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Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Apr 2023, 320 pages
Paperback:
Feb 2024, 336 pages
Book Reviewed by:
Erin Lyndal Martin
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A riveting crime novel with a speculative edge about the ways our perceptions of reality can be manipulated.
Seven years ago, everyone in the world went blind in a matter of months. Technology helped people adjust to the new normal, creating a device that approximates vision, downloading visual data directly to people's brains. But what happens when someone finds a way to hack it and change what people see?
Homicide detective Mark Owens has been on the force since before The Blinding. When a scientist is murdered, and the only witness insists the killer was blacked out of her vision, Owens doesn't believe her—until a similar murder happens in front of him. With suspects ranging from tech billionaires to anti-modernity cultists—and with the bodies piling up—Owens must conduct an investigation in which he can't even trust his own eyes.
Thomas Mullen, the acclaimed author of Darktown and The Last Town on Earth, delivers an unputdownable crime novel about one man's search for truth in a world of surveillance and disinformation that's all too recognizable.
CHAPTER 1
Owens still remembers what it was like to trust. Trust his eyes, his friends, his employer. Trust his own mind, the signals firing inside his brain, the response of his body to the world around him.
Trust is something you don't think about. When it exists, it's invisible.
Like gravity. When something you let go of falls to the ground, you might be annoyed but never surprised, because that's just how it works.
Until it stops working, and everything's floating in the air, and nothing makes sense.
And for the rest of your life—even if things get fixed later, even if the earth regains its gravitational pull and the world returns to "normal"—you will never again feel as certain as you once did, no matter how many things you see fall.
* * *
Owens sits in his squad car and he trusts what he sees. Because that's how it's supposed to work.
Beside him, Peterson only half stifles a belch. Salami breath, fragrant and thick.
In the back seat, Khouri too plays her role by shaking her ...
Beyond the technology and crime at the forefront of this story, Mullen reminds readers of our metaphorical blind spots. When we're close to someone, do we overlook certain warning signs? Can we really see those closest to us most clearly? And, in our quest to be seen, are we overlooking things? While a lot of authors write suspenseful thrillers, Blind Spots stands above many for its intricate world-building and smartly crafted characters. The author resolves the main plot points in satisfying ways, but some elements aren't as nicely tied up. Even now, with the biggest mysteries solved, I keep thinking of the characters. If I had a vidder that would let me see into their futures, I would use it without hesitation...continued
Full Review
(782 words)
(Reviewed by Erin Lyndal Martin).
Ace Atkins
This terrific mix of noir and sci-fi delivers an exciting and cautionary crime novel of what may be our not-so-distant future. Anthony Horowitz
It's rare to find a thriller with such a fantastic and original concept. I was gripped. Charles Yu
An exciting page-turner that's also full of sharp writing and thought-provoking ideas. Mullen fuses science fiction and a detective story into a stylish and entertaining novel. Jason Rekulak
Terrific... The world of this story is brimming with imagination and raises alarming questions about our own near-term future. Attention Black Mirror fans: This is your next book!After a mysterious event that blinded the entire world population, the characters in Blind Spots use devices called vidders to see. In real life, many people are experiencing vision improvement through technology that might sound like something out of a science fiction novel. From smart glasses to implantable contact lenses, vision improvement technologies are proliferating for every need. Unfortunately, in the U.S., few of these options are covered by insurance and therefore are out of reach for many. (I have personally benefited from telling my doctor about my financial situation and having her advocate for me with the manufacturer of my own special lenses.)
The first eSight smart glasses were released in 2013, and the technology has ...
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