Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Blind Traveler Down a Dark River

by Robert P. Bennett (Goodreads Author)

3.5 of 5 stars 3.50 · rating details · 4 ratings · 3 reviews

Douglas Abledan is a blind man using a GPS unit to navigate the world. One day the device malfunctions. He stumbles upon the scene of a murder about to take place. Due to the confusion caused by the failure of his technology, it isnat until he hears a radio announcer reporting an accidental shooting that pieces start falling into place. Unable to convince authorities to lo...more

Paperback, 204 pages

Published May 2nd 2005 by PublishAmerica

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-12 of 12)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Mar 20, 2013 Andrea rated it 2 of 5 stars

Douglas Abledan is a blind man of the future living in a world filled with earthquakes and whole areas of the country as we know it are gone. He uses a GPS unit to get about in New York City where he lives. One day going about his normal routine his GPS device fails him and suddenly what he “sees” is something happening in a different part of New York City. He finds himself on a street where a drive by shooting is taking place. Then just as suddenly as it happened his device corrects itself and...more Douglas Abledan is a blind man of the future living in a world filled with earthquakes and whole areas of the country as we know it are gone. He uses a GPS unit to get about in New York City where he lives. One day going about his normal routine his GPS device fails him and suddenly what he “sees” is something happening in a different part of New York City. He finds himself on a street where a drive by shooting is taking place. Then just as suddenly as it happened his device corrects itself and he is back where he is supposed to be.

He goes on about his business assuming it was just a malfunction and nothing more. But the next day he reads about the drive by shooting death of John Haggarty the CEO of Unimat Corporation, a company that has developed a revolutionary new product that will replace steel and also help buildings to withstand the force of an earthquake.

Abledan goes to the police but they don’t believe him. As far as they are concerned it was a drive by shooting and nothing more. But Abledan believes it was not a random shooting based on what he saw thru his GPS unit so he sets out on his own to uncover the truth about Haggarty’s death. The more he looks into it the more he is convinced that it was not a random death. For Unimat had many enemies including an environmental group that blames technology for the increase in earthquakes and feels the new building material will release hazardous gasses plus the steel unions who are afraid Unimat’s new product will cause steel workers to lose many of their jobs. But by digging into the business of Unimat, Abledan may just find himself in a deadly race to outwit a ruthless killer.

Blind Traveler Down a Dark River had all the makings of a brilliant story but unfortunately the writing at times was wooden and the dialogue very stiff and clunky. I was constantly pulled out of the story by dialogue that just was too clunky and writing that just didn’t ring true.

The characters didn’t have depth, most of them were pretty unbelievable and unlikable. Including Haggarty, the workaholic CEO with the beautiful alcoholic wife, Eddie, the not so educated but likeable hot dog vendor with the sick wife and the psychotic lesbian assassin who loves to kill. Abledan was more developed than most of the other characters but he wasn’t very likeable. He always seemed to think he was better than everybody including the police whom he felt were just a bunch of bumbling incompetents.

Considering it was a story of the future I never really felt as if it took place in the future. There wasn’t enough descriptive detail to really give you a sense of what the New York City of the future was like.

Despite this I would really like to see a more developed and better edited sequal to this story with the character of Abledan. The premise of a blind sleuth investigating criminal doings in the future is one I think would make a great story if the writing was improved upon, the characters better developed and the dialogue more believable.
(less)

like · see review

Sep 09, 2012 Marlene rated it 3 of 5 stars

Originally published at Reading Reality

Blind Traveler Down a Dark River is a near-future murder mystery. I wanted to settle into following the amateur detective as he solved the mystery, but the near-future part kept tugging at my willing suspension of disbelief until it got partially resolved. Why? Because the reason for the murder hinged on it.

The reader needs to accept that this near-future earth is close enough in time that the 1990s GPS satellites are still used as a historical touchpoint,...more

like · see review

Apr 29, 2011 Sheila rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like · see review

Apr 14, 2013 Diana marked it as to-read

Sep 24, 2012 Caitlyn marked it as to-read

May 21, 2012 Erin Jepsen marked it as to-read

Dec 19, 2011 Randy marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Dec 18, 2011 Pamela Barrett marked it as to-read

May 01, 2011 ZaBeth marked it as to-read

Recommended to ZaBeth by: Sheila

Shelves: _g-mystery, _g-disability, series_1off

Apr 29, 2011 Doreen Dalesandro marked it as to-read

Mar 09, 2011 Verna Clay marked it as to-read

May 04, 2010 Robert Bennett rated it 5 of 5 stars · (Review from the author)

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (1)

Popular Shelves

to-read

8 shelves

series_one-off

1 shelf

_g-disability

1 shelf

_g-mystery

1 shelf

for-review

-1 shelves

About Robert P. Bennett

Robert Bennett, a former social worker turned writer, lives in the house he grew up in with his mother, one of his two brothers, two dogs that don’t get along, and a turtle. His lifelong focus has been a concern for the needs of society’s disenfranchised. His articles span a wide range of topics from sports to technology and from politics to social justice. His fiction is grounded in real world ev...more

More about Robert P. Bennett...

Books by Robert P. Bennett

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Blind Traveler Do...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: Blind Traveler Down a Dark River
avg rating	preview: Blind Traveler Down a Dark River Goodreads rating: 3.50 (4 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1511649.Blind_Traveler_Down_a_Dark_River?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1349129248l/1511649.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1511649.Blind_Traveler_Down_a_Dark_River?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Blind Traveler Down a Dark River by Robert P. Bennett[/url]

Blind Traveler Down a Dark River

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

combineOther Editions (1)

Popular Shelves

About Robert P. Bennett

Books by Robert P. Bennett

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Blind Traveler Do...

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (1)