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Book Summary and Reviews of Blind Sight by Carol O'Connell

Blind Sight by Carol O'Connell

Blind Sight

A Mallory Novel

by Carol O'Connell

  • Critics' Consensus (2):
  • Published:
  • Sep 2016, 400 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

The extraordinary new Mallory novel from one of the most acclaimed crime writers in America.

A blind child and a Catholic nun disappear from a city sidewalk in plain sight of onlookers. There, then gone—vanished in seconds. Those who witnessed the event still cannot believe it happened.

It was all too real. Detective Kathy Mallory and the NYPD's Special Crimes Unit enter the investigation when the nun's body is found with three other corpses in varying stages of decomposition left on the lawn of Gracie Mansion, home to the mayor of New York City. Sister Michael was the last to die. The child, Jonah Quill, is still missing. 

Like Jonah, the police are blind. Unknown to them, he is with a stone killer, and though he has unexpected resources of his own, his would-be saviors have no suspect, no useful evidence, and no clue — except for Detective Mallory's suspicions of things not said and her penchant for getting to the truth beneath lies. Behind her back, the squad's name for her is Mallory the Machine, yet she has a dark understanding of what it is to be human. A child is waiting, time is running out, and atop her list of liars is the mayor himself…and a theory of the crimes in which no sane cop could believe.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. Colorful and appealing (or appalling) characters make this one a winner for crime-fic fans." - Kirkus

"Starred Review. Kathy Mallory's twelfth outing (following It Happens in the Dark, 2013) showcases the unparalleled characterization and powerful backstory that have made this a bar-raising hard-boiled series." - Booklist

"...gripping life-and-death drama, the larger plot is excessively convoluted and capricious." - Publishers Weekly

"Both slickly cool and hot to the touch, Carol O'Connell's Blind Sight is a master class in suspense. As her detective hero, the inscrutable and fascinating Mallory, plunges into darker and darker terrain, we feel lucky - thrilled - to be along for the ride." - New York Times-bestselling author Megan Abbott

"Do I really need to say anything other than Mallory is back? And she's darker, more sly and disturbing than ever. Carol O'Connell is at her finest in this addictive, riveting, stylish, powerful psychological thriller. Once again, she's raised the bar for crime fiction." - M. J. Rose, New York Times bestselling author

This information about Blind Sight was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Carol O'Connell Author Biography

Born in 1947, Carol O'Connell studied at the California Institute of Arts/Chouinard and Arizona State University. For many years she survived on occasional sales of her paintings as well as freelance proof-reading and copy-editing.

At the age of 46 she sent the manuscript of Mallory's Oracle to Hutchinson, because she felt that a British publisher would be sympathetic to a first time novelist and because Hutchinson also publish Ruth Rendell. Having miraculously found the book on the 'slush pile', Hutchinson immediately came back with an offer for world rights, not just for Mallory's Oracle but for the second book featuring the same captivating heroine.

At the Frankfurt Book Fair, Hutchinson sold the rights to Dutch, French and German publishers for six figure sums. Mallory's Oracle ...

... Full Biography

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Read-Alikes

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