Obedience by Will Lavender

Thanks so much, heyjude.

Because the book's a mystery, it's tough to talk about it at-length without giving away too much, but if anyone has any questions or anything like that I would be more than happy to address them.

Here was my inspiration for writing Obedience, by the way.

heyjude said:

How about a more technical q? How did you get the heavy hitters to endorse the book? I was pretty impressed by that list. Of course, the book deserves it. I've been emailing everyone I know telling them to buy it and read it!

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My editor secured those. The David Baldacci was actually courtesy of the Dutch publisher, Bruna. The editor over there gave the book to him, he read it on the plane on the way back to the States, and voila!

It was a very lucky thing, and I hope it pays off in sales.

I finished it!!! Am I the first on AW?!?!

I don't usually read this genre, so it was an interesting ride for me. I read it all in one day, so as you can tell it held my attention. I was disappointed when I "thought" I knew what "the answer" was, but I was totally wrong. Actually I had this totally different theory that turned out to be SEMI-right. Also I think I may have to read it again to understand all the twists and turns.

I hope this is not considered a spoiler, I don't think it is. But seriously, if someone did this in real life, they would SOOOOO get the pants sued off of them. Hee hee.

Thanks for the great read, Will! I bought this last night before I went to dinner with some friends so I was showing it off and making people read the inside flaps and saying, "I know this dude online!"

Oh, also, I think you said somewhere else that your book is like "The Game." I agree, it has a lot of those elements. What it really reminded me of, though, was the episode of House where he tells the three hypothetical medical cases and then one turns out to be real. Is it just coincidental that one of your characters has the last name House? I THINK NOT!

JoNightshade said:

I hope this is not considered a spoiler, I don't think it is. But seriously, if someone did this in real life, they would SOOOOO get the pants sued off of them. Hee hee.

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No doubt. In fact I learned from a professor after the fact that there are basically regulations against such a thing in the academic world. I probably would've written the novel anyway if I would've known that beforehand.

As I was talking about in the other thread, it's NOT a novel that adheres to a perfect reality. It becomes so bizarre and elaborate by the end that the characters don't know what is what. To pull off something like that in the real world would be -- well, it'd be impossible. But I don't know if one has to perfectly believe in the possibility of the situation to enjoy the book. I started out with the question, "What would students believe, and how far would they go to satisfy their professor?" I push the assignment to unreal boundaries, but what I found in my own classes is that students will go along with their professor in their eagerness to learn.*

* I never did ANYTHING like the stuff described in this novel, though.

Will Lavender said:

* I never did ANYTHING like the stuff described in this novel, though.

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Ahem. One of my very early theories was that "L. Williams" would turn out to be you. (Will = Williams, L = Lavender...)

JoNightshade said:

Ahem. One of my very early theories was that "L. Williams" would turn out to be you. (Will = Williams, L = Lavender...)

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Ha!

I talked a little tonight at my book signing about making people squirm. Someone asked this question: "Did you ever think of doing something like this in your classes?"

Obviously not. As you say, I would've been run out of town. I actually can't stand to watch people get embarrassed. I hate it. Even if it's a political figure I don't like or something like that, I can't watch him/her sit there and wriggle under fire.

BUT I love watching fictional characters be put in situations that are uncomfortable, because I'm always hoping the reader is uncomfortable. I want things to be as creepy and as disturbing and as bizarre as possible. If it gets to that point, I know I've done my job.

I get to start on my newly autographed copy tonite!

My only regret--I didn't buy two... don't want to get my auto copy messy!

The book got a poor review in Entertainment Weekly this week, but I'm nonplussed! Sort of.

Here's a tremendous review from the Book Report Network for those interested.

And here's an author interview for a little more about me and the book.

I think the novel has a cult sort of feel around it. There are those who will REALLY love it, and there are those who will be like, "What?" It's kind of like what if David Lynch remade a Hitchcock film. Ironically, before I saw the EW review I was talking about wanting my hand in the fiction, elaborately moving the pieces around in the book so that the reader almost came to the end and had the thought, "Who in the hell IS that author and what did he just do to me?"

It's an experimental sentiment, and admittedly one that won't set well with some. But what I wanted to do was write something with an insane amount of plot. A puzzle within a puzzle. If you like that sort of intellectual exercise, then you might like Obedience.

Will Lavender said:

It's an experimental sentiment, and admittedly one that won't set well with some. But what I wanted to do was write something with an insane amount of plot. A puzzle within a puzzle. If you like that sort of intellectual exercise, then you might like Obedience.

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Yeah, I noticed this. Actually I have to say if there was one criticism I had to make, it would be that I never felt really attached to any of the characters. I like puzzles, so that is what kept me engaged and turning pages, but I wasn't sure who I was supposed to be rooting for. Except maybe the author.

JoNightshade said:

Yeah, I noticed this. Actually I have to say if there was one criticism I had to make, it would be that I never felt really attached to any of the characters. I like puzzles, so that is what kept me engaged and turning pages, but I wasn't sure who I was supposed to be rooting for. Except maybe the author.

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Yeah, that's been a common criticism even from the beginning, when I first pitched it to my now-agent. The book really has no hero or heroine that you immediately root for. Mary was my original main character, but then the others sort of crept in and started to take the narrative from her.

But I've seen so many thriller novels (and other kinds of books) that are so character-heavy, that spend pages and pages developing the reader's ties to the character, that put the MC through situations that are only tangentially related to the main plot. And I love some of those books. But I set out with the idea that I would try to do something different from the start. I wanted to get the characters out, explain the hook, and then get right into the puzzle in the first 5 pages or so. I wanted a very, very quick read because I'm always looking for a quick read. Thrillers, somehow, have become boat-sized at some point in the last 15 years. I wanted something slim and ephemeral -- and I think this might be a choice that came at the expense of the characters.

I LOVED this book!!!!! I just could not put it down- if you have not read it yet you need to run right out and get it...
(it's my second favorite book after LOTTERY LOL)

wow. This is definitely the next book I buy. Can't wait to read it.

I am loving this book, and everything about it, but one thing that I am especially intrigued by is the way you handle point of view. This sort of thing is so hard to do well, and I am thinking of assigning it to my class. Congratulations Will!

Congrats Will. This was a fun and fast read, and I was actually scared to go to sleep the first night, about a third of the way through. I have to admit though, the ending bugged be a bit, no so much what happened, but the intensity didn't seem to hold up with the rest of the book. I suppose that probably goes back to characterization. But I loved following the clues and seeing the characters in peril, and you can definitely stitch a good story. I look forward to seeing what's up your sleeve for the next novel.

Nicole

NicoleMD said:

Congrats Will. This was a fun and fast read, and I was actually scared to go to sleep the first night, about a third of the way through. I have to admit though, the ending bugged be a bit, no so much what happened, but the intensity didn't seem to hold up with the rest of the book. I suppose that probably goes back to characterization. But I loved following the clues and seeing the characters in peril, and you can definitely stitch a good story. I look forward to seeing what's up your sleeve for the next novel.

Nicole

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Thanks again all.

What you say here has been a common criticism. In fact my wife, who was the first reader, had this same thought.

(Though, I have to put in, I've read a few "The ending blew me away!"-type responses as well.)

My feeling on this is threefold.

The ending needs some explanation for everything to make sense; whereas the plot roars through most of the book, there's a discernible halt in the last 15 pages or so as the ending is revealed. That's a tonal shift that speaks possibly to one of my weaknesses as a novelist right now.

Secondly, the ending takes a big-time suspension of disbelief. Obviously.

Third, people have suggested (and I guess I have to agree) that the ending doesn't live up to the initial concept of the book. Yet it's such a strange and fierce concept that maybe the ending possibly CAN'T live up to the initial hook.

What I basically wanted to do with the ending was Milgramesque: drop the curtain, reveal a beyond-belief organism behind the class, and have something so incredibly audacious happen that the reader had to feel something. I was tired of seeing underwhelming endings on thrillers I loved; the double-reveal, this-guy-no-this-guy ending has been almost everywhere across the genre. What I wanted most of all was to be audacious, to do something new, to almost startle the reader -- and if I fell short so be it.

For anyone interested.

I found out today that the book is up for review in the Wall Street Journal, New York Newsday, the St. Petersburg Times, and USA Today in coming weeks.

Will, this is so exciting! I'm telling everyone I know you. Can't wait until there are more reviews out, and I can have more opportunities to tell everyone.

Will, just finished OBEDIANCE! Excellent psych thriller, loved it and I just saw another review calling it a "Compelling debut. The mad rush to finish satisfies--came away with the feeling that I had discovered a new master of the genre."

I'm looking forward to reading it

Will Lavender said:

and voila!

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I thought we said Viola in the South...