Book Review: Hide Your Eyes

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Hide Your Eyes     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Alison Gaylin
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Woman Main Character   Thriller   Psychological Suspense
Signet, March 2005, $5.99, 320 pp.

Samantha Leiffer moved from California to Manhattan to be with her boyfriend who turned out to be cheating on her with men and women. She stays in New York and holds two jobs, one as a teacher at the Sunny Side Nursery School and the other at the Off-Broadway Space Theatre's box office. One day she takes a walk by the Hudson River and sees a man and a coatless woman toss an ice chest into the water. Sam has a real bad feeling about the scene.

Strange things begin happening to Sam. A word is printed in her book that she reads to her students. She finds a picture of her mother with her eyes pried out. A one word email arrives at her computer at the Space Theater. The police find the ice chest; inside is a three year old child with her eyes cut out. The killer escalates his attacks on Sam and more children die. Sexy Detective John Krull has her stay in his apartment and under his guard because it is clear that the killer wants her as his next victim..

The story starts out offbeat, funny and lighthearted as the heroine copes with the radical changes in her life and her runaway imagination. HIDE YOUR EYES gets scary very quickly as Samantha's imagination becomes real and the killer is stalking her and innocent children. The tension soars to unbearable levels and not even Sam's romantic affair with Detective Krull is enough to stop readers form wanting to know what the killer will do next. Allison Gaylin is a bright new star in the psychological suspense and thriller horizons.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner