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

What's Next, Wednesday (58)

•  To play along share a book you've been looking forward to reading, whether it's new or has been on your reading list for a while.

I'm looking forward to...

The Grumpface by BCR Fegan. It's time again to switch gears and review a children's book! I like to keep the genres I review on The Coffee Pot as eclectic as possible so when a children's book comes along, I like to include them. This story is about a young inventor who runs into a very grumpy villain and is, literally, put to the test, in order to continue his journey. 

Teaser Tuesday (267)

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR, or just share what you are currently reading. It is very easy to play along:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.




Burning Through Their Eyes (Kindle 6%)
    - Eugene Knight

You see, when we go into someone's mind and show them our own dream or image, it acts as a printed photograph that you see daily hanging on a refrigerator. The image is always there in your head, and you can't do anything to erase it, or so I was told. 

American Gods

A storm is coming...

Locked behind bars for three years, Shadow did his time, quietly waiting for the magic day when he could return to Eagle Point, Indiana. A man no longer scared of what tomorrow might bring, all he wanted was to be with Laura, the wife he deeply loved, and start a new life.

But just days before his release, Laura and Shadow’s best friend are killed in an accident. With his life in pieces and nothing to keep him tethered, Shadow accepts a job from a beguiling stranger he meets on the way home, an enigmatic man who calls himself Mr. Wednesday. A trickster and rogue, Wednesday seems to know more about Shadow than Shadow does himself.

Life as Wednesday’s bodyguard, driver, and errand boy is far more interesting and dangerous than Shadow ever imagined—it is a job that takes him on a dark and strange road trip and introduces him to a host of eccentric characters whose fates are mysteriously intertwined with his own. Along the way Shadow will learn that the past never dies; that everyone, including his beloved Laura, harbors secrets; and that dreams, totems, legends, and myths are more real than we know. Ultimately, he will discover that beneath the placid surface of everyday life a storm is brewing—an epic war for the very soul of America—and that he is standing squarely in its path.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Neil Gaiman's magical realism combines with stories of global gods in his novel, American Gods, in which gods from different lands find themselves in the United States, brought along by the memories of immigrants. Yet, new gods have now materialized as Americans worship new forms of technology. Presently, these gods are in a battle as less and less people believe in the old gods while nearly everyone believes in the new. But the old gods have a plan, at least one of them anyway, and it will culminate in war. 

Shadow, the main character, is a waif of a man. He wasn't always like this, but prison and losing his wife changed him. As an ex-con, he doesn't exactly care about the direction in which his life is going. So when a random (really not so random) man shows up and offers him a job, Shadow refuses until he can't anymore. Then he starts working for Mr. Wednesday, an old god. Shadow is a man carried by the wind of other people's decisions. Yet, he is dedicated, loyal, and has an air of something more about him. He's seemingly fearless with a 'take-it-as-it-comes' attitude. The most interesting thing about Shadow is that all the interactions with other gods, old and new, make readers see him as more important than he initially seems. I think this intrigue is one of the main factors that drive the story and helps build a connection between Shadow and readers. Shadow isn't a bad person, but he kind of lacks any personable qualities. Though as the story progresses, he seems to gain traits one at a time. As his deceased wife tells him, he's more dead than alive. And the story seemingly works backward from his death to his birth, creating an intricate emotional attachment to his character. 

My favorite sections of the book turned out to be the interludes, or the 'Coming to America' stories. These intermediate chapters are sprinkled throughout the novel, sharing stories of how the old gods were carried to America, with insight into how they stay alive. At first, I thought these sections would feel like interruptions, but they turned out to be more of an offering to the reader. A background that the reader could consume that would help them understand why the old gods are struggling to stay relevant in a technologically advanced world. 

The plot of this novel follows Shadow's release from prison leading him to work for Mr. Wednesday in the hope that Shadow can help Mr. Wednesday to rally the old gods in a fight against the new. Though there are many side-stories like a disappearing girl, Shadow's dead wife coming back to a sort of zombie state, and the interludes, the novel tracks Shadow and Mr. Wednesday road-tripping back and forth across America in hopes to create an army of old gods, some named and some nameless. The novel becomes an intricate map of crisscrossed information and ever-changing situations and people. One of my favorite aspects of this novel is, of course, Neil Gaiman's writing style. The words are willowy and the characters are constantly changing, as if no one could ever really grasp these things called gods. And yet, the whole thing is a con and a simple story of the immigration of beliefs and the lengths one would go to to keep those beliefs alive. 

Rating: 4/5 Cups