which kept me reading. But it was not a cheering experience.
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