Love at first sight (A Digital Short) [Kindle Edition]

Vincent Zandri (Author)

Book Description

A young U.S. Army officer who’s served in Afghanistan finds himself suffering from intermittent bouts of “hysterical” temporary blindness due to impossible and deadly orders he was forced to obey by high command in the field. When he’s reunited with his fiancée in a military hospital in Germany after being separated for more than year, the couple are encouraged by doctors to travel to Venice, Italy together. There, amongst the canals and the cafes, they try to rekindle their love and fight off their personal demons while trying to comprehend the enormity of the heartbreaking role they now must play in love and war.

Product Details

• File Size: 217 KB
• Print Length: 30 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: StoneGate Ink; 1 edition (October 27, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0060MB5JM
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #710,043 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Zandri moves outside comfort zone, readers win November 12, 2011

By Benjamin Sobieck

Format:Kindle Edition

Most people who pick up Zandri's "Love at First Sight" short story will be fans of his crime fiction. They'll be expecting a certain amount of murder, mayhem and mischief. This short story has none of those things. But you know what? You're going to enjoy it anyway.

The story chronicles a U.S. soldier's attempt to regain his sight after going blind. A traumatic incident in Afghanistan left him with a healthy dose of PTSD, which triggered his blindness. He and his fiance spend a vacation in Italy to relax. Their rocky relationship must be fixed before his eyesight is restored.

Much of the story takes place inside the soldier's mind. He deconstructs his life, his relationship and his decisions. This leaves the reader in a similar state of blindness, but not in a bad way. The story unfolds the same way the soldier perceives the world: memories flashing in and out of mind, building a tapestry that guides the reader.

That tapestry is at times gripping, other times amusing and always engaging. This short read provided all the elements of a longer work. I get the feeling this is testing the waters before Zandri commits to leaving crime fiction for a novel or two. If he does, readers should be in for a treat.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An inspirational portrayal of a dark world January 17, 2012

By Katherine Tate

Format:Kindle Edition

When a loved one suffers a physical injury that can be seen and felt, we rally around. Disfigurement we can understand. But the things we cannot see or touch - things like blindness, disabilities but with the only outward signs in the form of a person's difficulty in adapting to his or her environment...not so much. When you add in the stigma of a psychological disorder as the cause for the blindness, you have a recipe for disconnectedness between loved ones.

Mr. Zandri not only portrays the physical limitations of being blind in a sublime fashion, but also manages to convey the guilt that led to the blindness as a festering wound that the reader will feel, and the frustration of his "sig other" - though we never see a word from her point of view - is tangible. The sense of disconnection between them is complete and will frustrate the reader the same way it frustrates the characters. In the end, in life, it all comes down to the click of understanding what we want most.

4.0 out of 5 stars A touching story February 5, 2013

By Sage

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I did not like Nick or Margo at first. He seemed too bitter and callous towards her and I thought she would turn out to be shallow. But as the story evolved and I discovered the cause of Nick's blindness and why they were in Venice together, I gained insight into their characters. Even for a short story - they did develop and it ended on a hopeful note.

More About the Author

Vincent Zandri is the No. 1 International Bestselling Amazon author of THE INNOCENT, GODCHILD, THE REMAINS, MOONLIGHT FALLS, CONCRETE PEARL, MOONLIGHT RISES, SCREAM CATCHER, BLUE MOONLIGHT and MURDER BY MOONLIGHT. He is also the author of the Amazon bestselling digital shorts, PATHOLOGICAL, TRUE STORIES and MOONLIGHT MAFIA. Harlan Coben has described THE INNOCENT (formerly As Catch Can) as "...gritty, fast-paced, lyrical and haunting," while the New York Post called it "Sensational...Masterful...Brilliant!" Zandri's list of publishers include Delacorte, Dell, StoneHouse Ink, StoneGate Ink and Thomas & Mercer. An MFA in Writing graduate of Vermont College, Zandri's work is translated into many languages including the Dutch, Russian, and Japanese. An adventurer, foreign correspondent, and freelance photo-journalist for RT, Globalspec, IBTimes and more, he lives in Albany, New York. For more go to WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM