Book Review: The Eyes of Darkness by Dean Kontz

A year after little Danny's death, his mother swore she saw him in a stranger's car... It was a mystery she could not escape. An obsession that would lead her from the bright lights of Las Vegas to the cold shadows of the High Sierras. A terrible secret seen only by... The Eyes Of Darkness.

I knew that this was one of the first novels by Dean Kontz (originally published under a pseudonym), but I was curious as this book became famous for “predicting” a deadly virus originated in Wuhan. Is it worth a read? Yes and no. It’s an entertaining thriller, which got me hooked from the start. The characters are not super developed (I found a similar train of thoughts on two different characters, which I always find bothersome), but the story was interesting enough to catch my attention. A mother is convinced that his son, supposedly dead in a traffic accident, is still alive, and gets involved in an investigation to uncover a conspiracy. Nothing too original but with the right ingredients to get the reader interested. There are some paranormal aspects to the story that I could have done without, but it is an essential part of the plot.

If you want to read the book only because it mentions a virus made in Wuhan almost forty years before the COVID was a reality, just beware that the mention of the virus happens towards the end of the book, in chapter 39 out of 40, around 35-40 minutes towards the end of the book, and it is just anecdotic. It is a virus manmade in Wuhan, much more lethal than the coronavirus circling around the world right now, and with completely different effects on the human body. It is completely coincidental, and it is not more than a couple of paragraphs. Not worth reading the complete book just to feed one’s curiosity about conspiracy theories. It is not a bad book but it starts much better than what it results in the end. I guess Kontz’s writing got more polished after some more books under his belt.

Tanya Eby’s narration was correct but I had issues sometimes to follow dialogs because the characters sounded quite similar at times. It was not consistent and it did not happen all the time. The character’s interpretations were well done, and the audio production was good. One small thing worth mentioning is that I found the end of chapter pauses a bit on the short side, which did not feel completely alright.

Story (Plot)
Narration
Overall:

lomeraniel

My name is Elena. Since I was a little child I loved science fiction and fantasy, and I can’t resist a good novel. In 2015, while wait I started to listen to audiobooks and I discovered the pleasure in being able to read while doing my daily tasks, so there’s always an audiobook playing on my phone. If you see me with my Bluetooth headphones on, please be gentle, I get easily startled.

I live with my boyfriend, which I met during my six-year stay in Belgium, four cockatiels, eight lovebirds, and a hamster in Madrid, Spain; and I like to spend my free time knitting and sewing while listening to audiobooks.