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Devil Eyes
At a luxury resort on a remote key off Florida’s Gulf coast, guests, staff and townspeople people are threatened by the spirits of a deranged French au pair and her Seminole lover. . . a conflict brought into focus through the eyes of a child, an albino Indian and an antique toy — a stereopticon.
406 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
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July 27, 2014
I have the distinct pleasure of working with Prudence Foster (aka Prudy Taylor Board), so I admit that I may have been a little biased when I started reading the book. Prudy is a wonderful person and an absolute joy to be around, so I was thrilled when she offered a copy of this book for me to read. As a fellow author, though, I know how important it is to have an honest review of your work, so here it goes:
It started off a little slow (an opinion that I have already shares with her). You're introduced to a number of characters right off the bat, and I had a hard time in the first hundred pages figuring out who I was supposed to be following, and which characters were just supportive. The good news is that it got better, and once the characters were fully established, the adventure began to pick up.
I don't know that I would generally list this as a true horror novel: it is more of a supernatural suspense, in my opinion. The body count is relatively low and there were no parts that left me actually frightened; however, the plot was well thought out and the twists made sense.
The chapters are all generally brief, so, if you are accustomed to reading books with 20-page chapters that paint verbose scenes, you may have a hard time with this book. Two to three pages is the average, abruptly changing both the scene and the perspective. This made it hard for me to feel particularly invested in any of the characters.
Some of the main characters (Johnny Tiger, in particular) seemed to go underdeveloped throughout the story, even though his involvement was a critical key to the supernatural element. On the other hand, the chapters written from Felicity's point of view (the little girl) made sense, especially her reactions to the events taking place around her. Unfortunately, most of the story revolved around Hap (her father) and Anne (the confrontational store clerk) and their budding romance, but there was a lot about the characters that just seemed to be missing. Why was she so pissed off all the time? What in her past made her so standoffish to his advances? There were hints about some traumatic past that just never got conveyed, but with as much attention given to that aspect of the story, I felt that it wound up falling a little flat.
All that said, I still gave the story three stars, and not because of my relationship with Prudy. Primarily, I thought the premise of the story was actually strong, and, though I wish there had been more about it developed in the actual writing, there was enough in the subtext to give the reader some sense of what was going on. (A little mystery is a good thing.)
I probably wouldn't suggest this for someone who reads King or Koontz, but I would definitely give it to someone who enjoys stories with supernatural elements, particularly in regards to ghosts and possession.
It started off a little slow (an opinion that I have already shares with her). You're introduced to a number of characters right off the bat, and I had a hard time in the first hundred pages figuring out who I was supposed to be following, and which characters were just supportive. The good news is that it got better, and once the characters were fully established, the adventure began to pick up.
I don't know that I would generally list this as a true horror novel: it is more of a supernatural suspense, in my opinion. The body count is relatively low and there were no parts that left me actually frightened; however, the plot was well thought out and the twists made sense.
The chapters are all generally brief, so, if you are accustomed to reading books with 20-page chapters that paint verbose scenes, you may have a hard time with this book. Two to three pages is the average, abruptly changing both the scene and the perspective. This made it hard for me to feel particularly invested in any of the characters.
Some of the main characters (Johnny Tiger, in particular) seemed to go underdeveloped throughout the story, even though his involvement was a critical key to the supernatural element. On the other hand, the chapters written from Felicity's point of view (the little girl) made sense, especially her reactions to the events taking place around her. Unfortunately, most of the story revolved around Hap (her father) and Anne (the confrontational store clerk) and their budding romance, but there was a lot about the characters that just seemed to be missing. Why was she so pissed off all the time? What in her past made her so standoffish to his advances? There were hints about some traumatic past that just never got conveyed, but with as much attention given to that aspect of the story, I felt that it wound up falling a little flat.
All that said, I still gave the story three stars, and not because of my relationship with Prudy. Primarily, I thought the premise of the story was actually strong, and, though I wish there had been more about it developed in the actual writing, there was enough in the subtext to give the reader some sense of what was going on. (A little mystery is a good thing.)
I probably wouldn't suggest this for someone who reads King or Koontz, but I would definitely give it to someone who enjoys stories with supernatural elements, particularly in regards to ghosts and possession.
Displaying 1 of 1 review