afox98's review against another edition
3.0
Usually I love Barry Eisler's books, but this one fell a bit flat for me. I had virtually no interest in the characters for about the first third of the book. The story did pick up later, but overall, still not his best work. Evie Gallagher is an NSA analyst who discovers some inconsistencies in the director's story about what's happened to a whistleblower and journalist. She and her deaf son get drawn in to quite a mess with hired killers and NSA operatives. Too slow at beginning, too fast at end. Some other reviewers have complained that the NSA surveillance stuff described in the book is not realistic. My take is that probably some of it is and some of it isn't, but either way, it doesn't detract from the story.
karenu's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence and Violence
Moderate: Ableism
lwalker77's review against another edition
4.0
A government agency has a program called God’s Eye that is used to capture and monitor data on American citizens. What lengths will some go to keep this program a secret? This novel explores that. A lot of this book is taken from today’s headlines. I enjoyed this book and I look forward to reading more of Barry Eisler’s work.
ralhassan's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
purelynicole's review against another edition
Everything about this book points to it being something I should enjoy. But it's just not doing it for me. I'm not giving it a rating, since I only got 18% through.
lazy0718's review against another edition
4.0
A fast-paced techno-thriller, this book is a product of its time. As the author notes in his Author's note, if this book had come out after Snowden's leaks, this would seem way more fictional than it does now. Eisler takes the revelations we've learned about the NSA and its domestic surveillance apparatus, and shows what it could be like just a few steps further down the road.
I enjoyed some of the characters, which has some nice depth to them. I think the one real misstep here is the main villain, who comes off a bit too one-dimensional and "mustache-twirling" to be convincing. The villain's selfish motivation is clear, though, which helps keep the plot moving along at a brisk pace.
Right before I read this book, I watched the documentary Citizenfour, which let me understand most of the backstory and the concerns of all the characters. If you're like me and didn't follow the Edward Snowden leaks (or worse, just assumed Snowden and Chelsea Manning were leaking the same info), then check out the Citizenfour documentary as a good primer for the world this book inhabits.
I enjoyed some of the characters, which has some nice depth to them. I think the one real misstep here is the main villain, who comes off a bit too one-dimensional and "mustache-twirling" to be convincing. The villain's selfish motivation is clear, though, which helps keep the plot moving along at a brisk pace.
Right before I read this book, I watched the documentary Citizenfour, which let me understand most of the backstory and the concerns of all the characters. If you're like me and didn't follow the Edward Snowden leaks (or worse, just assumed Snowden and Chelsea Manning were leaking the same info), then check out the Citizenfour documentary as a good primer for the world this book inhabits.
dburgbacher's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
doug1's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
wrdtrvlr's review against another edition
5.0
Awesome! I couldn't stop reading it, even though at one point I wasn't even sure the author was on my side.
Eisler includes pages of references on the research he did in order to write this only-too-believable novel.
Eisler includes pages of references on the research he did in order to write this only-too-believable novel.
verafran's review against another edition
4.0
4 and half stars
This was a hard book to read, not because it's not well written - it really is very well done - but because of the subject matter and some characters. The plot, to me, is scarier than many horror books and movies out there.
Too much power concentrated at the hands of one single person who turns out to be a megalomaniac sociopath it's terrifying.
I had to read it in small doses, cringing at the insanity of one of the main characters, scared for others. They were all well written, real and scarily believable.
Not all characters are crazy sociopaths and psychopaths, but all of them are broken one way or another.
This book has some graphic violence and graphic sex scenes. If you're comfortable with those, you're good to go. If you're not, you get enough warning that let you skip these parts and not miss the great plot.
The main plot is solved in a way that makes sense, but the ending.... I won't spoil you.
This is a book worth reading but not for the faint of heart. There are enough twist, turns and surprises to make a fan of great thrillers very happy.
Maybe you'll finish this book a little bit paranoid, but that's not really a bad thing, right?
I'd like to thank Netgalley, Thomas & Mercer and author [a:Barry Eisler|603|Barry Eisler|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1271016603p2/603.jpg] for sending me an ARC of The God's Eye View in exchange for an honest review.