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Watchtower Thrillers #1
The Eyes of Others
Some people want to escape into their dreams. Intelligence analyst Eugene "Boston" Hollinger wants to escape from his. Hampered by strange dreams since he was severely injured by a roadside bomb in ISIS-occupied Iraq, he enlists the help of an attractive, yet quirky dream therapist to get to the bottom of the mystery. Together they come to understand the true nature of Boston’s condition - he is not dreaming, but somehow accessing the memories of others while he sleeps.
As Boston comes to grips with his condition, the nation’s intelligence community is in a panic. A mole with high-level access to classified intel is passing secrets to the enemy, and the pressure to catch him is increasing by the minute. With soldiers and informants dying every day, and the government all pointing fingers at each other, Boston realizes his strange dreams are about the mole, and could hold the only key to finding him before it’s too late.
Now armed with a new tool to track him down, he enlists the help of some old friends and his current fiancée to help bring the traitor to justice at any cost. As forces within the government seek to silence him, it becomes a race against time - find the mole or become the scapegoat in one of the deadliest intelligence breaches ever uncovered.
The Eyes of Others follows the struggles of five people caught up in a maelstrom of bureaucratic wrangling, politics, and one of the most desperate, high-stakes mole hunts in American history. Lives will be lost and tensions high, but can the mole be found in time when the only clues can be found by dreaming about memories seen through the eyes of others?
As Boston comes to grips with his condition, the nation’s intelligence community is in a panic. A mole with high-level access to classified intel is passing secrets to the enemy, and the pressure to catch him is increasing by the minute. With soldiers and informants dying every day, and the government all pointing fingers at each other, Boston realizes his strange dreams are about the mole, and could hold the only key to finding him before it’s too late.
Now armed with a new tool to track him down, he enlists the help of some old friends and his current fiancée to help bring the traitor to justice at any cost. As forces within the government seek to silence him, it becomes a race against time - find the mole or become the scapegoat in one of the deadliest intelligence breaches ever uncovered.
The Eyes of Others follows the struggles of five people caught up in a maelstrom of bureaucratic wrangling, politics, and one of the most desperate, high-stakes mole hunts in American history. Lives will be lost and tensions high, but can the mole be found in time when the only clues can be found by dreaming about memories seen through the eyes of others?
430 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 17, 2015
122 people are currently reading
466 people want to read
About the author
Mikael Carlson
26 books85 followersMikael Carlson is an award-winning political fiction author, including a silver medal from Readers' Favorite and National Indie Excellence, Lyra, and Global E-book Awards.
Mikael is a proud U.S. Army Paratrooper and retired Army National Guardsman. He graduated with a Master of Arts in American History in 2010 and with a B.S. in International Business from Marist College in 1996.
An avid traveler and unabashed political junkie, he is the author of the Politics as Unusual blog You can find him at www.mikaelcarlson.com.
Mikael is a proud U.S. Army Paratrooper and retired Army National Guardsman. He graduated with a Master of Arts in American History in 2010 and with a B.S. in International Business from Marist College in 1996.
An avid traveler and unabashed political junkie, he is the author of the Politics as Unusual blog You can find him at www.mikaelcarlson.com.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 3, 2025
Mikael Carlson impressed me with a few of his well-crafted political thriller series, so I thought that I would continue the experience with another series to begin the year. This one looks into the world of the American Intelligence community and a leak that has cost the military many of those who are actively serving. Boston Hollinger was once one of those who had boots on the ground in Iraq, but a roadside bomb left him injured and back stateside. A recent accident has triggered the injury once more, with unique side effects. As politicians seek to find the leak within the intelligence community, some point to those who appear to have too much intel for their own good, Mikael Carlson provides another great story that keeps the reader turning pages.
Eugene "Boston" Hollinger has been able to tap into odd dreams since he was injured by a bomb that exploded while serving in Iraq. He does not have a place to escape, as these images are from other people’s perspectives. Working woth a therapist, Boston is helped to discover that he can tap into the active conversations of others, thereby turning him into an odd file storage space of many secrets. This could be helpful, but also highly troubling as he knows all and can implicate many.
While Boston tries to come to terms with his new power, the intelligence community is rocked by knowledge that there is a mole leaking information to the enemy—the Syrians, in this case—who have been able to strike and cause maximum damage. Everyone blames their domestic opponents, creating more chaos that anyone could have predicted. America is at its wit’s end and there is nothing that can be done. Or can they, with Boston possessing some intel that could change it all?
With his dream powers, Boston calls on some old friends and his current fiancée to help track down the mole, in hopes of helping the country before it becomes more frayed. Various intelligence sources seek to mute him and his project, as the truth could be more troubling than never knowing. Boston is soon deemed the scapegoat and must flee before he is jailed and put on trial for treason, or worse. Fuelled by the desire to find the mole, Boston and his colleagues work as a team in hopes of discovering answers before it is too late. Carlson presents a great political thriller with some eerie side stories on offer!
Mikael Carlson impressed me with his four-novel political thriller series I recently devoured. When I tripped on this other series, I knew I would have to give it a try. While the narrative is quite intense, it provides a great storytelling and entertains the curious reader. Carlson paints a vivid picture as few thrillers can with this piece and left me wanting to keep reading the remaining novels in the series. The characters provide an intriguing look into the world of intelligence and help push the story along with great momentum. The depictions are on point and left me wondering more about many of those who are part of the story. Plot points were well developed and left me eager to see where things are headed with the second novel, which I have awaiting me soon.
Kudos, Mr. Carlson, for a wonderful start to a new collection.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
Eugene "Boston" Hollinger has been able to tap into odd dreams since he was injured by a bomb that exploded while serving in Iraq. He does not have a place to escape, as these images are from other people’s perspectives. Working woth a therapist, Boston is helped to discover that he can tap into the active conversations of others, thereby turning him into an odd file storage space of many secrets. This could be helpful, but also highly troubling as he knows all and can implicate many.
While Boston tries to come to terms with his new power, the intelligence community is rocked by knowledge that there is a mole leaking information to the enemy—the Syrians, in this case—who have been able to strike and cause maximum damage. Everyone blames their domestic opponents, creating more chaos that anyone could have predicted. America is at its wit’s end and there is nothing that can be done. Or can they, with Boston possessing some intel that could change it all?
With his dream powers, Boston calls on some old friends and his current fiancée to help track down the mole, in hopes of helping the country before it becomes more frayed. Various intelligence sources seek to mute him and his project, as the truth could be more troubling than never knowing. Boston is soon deemed the scapegoat and must flee before he is jailed and put on trial for treason, or worse. Fuelled by the desire to find the mole, Boston and his colleagues work as a team in hopes of discovering answers before it is too late. Carlson presents a great political thriller with some eerie side stories on offer!
Mikael Carlson impressed me with his four-novel political thriller series I recently devoured. When I tripped on this other series, I knew I would have to give it a try. While the narrative is quite intense, it provides a great storytelling and entertains the curious reader. Carlson paints a vivid picture as few thrillers can with this piece and left me wanting to keep reading the remaining novels in the series. The characters provide an intriguing look into the world of intelligence and help push the story along with great momentum. The depictions are on point and left me wondering more about many of those who are part of the story. Plot points were well developed and left me eager to see where things are headed with the second novel, which I have awaiting me soon.
Kudos, Mr. Carlson, for a wonderful start to a new collection.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
September 3, 2016
Mikael Carlson’s The Eyes of Others is the story of a mole within the walls of the Washington intelligence agencies, haemorrhaging sensitive information to enemies of the United States that has resulted in a number of American deaths. If you had a mental still at that description of a grim-faced Liam Neeson looking at you down the barrel of a handgun with a massive explosion silhouetting the White House in the background, we're probably on the same page.
In many ways, this is a familiar plot outline, subject of countless movies and thrillers. This book takes the unusual approach of relating its story from multiple first-person viewpoints, clueing the reader in by naming which of the protagonists or secondary characters is telling this particular segment via chapter headings. While I, personally, found it confusing and frequently irritating when I had to scroll back up to the top of the chapter to figure out which war hero or intrepid law enforcement officer I was reading in that piece, the novel structure does tie back appealingly to the book title. However, for me the sheer number of the secondary characters through which I had to head hop (in first person) made the read somewhat disjointed. In terms of characterisation, by far the strongest character is a secondary called "Louisiana", who tends to grab the spotlight by the short and curlies whenever he shows up, effectively distracting you from any other character you might be reading about, but he stands out from all the macho alphabet agency types and decorated ex-military heroes simply by virtue of not being like anyone else in the book.
Overall, the plot was a solid, fairly well-written high-octane thriller read, with plenty of explosions, a nice offering of car chases, and a few shoot-outs. Readers who like to figure out the bad guy on their own will note there isn't much by way of bread crumbs leading you to final villain, but it does make for a very nice plot twist come the final few chapters when you hit the grand reveal. While this book certainly merited its three stars, I didn't find it quite had that extraordinary combination of truly appealing characters, original plotting and sheer flair that singles out a five-star and makes me read and re-read a book until the covers fall off.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
In many ways, this is a familiar plot outline, subject of countless movies and thrillers. This book takes the unusual approach of relating its story from multiple first-person viewpoints, clueing the reader in by naming which of the protagonists or secondary characters is telling this particular segment via chapter headings. While I, personally, found it confusing and frequently irritating when I had to scroll back up to the top of the chapter to figure out which war hero or intrepid law enforcement officer I was reading in that piece, the novel structure does tie back appealingly to the book title. However, for me the sheer number of the secondary characters through which I had to head hop (in first person) made the read somewhat disjointed. In terms of characterisation, by far the strongest character is a secondary called "Louisiana", who tends to grab the spotlight by the short and curlies whenever he shows up, effectively distracting you from any other character you might be reading about, but he stands out from all the macho alphabet agency types and decorated ex-military heroes simply by virtue of not being like anyone else in the book.
Overall, the plot was a solid, fairly well-written high-octane thriller read, with plenty of explosions, a nice offering of car chases, and a few shoot-outs. Readers who like to figure out the bad guy on their own will note there isn't much by way of bread crumbs leading you to final villain, but it does make for a very nice plot twist come the final few chapters when you hit the grand reveal. While this book certainly merited its three stars, I didn't find it quite had that extraordinary combination of truly appealing characters, original plotting and sheer flair that singles out a five-star and makes me read and re-read a book until the covers fall off.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
July 20, 2018
Very intense book with a lot of action. I can see this book as a good tv crime series. Even I knew who was the mole (I realized it very soon), it was very interesting for me to read it trough the end, to see the reason for this mole actions.
August 4, 2023
Another fast-series
I just love how the author keeps the ball rolling with excitement as a new detail is revealed. It goes from one surprising event to the next. The surprises keep coming through the end. You dont want to miss this one!
I just love how the author keeps the ball rolling with excitement as a new detail is revealed. It goes from one surprising event to the next. The surprises keep coming through the end. You dont want to miss this one!
July 5, 2021
Great book with a shocking ending. Not what you expect.
April 24, 2022
uneven drama
I could not figure out this book and all the characters. Very convoluted and runs all over the place. Could not finish. Thank god it was free
I could not figure out this book and all the characters. Very convoluted and runs all over the place. Could not finish. Thank god it was free
August 8, 2023
'Boston' and Tara have a date with terror!
The least of 'Boston's' problems is the 'dreams '. The worst is finally discovering who is leaking the intelligence to the press!
The least of 'Boston's' problems is the 'dreams '. The worst is finally discovering who is leaking the intelligence to the press!
December 19, 2021
Well written with a twist
Enjoyed the premise and like where this series is heading. look forward to the upcoming adventure
Take a chance and enjoy
Enjoyed the premise and like where this series is heading. look forward to the upcoming adventure
Take a chance and enjoy
September 8, 2015
The US Army 513th Military Intelligence Brigade unit from Ft. Gordon whom were all highly trained intelligence analysts were sent to Al-Anbar Province (Iraq).
The diverse military men were as follows: Eugene Hollinger (Boston, US Army), Colombia (22, Specialist E-4), Eric Williams (Maryland), Vaughn Lormand Cormier Lafourche Rilleux (Sergeant, Louisiana), Georgia, Sergeant Jack Daniels, Specialist Johnnie Walker, & Private Jim Beam.
Their convoy was ambushed & hit by an IED.
Colombia & Georgia were KIA. The rest were seriously injured but survived. Flown to hospitals they recovered except for the PTSD.
Dr. Tara Winters was trying her best to get Boston to get all the tests the VA did again.
Does he really suffer from PTSD?
What became of Director Colby Washington (DIA)?
What happened to Deputy Director Garrett Turner (44, DIA)?
Why is Special Agent Tom Grimman NSB, Counterespionage Section) questioning Gina Attison (Boston’s fiancée)?
Is there a mole within some governmental or military entity?
A very impressive resume college & military Hoo-ah to you & your former military buddies. US 82nd Airborne & Army Reserve. PS & criminal justice was my undergrad.
I did not receive any type of compensation for reading & reviewing this book. While I receive free books from publishers & authors, I am under no obligation to write a positive review. Only an honest one.
A very awesome book cover, great font & writing style. A very well written historical fiction Iraq era War era book. It was very easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a great set of very unique/colorful characters to keep track of. This could also make another great adventurous government movie, or mini TV series. Spy vs Spy, Clandestine, you name it. Not as exciting or blood/guts as I like them, but I will still rate it at 5 stars.
Thank you for the free Goodreads; Warrington Publishing; Author; PDF book
Tony Parsons MSW (Washburn)
The diverse military men were as follows: Eugene Hollinger (Boston, US Army), Colombia (22, Specialist E-4), Eric Williams (Maryland), Vaughn Lormand Cormier Lafourche Rilleux (Sergeant, Louisiana), Georgia, Sergeant Jack Daniels, Specialist Johnnie Walker, & Private Jim Beam.
Their convoy was ambushed & hit by an IED.
Colombia & Georgia were KIA. The rest were seriously injured but survived. Flown to hospitals they recovered except for the PTSD.
Dr. Tara Winters was trying her best to get Boston to get all the tests the VA did again.
Does he really suffer from PTSD?
What became of Director Colby Washington (DIA)?
What happened to Deputy Director Garrett Turner (44, DIA)?
Why is Special Agent Tom Grimman NSB, Counterespionage Section) questioning Gina Attison (Boston’s fiancée)?
Is there a mole within some governmental or military entity?
A very impressive resume college & military Hoo-ah to you & your former military buddies. US 82nd Airborne & Army Reserve. PS & criminal justice was my undergrad.
I did not receive any type of compensation for reading & reviewing this book. While I receive free books from publishers & authors, I am under no obligation to write a positive review. Only an honest one.
A very awesome book cover, great font & writing style. A very well written historical fiction Iraq era War era book. It was very easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a great set of very unique/colorful characters to keep track of. This could also make another great adventurous government movie, or mini TV series. Spy vs Spy, Clandestine, you name it. Not as exciting or blood/guts as I like them, but I will still rate it at 5 stars.
Thank you for the free Goodreads; Warrington Publishing; Author; PDF book
Tony Parsons MSW (Washburn)
February 28, 2016
Ex army inelegance officer wounded in an IED attack gets a job with the Government as an intelligence annalist and along with doing his job he spends time looking for a mole he is sure in the intelligence community and is passing information which is getting US military personnel killed, including members of his team. His superiors and his fiancé who works for the senator heading the Intelligence Committee warn him to stop, but he persists which eventually gets him in trouble and on the wrong side of the law enforcement establishment before he is able to prove his suspicions using information he has acquired during some unexplained dreamlike experiences where he seems to be seeing through the eyes of people he knows as they interact with others, A reasonably good read.
June 23, 2020
The book was entertaining the characters were likeable and I think I want to read more by this author
March 1, 2016
Keeps your interest
Government officials and the secrets they try to keep makes for an interesting read. Suspense at its finest as you try to figure out who is the mole. You'll never guess!
Government officials and the secrets they try to keep makes for an interesting read. Suspense at its finest as you try to figure out who is the mole. You'll never guess!
June 24, 2015
Another excellent novel by Carlson!! Once I started this book, I stayed up too late, skipped chores, and read!
December 8, 2015
Unexpected but worth it!
While I was hoping all the characters would make it out alive, I guess it was for the 'greater good'.
While I was hoping all the characters would make it out alive, I guess it was for the 'greater good'.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews