Trust Your Eyes

A very good read, has everything! In good condition and promptly sent.

Well written and enjoyable

In Barclay's 7th standalone thriller, Ray Kilbride is back home with his schizophrenic brother after their father dies. Overwhelmed by the many decisions he needs to make for his brother's care, Ray is not prepared when Thomas tells him he thinks he's seen a murder online. With a lovely nod to Hitchcock's Rear Window, Barclay masterfully spins this suspenseful tale of an Everyman caught up in murder, conspiracy and sexcapades. The pacing is fantastic. I could not put this book down, and after plenty of twists I thought the ending was very good.And bonus -- there's a small part for Promise Falls' Det. Duckworth from the author's Never Look Away!I loved Barclay's depiction of Thomas, a schizophrenic who functions relatively well. Or does he? Thomas is as interesting as Ray, while staying within the limitations of his character. The author humanizes a population often maligned and ill-used in mysteries and thrillers.As in other books I've read by this author, the characters, including the mentally ill Thomas, start out interesting and then grow more complex with the action and excellent narration. Chapters alternate between Ray's first person account and third person narratives that focus on a handful of other characters. The structure of the novel is roughly chronological but narrative shifts keep the reader in the middle of the action at all times. The tension and surprises are rewarding and fun. The villains are believable and frightening. You can imagine there are really people like that in the world, and how unfortunate for Ray and Thomas that they get caught up in the ills wrought by them!Barclay is becoming one of my favorite authors. I've read three and they've all been great. It's so much fun when you find a new author! If you are looking for a well written thriller, this could be your lucky day.

Très bon thriller.J'ai acheté ce livre en version anglaise, et je trouve qu'avec un niveau d'anglais correct on peut largement le lire sans faire des allers-retours sur Google Translate.Je vais éviter de parler de l'intrigue, pour éviter de spoiler les futurs lecteurs !Alors voici juste une anecdote :L'auteur du livre, Linwood Barclay, est apparemment un fan de Stephen King, il fait d'ailleurs référence à "Shining" dans son livre. Quant à Stephen King, dans son livre "Dr Sleep", (qui est la suite de son "Shining" justement) il fait utiliser à un de ses personnages le logiciel fictif "Whirl360", le même logiciel inventé par Linwood Barclay et qu'utilise Thomas dans "Trust Your Eyes" ! Sacré clin d'oeil.

Domestic horror-specialist Barclay’s novel is a techie avtaar of the plot, self-admittedly, inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 film “Rear Window.”Linwood has said that he has used a line from the film, almost word to word in the book, as homage, but I have failed to find it, so far.The prologue starts in present time, when a mentally-challenged Thomas, with an uncanny ability for memorising maps, views what he thinks is a crime on Whirl360.com: a virtual street-viewing software.(The original title of the book “360” was changed so that people would not confuse it with X-Box)The main story starts two weeks back with Thomas’s brother, Ray, an illustrator, whose father has died from an accident.(Living in India, we find eleven people attending the funeral a culture shock, even in fiction.)The story rewinds, again, earlier to a seemingly unconnected story of a financially strapped Allison who naively tries to use her not-so-straight affair with a casual partner to earn some money in a not-so-straight manner.There are two killings that go horribly wrong (the firsts of many) leading to a sequence of incidents involving Ray and Thomas.To add to Ray’s woes, who cannot cope up with his schizophrenic brother: he comes across a worrying browsing history in his dad’s lap-top.After Linwood lulls you into false sense of security by explaining the mystery/murders in the last chapters; he hits back, harder, with a disturbing twist on the last page.The story is full of odd characters: all connected to the main story.A failed-Olympian turning to a life of crime.A rare politician: one with a conscience; a gold digger (straying) wife; a campaign manager who would go to any lengths to further his employer’s career; an ex-policeman whose specialty is removing obstacles; Ray’s former girlfriend and journalist; a software engineer and his trophy wife.Neighbors, who turn physically abusive; a loyal family lawyer; a friendly policeman; FBI.When the attackers catch up with the brothers with lethal intentions, Linwood (a previous humour columnist) makes them talk their way out to buy some much needed time, the episode laced with hilarity and defuses a grim situation in a comic manner.While the story is gripping with a pat ending it relies too much on coincidences like our own Bollywood’s stories.I mean, how can a murder go wrong, twice?What are the chances of a crime being recorded on street view software while it is taking place?How many employees lie to their employers only to be caught red handed in the next few minutes?Far-fetched or not: it’s still a novel that prompted Stephen King to call it “The Best Barclay” so far.A trailer for the novel is available on the net. (Yeah, you read correct: A trailer)Movie rights have been snapped up by Warner Brothers.Recommended.