Customer Reviews

Seeing Eye

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Before I read this book I have never heard of Jack Ellis or any of his books. I saw this one sitting on a shelf looking back at me. Too bad Amazon doesn't show the cover art, it's actually quite nice.

The story is of Campbell Knight who looses his sight in a horrible accident. In a secret experiment run by his sister's boyfriend, Campbell gets his eye sight returned to him through his dog, Shadow. But, in a strange fluke, Campbell is somehow linked to Shadow's brother Max and to the other dogs of his litter. And through the eyes of Max, the dog, he sees a horrible abusive women kidnapping children. Now Campbell and his newly found partner need to find the truth behind the visions and find out if the mystery women is real!

The premise is quite good and worth reading, however short the book is, about 415 pages. The use of technology is correctly used (however in my opinion, the author could have used other technologies that are more suitable for the links to Shadow) Jack Ellis makes good use of the actual story between Campbell and his dog, although it saddens me to see that he closes many potential story paths. It's hard to say what they are without giving away too much of the story. but, it's safe to say that this story had a lot of unused potential regarding Shadow and the other dogs. I feel somewhat cheated reading complex stories like Watchers or The Wheel of Time and then reading such a short "simplistic" story. The story does read fairly sluggish in some parts yet, isn't unbearably painful to read through. (Ever try to read the first half of Lucifer's Hammer knowing what is going to happen in the second half? It's impossible!) I would certainly recommend this story to anyone especially a lover of dogs and unique dog stories.

Jack Ellis' "Seeing Eye" is one of those books that remind you of the B-movies of the 50's; it's a guilty pleasure. Our hero, Campbell Knight, is a frustrating one to say the least. He starts out mad at the world (justifiably so, in losing his eye sight in such a horrible fashion); then once he agrees to the experiment with Shadow, the wonder eye dog, he becomes more mellow and starts falling in love with his heretofore unappreciated neighbor, Hope. However, once Campbell starts sharing visions of a crazy woman murdering children, he returns to being an obnoxious, self-pitying bore. Fortunately, for the reader, Campbell does become a likeable hero by the end of the novel.

The premise of Campbell sharing Shadow's visions with a dog from his same litter, is original, and even though Ellis sometimes takes a good while in getting to the meat of the plot, it's an enjoyable read, and it has a tragic ending, one that disappointed me, but was effective nonetheless.

I'm not sure the crazy woman, Ellie, is a truly developed villianess, but she is effective, and the child, Teresa, is a worthy opponent.

Atmospheric, and occasionally creepy, this book is a great read for the beach or a rainy night.

"Seeing Eye" is the first book I have read by Jack Ellis, but won't be the last. He did a great job building the plot by adding layer after layer of suspense. In "Seeing Eye", he takes a bitter blind man and gives him hope through an experimental operation that permits him to regain his sight through the actual eyes of a black lab. (As a Black Lab lover, I really enjoyed Ellis' take on this intelligent and loving breed of dog.) As the blind man (Campbell Knight) slowly begins to re-enter society by seeing through his dog, Shadow, he finds more than he bargained for. For along with his newly-found sense of sight, he has also picked up a telepathic link with Shadow and possibly other members of Shadow's litter. One of those litter mates, Max, just happens to be the faithful friend of a seriously deranged kidnapper. As Campbell finds himself linking closer and closer to Shadow and Max, he discovers that he can "see" what Max sees as well and discovers what the kidnapper has been doing.

Of course, it is a plot that is based in some unbelieveable permises, but it is an excellent story nonetheless. My only criticism is that Ellis didn't spend a lot of time developing the background of the major characters and didn't really explain much about how Campbell was injured. Minor criticisms, at best!

Solid and unrelenting, readers who enjoy a thrilling plot with a number of twists and turns, will enjoy "Seeing Eye".

RECOMMENDED!

Seeing Eye is an original mystery about a blind man who is given the gift of sight using a connection to a seeing eye dog. However, things don't go exactly as planned and Cambell Knight sees a lot more than he expects. The book gets a little technical at the start, but keep turning those pages. You'll want to get to the action at the end

I dipped into my vacation stack of paperbacks and pulled out Seeing Eye by Jack Ellis. Not a bad novel...

The main character, Campbell, is a blind guy who lost his eyes in an accident. He's not handling his blindness well, and is pretty upset at the world. His sister is dating a guy who is doing experimental research involving neural hookups between man and dog that allows a blind human to see through the dog's eyes. He finally consents to the experiment and travels overseas for the surgery. The process works remarkably well, and Campbell and Shadow start to bond tightly. But things start getting strange when he starts seeing visions involving kidnapped children. It appears that some psychic connection between Shadow and something else is bleeding through to Campbell, and he's the only person who can possibly track down a recently kidnapped child who is about to be murdered if the killer is not stopped.

The pacing and characters in the book are nicely done. The idea of seeing everything through the eyes of your seeing eye dog is interesting, as are the situations where he is looking into his own face as the dog is looking at him. Sort of like being a voyeur of your own life. His new girlfriend is also having to adjust to the bond that is forming between him and the dog, as well as learning to deal with the visions and become involved in the attempt to save the girl's life.

Entertaining read, nothing earthshattering, but fun nonetheless...

I picked up this book while visiting a friend and couldn't put it down. This well-crafted mystery hooked me with its original plot, and the easy writing style of the author. The content was a bit rough in its theme, so I wouldn't recommend it for minors without a parental review.

Campbell Knight is blinded by an accident, and still grieving for his sight when the book opens. Suddenly he is offered the opportunity to participate in an research project, which enables him to literally "see" through the eyes of a trained guide dog. When he accepts, he discovers he can see a lot more than the dog's eyes see. What he sees, and how he and his neighbor-turned-girlfriend solve this mystery, will keep you turning pages all night.