Customer Reviews

Eyes of a Child (Random House Large Print)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

First off if you have picked up 'Eyes of a Child' and haven't read 'Degree of Guilt' go get it NOW. 'Eyes' is a partial sequel and even though it can stand on its own, it makes more sense if you have first read 'Degree' and besides, you don't want to miss out on another great read, too now do you? Okay with that said, 'Eyes' is FIRST RATE! Not just a legal-thriller, but a fantastic 'Whodunnit' as well. In fact we begin with a murder. Then jump to a cozy vacation with Christopher Paget and his former legal secretary. It is HER husband who get's the axe at the beginning. Does Christopher have anything to do with this murder? Why had he visited the deceased before leaving town quickly? Why did he donate the suit he wore when making this visit suddenly to a used clothing store? He looks more and more guilty as the pages fly, but as usual, things are not always as they seem. I have noticed a pattern with Mr. Patterson's books and that is for him to set the stage in the novel, and then we time travel back to events which happened to either set the stage for the situations we find ourselves in or to just give you an idea of WHY certain characters act the way they do. It is always important to the story, so do NOT let it distract you, it will ALL make sense in the end. Compelling is one word I would use to describe this great story. Although I had the culprit nailed long before the ending came, I wasn't 100% certain until it finally WAS revealed. I turned this one over to my wife and made her a convert to Patterson's books as well. This guy writes better than average legal-thrillers and a supreme step above Grishams stuff in MY opinion, too. If you wanna spend a weekend huddled in a reading room with a novel that will keep you vastly entertained for the entire duration of the book, 'Eyes of a Child' is definitely the prescription you are looking for.

If you have any experience at all reading the whodunit type of mystery story, you will know within the first two chapters who the murderer is in this story. If that's all you care about, you'll be tempted to stop. My advice? DON'T !!!

Eyes of a Child is one of the best mystery novels I have ever read, and I picked it up by accident, thinking it was by another author. Lucky accident! The story is told largely through the eyes of Teresa Peralta, a young hispanic legal assistant in San Francisco, whose husband of six years, Richie, is murdered just before she leaves to go to Venice with her boss and lover, Christopher Paget, a major character carried over from a previous Patterson novel. We know Chris can't possibly be the murderer, because he's the good guy in the previous book, so we're left with only one possible suspect-- so there's no mystery at all about 'whodunit.' In spite of that, the book is a terrific mystery-- not about who, but about how and why.

The 'victim' is a slimeball of major proportions. He's killed in the first few pages. Then, through flashbacks, we're taken through the last few months before his demise. By the time he finally gets what's coming to him, we're ready to go to SanFran and kill him ourselves!

The dramatic insensity picks up when Christopher is arrested and tried for the murder. We know he didn't do it, but his efforts to prove his innocence in the face of many facts that make him look guilty provides the terrific suspense. The outcome is unexpected and exciting.

But I'm missing the main point here: This is no ordinary mystery story, and the plot pales in comparison to some other issues. These are 'real' people. We care about them. We care what happens to them. We want Christopher to 'get off' without revealing to the authorities who the real killer is, because the murderer has done society an immense service and deserves to remain unidentified and free.

Although the adult characters make the plot move, it is a child who is the center of the story-- hence the title. Teresa's daughter is one of the most haunting and sympathetic characters you will ever encounter in literature. What happens to her along the way is far more important in the long run than the more prosaic question of who is 'victim' and who is 'murderer.'

I have only two minor complaints: 1. A couple of the characters easily arrive at insights into their own personalities that no real-life person could similarly achieve, and 2. They are able to articulate these insights more clearly than any similar real person could. In other words, the author puts words in their mouths for them. This damages the illusion of reality in a couple of spots. However, the book's many strengths far outweigh these piddly weaknesses.

A fascinating read. I can't recommend it highly enough.

this was my first book by richard north patterson (rnp) which was kind of a mistake. little did i know that there were two books before this one about christopher paget, mary carelli, and teresa peralta. if you havent read "the lasko tangent" or "degree of guilt" read those before you read this one. other then that i really liked this book. its one of those that you just cant put down until you finish it. you might want to read "the final judgement" or the renamed title "caroline masters" after your done with this one. after this book i got into all his other ones which i have really enjoyed. another good ones to read by him are "silent witness" or "dark lady"

Once I picked up this book it was impossible to put down. The characters become so real. Patterson makes the characters members of the family. You can't help but feel the pain of the child. The emotions run deep. He makes you hate one person while love another. The research done to make this book so realistic is astonishing. It was truely an education. I can't wait to read more of his work.

I had never read any kind of thriller until accidentally picking up No Safe Place at a friends house. 5 books later and I am completely hooked. Eyes of a Child, though, had me mesmerised for 2 days. From the whodunnit factor to the court case; it really is impossible to let go. The way Patterson writes about the relationship between Chris and Carlo is particularly touching. I also enjoyed the fact that although you know Chris to be innocent you also know he's hiding something but what? Towards the end I had correctly guessed at the identity of the murderer and the child abuser but it was still a shock when written in front of me. I really felt a gamut of emotions reading this book and was close to tears on many occasions. An absolutely fantastic read!!

I've recently become a big fan of Richard North Patterson's work. My favorite books of his are the ones involving Kerry Kilcannon. I feel Patterson is at his best when he combines politics with law. It is also when I feel his work is the most interesting and most compelling.

However, after reading Eyes of a Child, I've discovered that he also writes a pretty darn good legal thriller. Child abuse is a very difficult and touchy subject to address. I tend to admire Patterson for his research capabilities to ensure that he's putting credible information behind his plots and characters.

The story surrounds the 6-year-old daughter of lawyer, Teresa Peralta. There is a vicious custody battle between Teresa and her extremely manipulative husband, Ricardo "Richie" Arias. Beginning on the outer fringes of the story is the man whom Teresa has come to love and rely upon, Christopher Paget, himself a lawyer and Teresa's boss. Christopher is a single parent raising his 16-year-old son, Carlo.

First of all, Teresa loves her little girl, Elena, more than anything. Christopher Paget also loves his son at the same level.

So, what happens when Carlo is accused of molesting Elena? What happens when Christopher Paget himself is accused of murdering Richie? While these are intriguing questions for the movement of the story, the heart of it lies in this: how does this impact and affect the relationships between parent and child?

Patterson succeeds in creating one of the most unlikeable, diabolical character I've seen in Richie. The man is not above using anyone or anything for his own personal gain, and disguising this behind impressions of compassion and love, two concepts that are totally alien to him.

The story opens with Richie's death. I question whether it would have been more effective to do this later in the story. I almost felt disapppointed to find out from the start that Richie is dead. He is such a despicable character, that I wonder if it would have had more impact had his death been written later in chronological order.

Patterson creates realistic parents in Teresa and Chris who do their best to protect and love their children without compromising them. They are both flawed characters. They aren't perfect parents. They simply do what they feel is best. They will soon learn that, for children, it is not so much what a parent "does" but who a parent "is," that really counts. Sometimes not saying something as a parent can do more harm than good. Besides, as adults, we forget that children aren't stupid and are often much brighter than we ever give them credit for.

One of the most difficult things for a writer to do is to give a little child a realistic voice. It's hard to remember what a 6-year-old sounds like. How do they express themselves and what kind of words do they use. Patterson struggles with this early on with Elena. I work with kids all the time, and I just couldn't see Elena speaking the way she does in this story. As the story progresses, Patterson finally seems to find that voice, thus making Elena much more realistic and believable.

While I still feel that author, Sheldon Siegel writes the best courtroom scenes of any author on the market, Patterson does a great job in this story. The trial is tense and intriguing, and you simply can't put the book down once it gets going. At least he finally put in a judge who isn't cranky and snapping at everything. The judge during the custody hearing is like this which forced me to question: Christ, are all judges like this? Not by my experience, so I was relieved when the trial judge escaped this type of characterization.

This book is very well written. You won't be disappointed. You won't be cheering for Richie. You may start to cheer for Teresa and Chris, but in the end, you find yourself truly cheering for Elena and Carlo because you do begin to see through the eyes of a child.

Although I have never been one for these types of books, Richard North Patterson has changed my way of thinking. I had this book read in two days...could not put it down. It does touch on the sensitive areas of child sexual abuse, which were difficult to get through, but the story line kept me coming back. Sadly, this is the world we live in.

Thought to writing a review of this book... something which brought a lump to my throat after a long, long time...

The story is about an estranged child, called Elena, the love child of Teresa and Richie, whose parents don't love each other any more. For adults it is easy to say and accept, but for a child to comprehend that her parents can be separated is almost unfathomable. And it is this very delicate and most intricate feeling that Richard North Patterson sought to capture in this book. It is ostensibly a legal thriller, a murder mystery, a whodunit, a courtroom drama... but above all, it is the story of Elena, who is torn between her parents, both of whom tell her that they love her, but not enough to be able to settle their own differences and live together... even for her sake... imagine Elena's sense of being betrayed when her Mom tells has that her Dad is the cause of their divorce proceedings, and her Dad insists that her Mom's extra-marital affair with her boss, Chris, is the cause of this estrangement...

The book is kind of long, but the length is almost an asset, used well by RNP to make the reader bond with the characters. You end up taking sides, and almost willing for things to happen and fall right... more than once while reading did I realize that I was clenching my teeth, and surprised, I let go... actually, was more than just a little surprised... not since the time I read "Les Miserables" did I experience such plight and pain in a character made solely out of paper and ink and one man's imagination...

Though similar to Grisham in topics and characters, this book certainly qualifies to be way up and beyond the caliber of Grisham's best (with perhaps the sole exception of "The Chamber")! The mystery and whodunit aspect is kind of tolerable and in the end things fall into place so that everything somehow makes sense (or does it?). Though the author has tried to intertwine the story into knots, starting with the murder, and then going a couple of weeks in the past to build a background into the characters, then carrying on with the past, and then finally a jump right into the middle of the fiery courtroom battle. Rarely does one get to see such delicious courtroom scenes... each argument has a counter-argument, and another one there... and just when you think one side comes up with their strongest witness, the other simply breaks through and gets back! It was a treat to follow the proceedings of the court.

A few things I found lacking in the story... at times, the characters are too single-sided... some are too white while others too black. Acceptable, but at times it makes the story that much less plausible. Still, just a nick in the armor... Another point worth making out is that the characters suffer so very much as part of the story, and as a result they take very long to reconcile and come to terms with their lives, but once they are around the bend, they bounce back almost too easily and are able to diagnose their feelings and psychologies a little too easily and objectively... Again, not something that takes too much out of the story or its effect, but I felt the author had just gone overboard a few times in trying to conceive his characters in depth.

Overall, I would rate this book a neat 4 out of 5, primarily for the delicate yet plausible handling of the sensitive topics that are covered in the book, and the way the plot comes together, with everything - every small detail that at times felt nagging and inconsequential - falling into place, while maintaining the acceptability of the characters and situations, at all times.

I have two more of Patterson's books lined up in my bookshelf, and will tell you more once I am through them too!

A thoroughly dislikable book, with thoroughly dislikable characters, which made me thoroughly dislike the author. It is badly-written, with a contrived plot, and characters with totally unconvincing motives... for example, a woman who professes great concern that her ex-husband may be mistreating their 5-year-old daughter, nevertheless leaves her daughter with her father so that she can go to Italy with her lover for two weeks to "decide on their future". The protagonists are unpleasant, selfish and self-centred, hypocritical characters behaving behind a thin veneer of the appropriate moral values, who pay mere lip-service to the concepts of honesty and decency: these are the same characters found in "Degree of Guilt" (I bought the sequel by mistake). The book includes some totally distasteful references to child abuse, which made me cringe for anyone who might be personally affected by the subject. The author knows the tricks of hooking a reader, maintaining pace, and constructing a character. By these criteria, it is a reasonably good "thriller". But I'm not sure if I was hooked by interest in the story or outrage. And his literary ability, slight though it is, makes the book all the more insidious. I WAS on a plane with nothing else to read, but I wished them ALL dead by the end of it (except the little girl). What shocked me most of all, however, is that it is clear that the author has an admiration and liking for these people, which he expects the reader to share. Perhaps to Patterson's credit (?) I found the main characters to be believable insofar as they reflected a type of American character that does exist -- the product of the American dream gone wrong. If I were American, I would not be proud that a countryman of mine had produced this book. I should note that I am not easily shocked, outraged, or rendered vitriolic by amorality: one of my favourite films is "Pulp Fiction". Patterson has no sense of moral responsability. I wouldn't let him babysit my goldfish

Patterson did I great job on making you wonder who was really at fault, and leaving anyone open to be guilty. I absolutely loved the book and would highly recommend it to people who love to question who the real killer is. Chris Paget is the good guy that you don't want to be guilty but are suspicious of throughout the novel. Patterson did an excellent job.