Eyes to See

Eyes to See by Joseph Nassise

Jeremiah Hunt #1

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.

I really wanted to love this book. I mean the cover is great, and the description really pulled me in. However, I just couldn't get into reading it no matter how many times I tried. The concept behind it was really intriguing, but I just couldn't make a real connection with the characters, especially the narrator, Jeremiah. To be honest, I'm not even sure why I couldn't connect as I usually get very quickly attached in first person narratives. My heart broke for him in the flash back sections where they showed exactly what happened when she was taken, and then the direct aftermath. However, when things came back to present day, he just seemed cold and very remote. I understand that he had to do this in order to cope, but going from one extreme to the other, was a bit much. Jeremiah's absolute tunnel vision made for many missed opportunities in character development and just plain and simple emotion. At one point he did seem to wake up and care more about a person in the present, but unfortunately it didn't last for long, making that person become even more standoff towards him.

The thing that kept me holding on throughout Eyes to See was the really amazing world behind it all. There is a darker side of things going on that the ordinary person cannot see. Ironically Jeremiah's eyes were only opened to all this after he lost his real eyesight. However, he does have a unique way to see things that I found to be really intriguing. What started out as seeming to be a simple ghost story quickly became so much more. Even so, I think we have only really scratched the surface of what is in store. I do have to say that I think I would enjoy future books a little more than this one as there was some progress in the emotional part of things. I think this book will be more enjoyable to readers who love a story with a really rich world but don't need a really strong emotional attachment to their characters. Unfortunately, I need both, but I will still give this series a second chance when the next installment comes out.

(Received a copy from the publisher)

Rating:

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Eyes to See (The Jeremiah Hunt Chronicle)

Other Reviews:

•  Book Sake
• All Things Urban Fantasy

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• Outdo Yourself
• Horror and Urban Fantasy
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