Review: From The Corner Of His Eye

Bartholomew Lampion was blinded at the age of three, after doctors removed his eyes to save him from cancer. However, at thirteen, he becomes able to see again. A roller coaster and a seagull both have something to do with this miracle, as does Barty's desire to make his mother proud of him before she dies. The odd thing is that she has already died once - the day Barty was born.

The cover blurb for this novel is certainly one of the most interesting blurbs I have seen in a long time and it goes hand in hand with this novel, which is very different from anything Koontz has written before. Recently, the author has come under fire for formulaic elements in his novels - for example, the consistent use of the words 'chuff', 'bougainvillaea', 'blacktop' and 'Coors beer'. In this novel, these words disappear from sigh (apart from 'blacktop'). In addition, dogs normally play a huge role in his novels and here, a golden retriever makes only a tiny appearance. He also does not quote from 'The Book Of Counted Sorrows', something quite astonishing.

His characters are superb. His villain is one of the nastiest he has created simply due to the fact he cannot see himself for what he really is. He views himself as a normal person who is inflicted with problems through no fault of his own. In reality, he is a crazed killer and this makes him a monster far nastier than anything Koontz has created from a genetic engineering project, for example. Koontz also gives some startling main characters - Edom and Jacob, Agnes, Barty and many more. They are deep, with a multitude of sides to them and the reader will undergo a variety of emotions as they read about their adventures.

Koontz starts with numerous plot strands that he eventually weaves seamlessly together to link the whole plot. This is done with skill and it shows that Koontz is once again at the top of his craft. The book is long, but it does not drag and unlike his previous novel, 'False Memory', the plot moves along very quickly.

Dean Koontz is normally known for his masterpieces of 'Watchers', 'Lightning' and to a lesser extent, the Moonlight Bay novels. However, with 'From The Corner Of His Eye', he has excelled himself. The novel is excellent and may well be his best to date. If he can continue to produce novels of this caliber, he will be riding the best-seller charts for years to come. His fans will adore it and no true fan can go without reading it.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Luke Croll - RAM

Book Review: From The Corner Of His Eye