Burning Through Their Eyes

When Toby decides to move to Chicago, it is because he wants to start a new life with his family and to get close to the place where his father was killed. But Toby is shocked with the things he learns, understanding that the University where he works runs a very dangerous program operated by the NSA.

But that isn’t enough; one of his sons is kidnapped and could be in grave danger; his son would be subject to a dangerous research which aims at harnessing the ability to manipulate the dreams of others and to pry into their thoughts through their eyes. Now Toby must rescue his son, and to do so, he must use his own set of exceptional skills. The only problem, apart from a deadly adversary, is when a gifted seer of the future reveals that he’s seen Toby killed in a vision.

*May Contain Spoilers*

The psychological terror continues from In Between Dreams with Eugene Knight's sequel, Burning Through Their Eyes. Toby returns as the main character but is now the father of twin boys who seem to be even stronger than he is in the realm of Mindflyers. At such a young age, Toby's sons could have great and dangerous potential and thus makes them a target for an ambitious and unscrupulous man.  

Readers see an older and more evolved Toby in this sequel. Whereas in the first book Toby only really had to care about himself and could act childish, now he's a father, with a seemingly good career, and has a family to support and protect. Therefore, readers will be able to witness Toby as a more grown up character who is dependable and responsible. His role as a parent will also help him be more relatable to readers as they see a father willing to do anything to save his son, after one of the twins is kidnapped. This will allow readers to connect with Toby on another level, a deeper one. No one ever wants to see, or read about, a child getting hurt. So while this helps readers feel a connection with Toby, it also ups the ante of the entire book. 

The plot of this sequel moves pretty fast as the list of suspects for who could have kidnapped Brice, Toby's son, grows exponentially. When we add the fact that the kidnappers have absolutely no qualms about killing anyone who gets in their way, the odds quickly stack against Toby's chance of surviving. One important thing to realize going in, is that all of this is being done to advance the research of killing people by using a Mindflyer to enter a person's conscious and basically push them into a daydream in which they die, causing a heart attack due to the level of stress their mind thinks their body is experiencing. Scary situation and horrifying idea. The explanations can get a little muddled, but I think Knight does a good job in explaining it, and demonstrating, how it would work so the audience gets the right idea. As a whole, I really enjoyed this book. It kept me entertained while I was simultaneously hoping for the survival of various characters. All the different doctors did become a little bit confusing as I struggled to keep them, and their specific work, straight, but I didn't feel like it detracted from the overall storyline. For readers who enjoy psychological thrillers and science fiction, I would recommend taking a chance on this one. 

Rating: 3/5 Cups

Read the review of Book One