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The residents of a single block on the Upper West Side of Manhattan turn to Detective E.L. Oxman of the New York Police Department when they are terrorized by an obsessed madman calling himself "The Eye of God"
277 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
18 people are currently reading
48 people want to read
About the author
Bill Pronzini
625 books235 followersMystery Writers of America Awards "Grand Master" 2008
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1999) for Boobytrap
Edgar Awards Best Novel nominee (1998) for A Wasteland of Strangers
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1997) for Sentinels
Shamus Awards "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) 1987
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1982) for Hoodwink
Married to author Marcia Muller.
Pseudonyms:
Robert Hart Davis (collaboration with Jeffrey M. Wallmann)
Jack Foxx
William Jeffrey (collaboration with Jeffrey M. Wallmann)
Alex Saxon
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1999) for Boobytrap
Edgar Awards Best Novel nominee (1998) for A Wasteland of Strangers
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1997) for Sentinels
Shamus Awards "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) 1987
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1982) for Hoodwink
Married to author Marcia Muller.
Pseudonyms:
Robert Hart Davis (collaboration with Jeffrey M. Wallmann)
Jack Foxx
William Jeffrey (collaboration with Jeffrey M. Wallmann)
Alex Saxon
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 31, 2013
Fun little mystery! It gives you just enough clues to figure it out and feel quite clever, but not too many so's you're screaming at the characters to quit being so dumb! My friend Hugh says it's neo-noir which I guess is true because it has that overly dramatic oddness that seems cheesy but is actually cool in a sideways type of manner.
The book is told in chapters from various characters' perspectives, which is nice because you get all kinds of angles on the killings In fact, the way the story is told is a clue in itself. Yay!
There were a couple of character's side-stories that annoyed me such a really whole lot that I couldn't click the four stars and still respect myself.
1) The stupid, stupid romance and the lame decisions it caused certain characters to make
2) the boring black panthery cop and his racially motivated belief system
Don't read the following spoiler unless you've already read the book or aren't planning to. It will totally ruin it. For real.
Thanks for writing a review that made me want to read this book, Hugh! It was a pleasure.
The book is told in chapters from various characters' perspectives, which is nice because you get all kinds of angles on the killings In fact, the way the story is told is a clue in itself. Yay!
There were a couple of character's side-stories that annoyed me such a really whole lot that I couldn't click the four stars and still respect myself.
1) The stupid, stupid romance and the lame decisions it caused certain characters to make
2) the boring black panthery cop and his racially motivated belief system
Don't read the following spoiler unless you've already read the book or aren't planning to. It will totally ruin it. For real.
Thanks for writing a review that made me want to read this book, Hugh! It was a pleasure.
April 14, 2020
A maniac intends to kill everyone in one city block who, in his eyes, is a sinner. How does he know who's a sinner? He has a gigantic telescope that he uses to watch everyone. The body count piles up. The police are stymied... A fun little book with well-written characters, maybe a little long, but never not readable; at times it's genuinely suspenseful. The romance feels shoehorned in, but that's kind of par for the course here. Don't expect too much out of it and you'll be pleasantly surprised.
June 17, 2014
The sign of a good book is how hard it is to put down. Back in the day, before kindles, we used to call them page-turners. Another sign is a book that deters you from sleep. You just have to keep reading because you are not going to sleep until you get to the end.
The Eye hits the mark on both signs. New York City has had its share of crazies, those serial killers who prey upon an area and frighten the residents. Most of the time, it is a fairly broad general area in which they lurk. However, in The Eye it is one block that the killer has in his sights. As is often the case, he is a smart cookie, which makes him hard to discover. He is also well off his rocker as he sees himself as god and he is a vengeful god. He chooses to smite those who offend his morality with a rather more pedestrian weapon, a .38. The Eye in question is the telescope that he uses to watch and judge the inhabitants of the block.
As the body count rises and the police attempt to solve the killings, he becomes obsessed with the main cop. E.L., the detective, is known as a plodder. But this case changes him dramatically both professionally and personally, as it changes so many others impacted by this maniac.
The Eye is a good suspenseful book with just enough twists and turns to keep me guessing almost to the end. Tightly written, you care about the characters so that the story carries you along right to the end. If you are a fan of noir, pick this one up.
The Eye hits the mark on both signs. New York City has had its share of crazies, those serial killers who prey upon an area and frighten the residents. Most of the time, it is a fairly broad general area in which they lurk. However, in The Eye it is one block that the killer has in his sights. As is often the case, he is a smart cookie, which makes him hard to discover. He is also well off his rocker as he sees himself as god and he is a vengeful god. He chooses to smite those who offend his morality with a rather more pedestrian weapon, a .38. The Eye in question is the telescope that he uses to watch and judge the inhabitants of the block.
As the body count rises and the police attempt to solve the killings, he becomes obsessed with the main cop. E.L., the detective, is known as a plodder. But this case changes him dramatically both professionally and personally, as it changes so many others impacted by this maniac.
The Eye is a good suspenseful book with just enough twists and turns to keep me guessing almost to the end. Tightly written, you care about the characters so that the story carries you along right to the end. If you are a fan of noir, pick this one up.
April 30, 2014
Very good detective suspense novel situated in New York. Unlike other novels we know the identity of the killer from the start, and the suspense is created by the chase to find him before the body count gets to high. The killer Lewis Collier is obviously a crazy who believes he is acting out Gods justice and cannot be caught. He spys on his victims from the other side of the Hudson River using his telescope "the eye of God". The authors flip from one character to another as they build the story, but cleverly tell you each time they change character so it is easy to keep track. E.L. Oxman is the main detective assigned to solve the case. Can he find the killer before he himself is in danger?
April 20, 2014
Take one fruitcake - the wingnut variety not the Christmas doorstop - who thinks he's God and must punish all those he considers sinful as he looks though his telescope from his Jersey apartment facing the river over to the 98 th Street block in New York, and one
tough New York detective and you have one great, full of suspense read.
Murder runs rampant as 'God' kills those he considers evil and E.L, with marital problems and a possible new love in the apartment house where so many have been shot and killed, relentlessly hunts this madman.
tough New York detective and you have one great, full of suspense read.
Murder runs rampant as 'God' kills those he considers evil and E.L, with marital problems and a possible new love in the apartment house where so many have been shot and killed, relentlessly hunts this madman.
June 13, 2014
A good mystery deserving a reprint
For a full review, please go to http://www.examiner.com/review/the-ey... and follow me on Twitter @josenher
For a full review, please go to http://www.examiner.com/review/the-ey... and follow me on Twitter @josenher
March 6, 2015
Enjoyable but not my favorite Pronzini.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews