What the Eye Sees (A John Hartigan Thriller) – Book Review
What the Eye Sees (A John Hartigan Thriller) is more of a Mystery + Police Procedural, than thriller. It seems this is the first book of the Crimocopoiea series, written by Percy Kerry.
Disclaimer: I know the author from our NaNoWriMo Facebook group, and I received a free copy of this eBook, during a promotion.
This book is short, fast-paced and an engaging mystery. I finished it in a single sitting and any book that manages to keep me hooked, and not drop & come back later, is always rated well, by me.
But, unlike your regular mysteries, in this book the author does a very interesting thing – she (almost) informs us who the killer is, by giving vital clues, at a very early stage of the book. It’s a challenge to write a mystery after doing that, but the author still manages to keep the book engaging, to her credit.
But that is also a limitation – in a mystery, there is nothing like keeping the readers guessing/confused on who the killer is. Make no mistake – it’s not that we can guess who’s the killer in this book, but the author let’s us in!
I liked the character development of the main character and the way the changes in the personality have been expressed. It was very crucial for this character to click, and the author has handled it quite well. I also like the way the mystery unfolds, the various (minute) clues identified by the FBI agent, and his way of solving the case.
I didn’t know what a cess pool was – that did not allow me to visualize what exactly happened in the end, but it’s not a big issue. But I was able to visualize other parts of the book quite clearly, and that’s a big plus. The author writes in a simple, easy-to-understand style, which is another plus point for this book.
The biggest plus, however, is the authors ability to make the story believable and this author has done it admirably well. I just wish that the author had kept us guessing on who the actual killer is, but then, every other mystery book does that and perhaps this book takes a different approach – deliberately. I also wish the book was a bit longer, but the story feels complete, in itself.
Destination Infinity
Yes, agree with you that it’s not a good idea to reveal the killer or criminal early in a suspense/mystery book.
Interesting. New author looks like.. havent heard his name before.
Seems like a good unusual book on thriller!
I am not able to read much books. This is after I gained confidence in blogs.
Ramanujan works I will read one day. It is amazing he could say what is nearly one(1).