A review by aphelia88
All Seeing Eye by Rob Thurman
5.0
I'm pretty sure this was an earlier book, given a few dated references to things like video-rental cards (ah, Blockbuster - relic of the past), but it works as a creepy supernatural thriller even if the hero also reads like an early incarnation of Caliban Leandros, the hero of Thurman's other series.
Jackson Lee shares Cal's world-weary cynicism, biting sarcasm and loner tendencies. He found one of his younger twin sisters, Tessa, drowned in a well as a 14-year old, triggering a series of violent events that ruined his family.
Sent to a state institution, his life was one run of hard luck after another, and he deliberately kept his distance, even from his roommate Charlie, who wanted to be his friend. Because when Jackson picked up Tessa's dropped pink shoe in the field on that fateful day, it triggered a curse: psychometry, or seeing the past through touching objects. When he touched that shoe, he knew his sister was dead and saw where she was. It is a secret that he thinks makes him a freak.
Gradually, as years pass, Jackson comes to terms with his curse/gift and adopts the dramatic black-clad, ponytailed, be-earringed persona of the All Seeing Eye, psychic for hire. He carves out a small life for himself.
But when the brother of that long-ago roommate shows up at his door, his carefully ordered life comes crashing down. Jackson is reluctantly drawn into an improbably sounding mad-science scheme. Brilliant Charlie had designed a device to faciliate Out of Body experiences, aka Astral Travel. Funded by the Government for its spying potential, something went wrong during the testing and killed Charlie.
Or did it? Because the more Jackson sees, the more he's convinced that Charlie didn't make a mistake. He knows Charlier was murdered, but is afraid to let on lest the killers target him too.
Bizarrely, Charlie's spirit is trapped in the ether and is wandering, trying to come home. But the weakest entry points are sites where great violence has occured and his presence causes modern people to become posessed by the past and repeat the actions, in a sort of time-loop.
Charlie's younger brother Hector is trying to put his "ghost" to rest. Jackson, despite his own abilities, is at first highly skeptical. But as he and Hector work together, truths about Charlie and revelations about his own past keep him from walking away.
The tension builds to an excellent three-part twist finale. The ending is solid and satisfying, and in the end, it's truly affecting. Besides being an entertaining supernatural thriller, this story has a lot to say about the power of friendship and overcoming past obstacles. It's a story about personal redemption, and the importance of fighting for the survival of your own spirit. I admire Jackson Lee and the way he fought his fear to understand was truly happened in his past.
A solid standalone.
Jackson Lee shares Cal's world-weary cynicism, biting sarcasm and loner tendencies. He found one of his younger twin sisters, Tessa, drowned in a well as a 14-year old, triggering a series of violent events that ruined his family.
Sent to a state institution, his life was one run of hard luck after another, and he deliberately kept his distance, even from his roommate Charlie, who wanted to be his friend. Because when Jackson picked up Tessa's dropped pink shoe in the field on that fateful day, it triggered a curse: psychometry, or seeing the past through touching objects. When he touched that shoe, he knew his sister was dead and saw where she was. It is a secret that he thinks makes him a freak.
Gradually, as years pass, Jackson comes to terms with his curse/gift and adopts the dramatic black-clad, ponytailed, be-earringed persona of the All Seeing Eye, psychic for hire. He carves out a small life for himself.
But when the brother of that long-ago roommate shows up at his door, his carefully ordered life comes crashing down. Jackson is reluctantly drawn into an improbably sounding mad-science scheme. Brilliant Charlie had designed a device to faciliate Out of Body experiences, aka Astral Travel. Funded by the Government for its spying potential, something went wrong during the testing and killed Charlie.
Or did it? Because the more Jackson sees, the more he's convinced that Charlie didn't make a mistake. He knows Charlier was murdered, but is afraid to let on lest the killers target him too.
Bizarrely, Charlie's spirit is trapped in the ether and is wandering, trying to come home. But the weakest entry points are sites where great violence has occured and his presence causes modern people to become posessed by the past and repeat the actions, in a sort of time-loop.
Charlie's younger brother Hector is trying to put his "ghost" to rest. Jackson, despite his own abilities, is at first highly skeptical. But as he and Hector work together, truths about Charlie and revelations about his own past keep him from walking away.
The tension builds to an excellent three-part twist finale. The ending is solid and satisfying, and in the end, it's truly affecting. Besides being an entertaining supernatural thriller, this story has a lot to say about the power of friendship and overcoming past obstacles. It's a story about personal redemption, and the importance of fighting for the survival of your own spirit. I admire Jackson Lee and the way he fought his fear to understand was truly happened in his past.
A solid standalone.