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The Abortionist's Daughter | 
 enlarge | Author: Elisabeth Hyde
Publisher: Highbridge Audio
Category: Book
List Price: $32.95
Buy New: $17.00
You Save: $15.95 (48%)
New (14) from $17.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  38 reviews
Sales Rank: 1442340
Format: Audiobook
Media: Audio CD
Edition: Unabridged
Number Of Items: 7
Pages: 510
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 5.9 x 5.1 x 1.1
ISBN: 1598870440
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781598870442
ASIN: 1598870440
Publication Date: June 22, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new factory sealed. Daily shipping in protective mailer.b27
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
When the director of the Center for Reproductive Choice is murdered, a town must confront the consequences of choice, the nature of guilt, and the hidden allegiances and hostilities that animate and destroy families and communities. Two weeks before Christmas, Dr. Diana Duprey is found floating face-up in a small lap pool in her back yard. A medical doctor with an abortion practice, and a national figure who inspired passion and ignited tempers, she had been the target of violent threats by right-to-life activists. Her husband, Frank Thomson, a lawyer in the district attorney?s office, fought bitterly with her on the morning of her murder. To reveal the nature of their argument would cost him his career?and more. Diana?s daughter, Megan, also quarreled with her on the day of her death. The Reverend Stephen O?Connell, founder of the town?s outspoken Lifeblood Coalition, had reasons of his own to want Diana?s practice shut down, including her involvement with his troubled teenager. The investigation of the case unleashes a flood of secrets in Duprey?s small Colorado town, whose residents must face haunting questions?and the accusations of their own consciences.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 33 more reviews...
 Provacative murder mystery, will hook you and offend you (topics, conclusion) January 25, 2008
This book contains descriptions of adolescent sex acts, abortions, and murder. The beginning of the book sucked me into the sad lives of the characters. I was offended, but I had to find out if I had correctly guessed the murderer.
Elisabeth Hyde creates pathetic characters. Murder victim Diana Duprey is an overly permissive parent with several drug addictions. (Should she be praised for providing abortions? Hyde lets the reader judge.) Husband Frank Thompson is a recovering philanderer with unresolved anger towards his deceased, mentally retarded son. Megan Thompson was an underage tramp with substance problems of her own- as an adult, she's still screwed up. Detective Hucks becomes dispicable early on- he can't keep his [male genitalia] in his pants. Rev Steve is a cliche of every pro-life fanatic. (Sadly, Hyde takes this sterotype too far- people from Rev's group kill abortion providers.) Bill, Megan's ex, is a weirdo who earns Diana's sympathy.
There are perpheral characters with just as many problems- child porn peddler, Bill's "girlfriend", detective Ernie, pervy teacher Michael Malone, staunch pro-lifer Eve Kelly, rejected lover Piper.
Who killed Diana? It becomes rather predictable... with a graphic description of her murder.
The "redemption" of Megan is superficial!!! It was the concluding chapter - her redemption- that ruined the book for me! Because of this chapter, I can't recommend this book to anyone who likes a geuine ending. If you don't mind a book crapping out in the last quarter, you might want to read The Abortionist's Daughter.
 So Good! January 2, 2008
I actually really liked this book, although the title is a little misleading. It's not really about the daughter...more about the daughter's ex-boyfriend. And I wish it would have been longer, the relationship aspect of the book could have been more in-depth. I'm not really a fan of having to guess what would have happened. But none-the-less it was a very interesting book!
 No surprises here December 26, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
You can tell that Elisabeth Hyde has done her "Creative Writing" homework.
Rule #1: For a classic whodunnit you need to develop several suspects, and hey, the most obvious suspects turn out to be innocent, of course.
Rule #2: Be specific. That's probably why we learn what everybody in the book is eating (Top Ramen soup being a favorite) and wearing (layering is crucial for menopausal women, just in case you didn't know or never wanted to know).
Rule #3: Be at least a little daring. That's where drugs, oral sex, abortions etc. come in.
It looks like this book has all the ingredients, and still fails to make good on its promise. The characters remain strangely one-dimensional and stereotypical. So does the plot. While reading I was really trying to shake that constant deja-vu feeling and hoping for at least one unexpected twist. It wasn't meant to happen.
Skip it December 1, 2007
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
"The Abortionist's Daughter" was a major disappointment. It reminds me of a Jodi Picoult book, and since I'm not a big fan of hers, that shouldn't be taken as a compliment. Author Elisabeth Hyde took a good idea for a murder mystery and ruined it with stupid characterizations and foreshadowing that was way too obvious right from the beginning.
Dr. Diana Duprey, the owner and director of an abortion clinic, is found dead in an exercise pool at the home she shared with her husband, Frank, a DA. There are numerous suspects in the case, as there are an abundance of people who had issues with Diana and probably wanted her dead. Frank and Diana are observed having a terrible fight shortly before her death. Numerous anti-abortion activists have made death threats to Diana in the past. A local reverend/right-to-life activist burst into Diana's clinic the day she was killed. Even Diana's 19-year-old daughter, Megan, is considered a possible suspect at first, although that theory is quickly put to rest. Megan is forced to deal with the loss of her mother, the persistent unwanted attention from her ex-boyfriend, Bill, and the idea that her own father may have committed the crime. To top it all off, Megan finds herself drawn to Huck, one of the police detectives investigating the murder, which obviously creates a major snag in the investigation process.
This book isn't very well-written. Most of the characters are entirely one-dimensional, and they conduct themselves in ways that make absolutely no sense at all (a cop willingly shacking up with the daughter of a homicide victim, etc.). There are story elements that pop up but are never fully explored or explained (such as Frank's affair with the coroner and the impact Frank and Diana's deceased son had on their family). It was also pretty obvious to me who the killer was right from the beginning, so there wasn't much suspense there, and the final "confession" was incredibly anti-climactic.
The fact that there was so much going on in the story kept me constantly engaged, but I was disappointed that so many aspects of the plot fizzled out without any explanation. Still, the book did hold my interest throughout, probably because it really had the potential to be a great murder mystery. Sadly, though, "The Abortionist's Daughter" does not meet expectations.
Nothing special September 13, 2007
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
When Diana is found dead by her swimming pool at home, it soon becomes clear that she has been murdered. The police investigate starting from her husband Frank all the way through her own daughter, Megan, and other acquaintances. As Diana had been a doctor who performed abortions in her own clinic, the list of suspects stretches out due to the controversies that often arose because of her profession. Additionally, throughout the investigation, some very unpleasant issues and family secrets come into the open.
The issue of abortion is tackled with balanced views by the "opposite sides" pertaining to the story, so that the focus is kept on the murder and subsequent investigation -even though in my opinion the core of the book relates more to family dynamics-.
All in all, I'd say that the narrative is fast paced although I wouldn't consider this a page-turner. I'd rather view it as a lukewarm thriller, not entirely "poor quality" but certainly not remarkable either. The fact that I, like most reviewers, guessed at the killer's identity almost right from the start speaks for itself.
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