Blake Crouch

A history professor, a journalist, a psychic, and a paranormal photographer venture deep into the Colorado wilderness to explore the fate of an entire town that mysteriously vanished in 1893.

Abandon

C. J. Daley 

After reading both Dark Matter and Recursion I had decided to look for more and found this one. (Both of those named above are critical hits, but if you haven’t read yet, please do…they’re great). Abandon is an older release, so I don’t think nearly as many have heard of it. It’s also historical fiction and not scifi, so that may throw some people off. The story itself is about an abandoned mining town where everyone disappeared on the same Christmas Day—no bodies or remains of any kind, no preparation of any kind either, so the people didn’t plan to leave. That premise alone drew me in. I’ll be honest I typically like historical fiction to be about a specific real event, even if the events in the book are totally fabricated, but this one held up pretty well. (If I am wrong and this is a true story(ish) let me know! I tried looking it up…). The only thing that threw me off while listening to this one is that goodreads has this book tagged as #Paranormal and although it’s a spooky premise, there is absolutely nothing paranormal about it (except for maybe one single line I recall, but will not spoil!). This is a story of survival and greed, it does read more like an action-y story than a horror, but it is definitely graphic. Personally a 4/5* for me. 
The second part is an accompanying short story that the audible credit included. So, August, 2021. On the Good, Red Road by Blake Crouch (read by Blake Crouch!). This short story highlights one characters road to Abandon and it’s another story of survival… and something a little darker. Personally a 3.5/5*, a good accompanying story. 

Have you read any Blake Crouch? Or seen anything adapted from his work? (Wayward Pines and Good Behavior…and soon to be Dark Matter too!)

Not what I expected from what I had heard about it, but still a great read! Very vivid, beautifully written and compelling. 

Sam Sherwood

Daniel Toke Hansen

Greg Copeland

On Christmas Day in 1893, every man, woman and child in a remote gold mining town disappeared, belongings forsaken, meals left to freeze in vacant cabins; and not a single bone was ever found. One hundred thirteen years later, two backcountry guides are hired by a history professor and his journalist daughter to lead them into the abandoned mining town so that they can learn what happened. With them is a psychic, and a paranormal photographer—as the town is rumored to be haunted. A party that tried to explore the town years ago was never heard from again. What this crew is about to discover is that twenty miles from civilization, with a blizzard bearing down, they are not alone, and the past is very much alive.

Abandon

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