The Naked Eye

So many reviews for you coming up!! At this rate, your to-read list is going to dramatically increase. Sorry, friends.

The Naked Eye - Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen

The #1 New York Times bestselling author and the Edgar Award winning author are back with a new a new novel featuring Kendra Michaels—hired gun for both the CIA and FBI.

It’s been four months since the events of SIGHT UNSEEN, and Kendra Michaels is obsessed with trying to track down serial killer Eric Colby. Despite his apparent execution at San Quentin, Kendra is convinced that Colby is still alive. The trouble is, she can’t prove it. Even her razor-sharp powers of observation, honed while blind during the first twenty years of her life, have gotten her nowhere. So no one believes her.

Then out of the blue she gets a call from the Sheriff of Olancha, California, about a young woman being held on a drunk and disorderly charge who lists Kendra as her emergency contact. It’s Eve Duncan’s sister, Beth Avery, who after being wrongfully institutionalized for five years has been living on the road and trying to figure out her life. Kendra can identify, having gone through a similar period of self-discovery after gaining her sight, and she takes Beth home to San Diego with her.

But the murder of a police detective who had once very openly crossed swords with Kendra is about to complicate her life even further. She visits the crime scene in search of anything that might provide a link to Colby and instead finds evidence that links the crime to her. Finally Colby’s master plan becomes clear: he is framing Kendra for a brutal cop-killing.

Suspicions mount along with the body count, and Kendra is thrust into spine-tingling pursuit to clear her name and find the killer no one believes exists anymore. Beth joins her on her quest, and agent-for-hire Adam Lynch soon follows. And they get help from another friend anxious to repay her debt to Kendra… none other than Eve Duncan herself.

Full disclosure, this is the third book in this series and while some say it can be a stand alone, I am telling you to read books one and two first. I didn't, and I wish I had. Yes, there is some "catch up" passages so you get a really quick run down of the previous two stories, but I feel like I would have been more invested in Kendra had I read the other two first. (I've since read them, equally good as this one.)

So the story is of Kendra, someone who was previously blind for many years, who uses her skills to assist law enforcement with crimes, primarily murders. The first two books has her chasing down serial killer Eric Colby, and in book three, he's presumed dead to everyone except for Kendra. She is absolutely convinced he somehow escaped execution and it's only a matter of time before he comes back. She knows if he comes back he will be after her because it was her that essentially landed him in prison awaiting execution. Right away, Kendra is called to the scene of a murder where it becomes obvious she is consumed by Eric Colby. She's hyper-sensitive to anything that could show a sign of his return and people are worried for her, primarily her mental health. 

It isn't until the murder of a reporter who made Kendra's life a living hell winds up murdered that Kendra thinks this may be it. Instead of finding clues to find Colby and really bring him to justice this time, everything points to Kendra as being the actual murderer. It's easy enough for police to make the assumption that Kendra killed the reporter as revenge, and Kendra finds herself losing supporters quickly. The only thing Kendra can hope for is that the clues only she sees (the ones others disregard outright) will be enough to catch Colby in the end. 

Overall? I'd say 4 out of 5 stars. It started a little slow for me, but it quickly picks up to be a pretty solid thriller. I do highly recommend you read the first two books before this one, but even still, I enjoyed this one a lot. It's a great read to occupy your time while your husband tries to bore you to death with his Star Trek re-runs. Oy. The Naked Eye is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Happy reading!