From The Corner Of His Eye

Dean Koontz

Average Rating 7/10 (2 Reviews)

Bartholomew Lampion is blinded at the age of three, when surgeons reluctantly remove his eyes to save him from a fast-spreading cancer, but although eyeless, Barty regains his sight when he is thirteen. The hands of a holy healer do not bring about this sudden ascent from a decade of darkness into the glory of light. No celestial trumpets announce the restoration of his vision, just as none had announced his birth.

A rollercoaster has something to do with his recovery, as does a seagull. And you can't discount the importance of Barty's profound desire to make his mother proud of him before she dies.

The first time she died was the day Barty was born.

January 6, 1965.

Dean Koontz is unique among contemporary writers, venturing far beyond traditional boundaries to explore our deepest fears and most transcendent aspirations.

Now, in From the Corner of His Eye, Koontz brings together his most powerful themes to draw readers into a spellbinding world made by a master storyteller at the top of his form - a story rich in triumph and tragedy, joy and terror, love, hate and profound meaning, played out by the most unforgettable cast of characters he has yet created.

It is a narrative tour de force that will change the way you look at the world.

Review by Victim (310301) Rating (7/10)
Review by Nigel (310301) Rating (7/10)

Review by Victim
Rating 7/10
Once again -ing Brilliant, it goes through the life of some kids who are a bit different, able to see through to different legs of the trousers of time.

Although I was a touch confused by the Psycho (maybe I'm not totally irrational after all) it is possible to understand him after a while, but not to start with.
Victim (31st March 2001)

Review by Nigel
Rating 7/10
I have mixed feelings about this novel... at times I got really fed up with it and then several pages later I was enthralled. Like his last novel, False Memory, it seemed a little verbose. It is far too long for the story it's telling, especially at the beginning.

Most of Dean Koontz's early work was fast and furious and you enjoyed the pace as much as anything else. His later work retains the earlier quality of ideas but seems to have increased the quantity for no good reason.

This story deals with alternate universes and the way the characters interact with the other 'some places' that exist (although you have to read a good few hundred pages before any of this becomes apparent:).

The main character, Junior Cain, is a seriously warped individual who is portrayed brilliantly. At times it makes you cringe to read how he perceives others around himself and what he believes they are thinking about him... very good writing.

Junior believes in himself absolutely and most of the novel revolves around his slow slide into paranoia as he tries to locate a certain child he believes will cause his destruction. This child is one of the few who can 'feel' the other places and can even keep dry in the pouring rain by walking 'where it is sunny'.

The ending (when it arrives:) is fast and furious and the characters and plot flow together very well, with everything finally making sense.

All in all a very good novel, although I don't think it would spoilt the story in any way had it been somewhat shorter.
Nigel (31st March 2001)