Title: Eyes to See
Author: Joseph Nassise
Series: Jeremiah Hunt #1
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 304
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publication Date: October 11th, 2011
Publisher: Tor
Rating: C
Summary:
From Goodreads: In an urban fantasy that charts daring new territory in the field, Jeremiah Hunt has been broken by a malevolent force that has taken his young daughter and everything else of value in his life: his marriage, his career, his reputation. Desperate to reclaim what he has lost, Hunt finally turns to the supernatural for justice.
Abandoning all hope for a normal life, he enters the world of ghosts and even more dangerous entities from beyond the grave. Sacrificing his normal sight so that he can see the souls of the dead and the powers that stalk his worst nightmares, Hunt embarks upon a strange new career—a pariah among the living; a scourge among the dead; doomed to walk between the light of day and the deepest darkness beyond night.
His love for his departed daughter sustains him when all is most hopeless, but Hunt is cursed by something more evil than he can possibly imagine. As he descends into the maelstrom of his terrifying quest, he discovers that even his deepest fears are but prelude to yet darker deeds by a powerful entity from beyond the grave…that will not let him go until it has used him for its own nefarious purposes.
Why did I read this book? After being completely taken with the cover, I thought the idea of a blind protagonist who could see the paranormal was pretty cool. I wanted to see where the author took this idea in an urban fantasy setting.
Source: Review copy provided by publisher
My Review
In Eyes to See, there are a lot of things Nassise does right. The choice of first person POV is one of them, since getting into Jeremiah Hunt's head is the bread and butter of this story. I really liked his voice, his struggles, and his humor. The POV does change near the end quite often, which I thought disrupted my enjoyment a little. I often preferred seeing things (no pun intended) through Jeremiah's perspective, since his was unique. He traded his eyesight of the normal world in return to see that of the other world, the one where all the ghosts and creatures we only heard stories about are. Eyes to See takes place in the past and present distinguished by "Then" and "Now" chapters, one telling the story of how Jeremiah came to be in this place, when his daughter went missing years before. The other is the present time while he is working as an exorcist while also helping the police solve crimes while hopping for more information about his daughter's disappearance. I really liked the "Then" chapters, since they were so heartbreaking, raw and real.
Another aspect I thought was done well was the mystery. I really didn't know what to expect at the end, and that kept me reading. I wanted Jeremiah to succeed in solving the mystery of his missing daughter. Along the way we discover more things about this world, which is a pretty standard urban fantasy setting. It contains magic and various paranormal creatures. Unfortunately I thought Jeremiah to be the most interesting because we knew more about why he came to be what he is.
Where the book faltered for me was finding enough interest in this world. While I thought there were unique ideas and a good protagonist, I wanted the other characters and world building to be stronger. For example, I thought Denise, the main female character, to be a little too predictable and not very developed.
Rating: C
After reading this series debut, I feel a bit on the fence. I liked some things and didn't like others, but I'm leaning towards a more positive opinion of this book. I feel like it's not completely there yet, but that I want to read more to see it get there. Nassise wraps up the mystery quite nicely while leaving room to continue the series and I believe that it could be headed in a great direction. If you are looking for that popular urban fantasy setting with an entertaining and humorous male protagonist, then this is for you.
Author: Joseph Nassise
Series: Jeremiah Hunt #1
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 304
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publication Date: October 11th, 2011
Publisher: Tor
Rating: C
Summary:
From Goodreads: In an urban fantasy that charts daring new territory in the field, Jeremiah Hunt has been broken by a malevolent force that has taken his young daughter and everything else of value in his life: his marriage, his career, his reputation. Desperate to reclaim what he has lost, Hunt finally turns to the supernatural for justice.
Abandoning all hope for a normal life, he enters the world of ghosts and even more dangerous entities from beyond the grave. Sacrificing his normal sight so that he can see the souls of the dead and the powers that stalk his worst nightmares, Hunt embarks upon a strange new career—a pariah among the living; a scourge among the dead; doomed to walk between the light of day and the deepest darkness beyond night.
His love for his departed daughter sustains him when all is most hopeless, but Hunt is cursed by something more evil than he can possibly imagine. As he descends into the maelstrom of his terrifying quest, he discovers that even his deepest fears are but prelude to yet darker deeds by a powerful entity from beyond the grave…that will not let him go until it has used him for its own nefarious purposes.
Why did I read this book? After being completely taken with the cover, I thought the idea of a blind protagonist who could see the paranormal was pretty cool. I wanted to see where the author took this idea in an urban fantasy setting.
Source: Review copy provided by publisher
My Review
In Eyes to See, there are a lot of things Nassise does right. The choice of first person POV is one of them, since getting into Jeremiah Hunt's head is the bread and butter of this story. I really liked his voice, his struggles, and his humor. The POV does change near the end quite often, which I thought disrupted my enjoyment a little. I often preferred seeing things (no pun intended) through Jeremiah's perspective, since his was unique. He traded his eyesight of the normal world in return to see that of the other world, the one where all the ghosts and creatures we only heard stories about are. Eyes to See takes place in the past and present distinguished by "Then" and "Now" chapters, one telling the story of how Jeremiah came to be in this place, when his daughter went missing years before. The other is the present time while he is working as an exorcist while also helping the police solve crimes while hopping for more information about his daughter's disappearance. I really liked the "Then" chapters, since they were so heartbreaking, raw and real.
Another aspect I thought was done well was the mystery. I really didn't know what to expect at the end, and that kept me reading. I wanted Jeremiah to succeed in solving the mystery of his missing daughter. Along the way we discover more things about this world, which is a pretty standard urban fantasy setting. It contains magic and various paranormal creatures. Unfortunately I thought Jeremiah to be the most interesting because we knew more about why he came to be what he is.
Where the book faltered for me was finding enough interest in this world. While I thought there were unique ideas and a good protagonist, I wanted the other characters and world building to be stronger. For example, I thought Denise, the main female character, to be a little too predictable and not very developed.
Rating: C
After reading this series debut, I feel a bit on the fence. I liked some things and didn't like others, but I'm leaning towards a more positive opinion of this book. I feel like it's not completely there yet, but that I want to read more to see it get there. Nassise wraps up the mystery quite nicely while leaving room to continue the series and I believe that it could be headed in a great direction. If you are looking for that popular urban fantasy setting with an entertaining and humorous male protagonist, then this is for you.
Oh Dear, never heard about this book before! It sounds goo though not as awesome for me to read asap. However Im definitely putting this book in my to-read list =)
ReplyDeletethnx for sharing your thoughts! great review ^.^
★Dazzling Reads★
Interestinng thoughts
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