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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
I loved this book, as I love several other crime novels written by women who are updating the genre. It’s messy, the main cop is unpleasant, but it’s also very funny and has a sense of possibility. Bauer delivers rich characters again.
It just got too weird, in a way that didn't really match with how the story was
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I couldn't decide whether I liked this book overall or not. Definitely not one of Bauer's best.
The book begins slowly. We learn about Anna and James, and their missing son, Daniel. We are introduced to a range of characters and the links between them are gradually revealed.
Throughout my reading I felt this was a puzzling book: the story was elusive and yet this wasn't off-putting.
Once we get to the end, and see how everything fits together, I can admire the writing.
Throughout my reading I felt this was a puzzling book: the story was elusive and yet this wasn't off-putting.
Once we get to the end, and see how everything fits together, I can admire the writing.
Belinda Bauer's backlist, including [b:Rubbernecker|16071656|Rubbernecker|Belinda Bauer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1357425539s/16071656.jpg|21865648], has been on my 'must read' list for quite some time but as it happens The Shut Eye is the first of her six published books I have read.
DCI John Marvel is haunted by the case of missing schoolgirl, Edie Evans, and resents being distracted from his investigation when he is tasked by his boss to find his wife's poodle. Marvel couldn't care less about the fate of Mitzi but when he is approached by Anna Buck, a young mother grieving for her own missing son, with information that seems to link Mitzi, Edie and Richard Latham, a local self-proclaimed psychic, his interest in the case is assured.
The Shut Eye is solid crime fiction with unexpected flashes of dark humour, unfolding from the perspectives of Marvel, Anna, and her husband James.
DCI John Marvel is a dogged and driven detective, but not a particularly nice man. He is brutally dismissive of his colleagues, his de facto partner, and suspicious of humanity in general. He is also a skeptic, and detests Latham's 'psychic' claims, so he is challenged by the inexplicable elements of the case even though he is willing to do anything to solve it.
James is shamed by the depth of his wife's grief, and feels guilty for the role he plays in it, but is at a loss as to how to help her. A mechanic, he works in the garage next door to their flat with a motley assortment of illegal colleagues, doing little else than putting one foot in front of the other every day.
Five months after her four year old son slipped out of the front door of their home, accidentally left ajar by her husband, and vanished without a trace, Anna Buck is still crazed with grief. Bauer's portrayal of Anna's emotional agony is raw and affecting, she is teetering on the edge of a complete breakdown when she reaches out to Latham.
The paranormal element of the story comes into play when Anna visits Latham's 'church' in search of answers. Though he refuses to help her, soon after Anna believes she is either experiencing visions, or has finally gone mad.
The Shut Eye is a good read, but I thought the characters were more convincing than the plot. I enjoyed the uncertainty Bauer created by blurring the line between proof and visions, and offering multiple suspects. The ending didn't quite sit right for me though, feeling a little rushed and aspects of it unlikely.
Belinda Bauer is a very good author, she writes characters that are three dimensional, that are flawed and that you can identify with.
This one, at times grated a little bit, but for the most part was a great plot, and had enough twists, without doing the really? that you do with lesser authors.
But ultimately it was the fact that it was people driven not just plot and that you were taken on a journey with the people in the story.
A great read again from Bauer.
This one, at times grated a little bit, but for the most part was a great plot, and had enough twists, without doing the really? that you do with lesser authors.
But ultimately it was the fact that it was people driven not just plot and that you were taken on a journey with the people in the story.
A great read again from Bauer.
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Belinda Bauer holds a special place in my heart. She is one of only a handful of authors who I want to read everything they publish. At least, until this book. I have read 5 of her books before now and given them all 4 stars (I confess I'm a book snob, 5 stars are extremely rare). Then I read this and wondered what the heck happened. I have no idea when each of the books were published and where this falls in the timeline in comparison, but I was beyond disappointed with this book.
Overall, the book is still very characteristic of Bauer's style; I'm always amazed at how quickly she can invest readers in her characteristics and how little she needs to describe them to reveal volumes about them and their relationships. I surprised myself this time around by not liking the detective character or the husband very much. I found Anna the most interesting.
The whole storyline with the detective and his case seemed tangential to the main plot. The only real overlap is with the medium (i.e. 'shut eye') that both he and Anna turn to for help.The detective ends up saving the day as far as Anna is concerned, finding her son alive. But it's by pure happenstance; he finds the son in the spot where he's looking for his own missing victim. So while he does solve two birds with one stone, it's not as satisfying when we learn his missing victim has died--particularly because we get chapters from her viewpoint throughout the story. I wasn't sad that she was dead (and even then maybe somehow she's not, it's only ever inferred), I was mad. I connected to her as a character and it was pretty much for nothing. Further, we only know what happened to her at all because we get chapters from her kidnapper's perspective. He is conveniently killed and no one knows why he ran or what happened to the girl because of it. Without those chapters, readers wouldn't know either and they'd probably be even more upset to be teased with this missing person and have it go nowhere.
But my biggest issue of all is who the killer ended up being. It felt too convenient and contrived. I have come to expect twists and turns from Bauer's previous books, but this one was not a good one.It honestly felt like the whole plot was created around this "ritual" Bauer discovered, and, after all the research she did on it, by the time she wrote everything down, the character presented to readers and to his friends didn't at all match up with who kidnapped and murdered the girl. Not only that but Daniel's kidnapping was one of desperation, panic, and shame, and we basically get an info-dumped backstory as to how it all happened. At one point, it is even mentioned the kidnapper sent the missing girl's parents a note on where to find their daughter and nothing is ever mentioned about the police investigating it or the parents thinking it was weird and throwing it out or anything. It felt like a major plot hole. A second one includes the fact that Anna says she can hear Daniel crying sometimes, and she lives next door. Surely the men working directly above that secret room would have a higher chance of hearing something? And did no one bother moving the mattress on the day Daniel went missing to check behind it?
Overall, the book is still very characteristic of Bauer's style; I'm always amazed at how quickly she can invest readers in her characteristics and how little she needs to describe them to reveal volumes about them and their relationships. I surprised myself this time around by not liking the detective character or the husband very much. I found Anna the most interesting.
The whole storyline with the detective and his case seemed tangential to the main plot. The only real overlap is with the medium (i.e. 'shut eye') that both he and Anna turn to for help.
But my biggest issue of all is who the killer ended up being. It felt too convenient and contrived. I have come to expect twists and turns from Bauer's previous books, but this one was not a good one.
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced