#51 - More Than Meets The Eye, Close Your Eyes, Double Blind and Blink of An Eye by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen. More Than Meets The Eye is the tenth book in the Kendra Michael series. Kendra is a FBI consultant who was blind until she was 20, when she had surgery so she can see. Since she was so long without her sight she has a more heightened awareness of her other senses. I guess it's because of her previously having been blind that each title
in the series include a reference to eye or vision with titles like Close Your Eyes, The Naked Eye, Sight Unseen, Hindsight, etc. While Iris Johansen writes most of her other series by herself for this series her son, Roy, joins her. Earlier in her career Iris switched from writing romance to writing thrillers, which was clearly a good move. And clearly this prolific author is good at crime writing.
"Unbelievably tense and terrifying," RT Book Reviews writes of one of the books in the series while Suspense Magazine describes another book in the series this way: "This read goes from good to great to spectacular." Lastly, Publishers Weekly writes: "Johansen delivers the goods."
As More than Meets the Eye begins a serial killer, James Michael Barrett, has just made a plea deal: No death penalty if he showed law enforcement where he left his first victim. When they arrive at the spot Barrett mentions something looks different about the site since he left the body there two years ago. They proceed to dig anyway and that sets off a bomb killing 12 people, including the serial killer and many law enforcement officers, and injuring others.
Kendra was not present at the bomb but knows some of those injured and killed and insists she will pursue all angles to find out what happened, even if that means dealing with some bruised egos from those who try to interfere. She finds something in Barrett's cell that others
have missed: Prescription swimming goggles. Some analysis determines the goggles belong to a college swimmer named Tricia Walton, who is the only survivor of attacks by Barett. She is not sure how Barrett could have gotten her goggles - the attack was about four years ago and the goggles are less than two years old. Walton wants to get to the bottom of this and offers Kendra her help. Kendra arranges to get protection for Walton for three days since she may be in danger.
Kendra is increasingly convinced that Barrett's death was not a suicide but rather another killer arranged the bomb and is now murdering people in a style similar to Barrett's. Obviously there are some who initially don't believe what Kendra is suggesting.
This was a good thriller keeping me on the edge of my seat. I give it an 8.
I liked this book enough to go back and read the first book in the series, which is called Close Your Eyes. As it starts Kendra, a music therapist, is approached by a former FBI agent named Adam Lynch, who wants her help in finding and stopping what appears to be a serial killer. She is not interested but he tells her that the latest possible victim is Kendra's last boyfriend, who has disappeared without a trace. She agrees to help.Lynch is also in the other book I read so this must be the start of their business relationship which at some later points turns into a romantic relationship.
All of the victims have some kind of obscure chemicals in them but Kendra, Lynch and the FBI are unsure how this relates to the murders and how those killed are related. Kendra has her ways of reading rooms and people which is helpful to Lynch and the FBI as they try
to stop the killings, and possibly find her ex-boyfriend.
I give this one an 8 also.
Hooked now I read one more book by this duo. Double Blind, the sixth book in the series, has quite an exciting start: A woman, Elena, is running toward Kendra's condo, bleeding from a gunshot to her torso and being chased. She runs into a road to avoid capture and is hit and killed by a car.
The FBI come to Kendra to ask for her help on a case and she initially refuses, which is when they explained that the woman killed was trying to get to Kendra to give her something: a flash drive. The flash drive contains a 20-minute video of a wedding reception. The FBI and Kendra are stumped as to what message this woman was trying to impart to Kendra. Along with Lynch, the FBI and private investigator Jessie Mercado, Kendra begins investigation. Part
of the puzzle might involve the newly married couple but before they can talk to the bride she is abducted from her home.
The killer, who may have been a serial killer working in other geographic areas before, begins a pattern of kidnapping and killing members of the wedding party. Then he does something to someone very close to Kendra, but I can't say more than that without giving away spoilers.
This is another good thriller. I give it an 8.
I decided to read one more book by this duo: Blink of An Eye, the 8th book in the series. A pop star named Delilah Winter has become a fan of Kendra's and attended the school where Kenda does her musical therapy work. She invites Kendra and their mutual friend, Jessie Mercado, a detective and the singer's former bodyguard, to a concert at the Hollywood Bowl. In the middle of the show, everything stops and Delilah has seemingly disappeared and two members of the security staff are found dead. They realize she has been kidnapped.
Jessica and Kendra began investigating the situation but this time it's not just a case, but one involving their mutual friend. In this book, Lynch plays more of a minor role than usual with Jessie playing more of a major role than usual and I really like her as a character. I was surprised when I learned who was behind the kidnapping. Excellent plotting. I give it an 8.
I decided to take a break from this series to read one of her other series, this one written by herself, about Eve Duncan, a forensic sculptor. Eve's daughter was taken from her years ago but she uses that experience to help other families who have had a similar loss get
as close to closure as possible.
I was very underwhelmed by the two Eve books I read, Shattered Mirror and Sleep No More, though I liked the latter better than the other because it also included Kendra's character for part of the book. I don't like the Eve series as much as the Kendra series so I'll be sticking with the Kendra series from now on. The characters in the Eve series are not as interesting, the dialogue is more stilted, the plotting not as good, and thus more
predictable, as in the Kendra series. It makes me wonder if her son's involvement is what makes the Kendra series.
Speaking of which, the acknowledgments page for Sleep No More says this: "Many, many thanks to my son, Roy, for all his help with creating our very special Kendra. She is difficult, complex, and definitely a challenge, and yet he handled her with cleverness and originality. Working with him to meet that challenge was one of the great joys of writing this book."
I give the two Eve books 6's.