Eyes To See – Joseph Nassise

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.

This is one hell of a Horror, but so damn delicious I couldn’t put it down. Since the description is so detailed, I don’t need to rehash it to you. It’s one of those books that scare you and make things seems so realistic that you jump at every bump in the night.

Hunt used to be a hotshot Harvard Professor, had the perfect wife (a lawyer) but it all fell apart when their daughter disappeared. Everything fell apart then, his wife left him due to his single minded focus on finding their daughter. He lost his job, but worse still in a weird bargain he lost his sight. Yet he gained the ability to see all things that go bump in the night.

“The dead are everywhere and I can see them as plainly as you can see yourself in a mirror. The buildings around me might be as hazy as a summer fog, but the dead shine brightly even in the dark.”

I wasn’t sure how I would relate to the main character; I’m a female, I don’t have kids and I sure as shit wouldn’t sacrifice my eyesight for anyone (sorry Mom).  Right away I fell in love with Hunt, he is a brilliantly formed character and weirdly enough, I found myself relating to him.

The story is fast paced, the world building just short of perfect. What I loved the most is that there was a conclusion. You would figure, that this is the start of a series so we wouldn’t get a conclusion. Alas that is not the case, you do find out what has happened to Hunt’s daughter!

“We live in these little plastic bubbles, content with our lives and our jobs and out families, and the evils of the world rarely touch us. We nod sagely at the television when some pretty-boy politician tells us we need to do something about it, but then we go right back to scarfing down our fast food dinners and our five-dollar cups of coffee, and nothing changes.” 

Be warned, Eyes To See is more Horror then Urban Fantasy but it’s still one hell of a read!