This book was a creepy scientific thriller, with some interesting ideas and fun characters. I enjoyed it for the most part, although at times I felt a little lost in the plot.

Darksight is a gripping science-fiction thriller exploring how far you’d go to truly see. If the cost is higher than you’re prepared to pay, what would you sacrifice to keep your vision?

An intriguing mix of science and science fiction, Darksight has a strong pace, great characters and will keep you hooked as events spiral out of control.

I love the premise of Darksight. Returning vision to the blind is far more primal than scientific, tapping into parts of the human brain that have long been dormant, bringing not only vision, but abilities with it. The powers vary from person to person, but the idea of being able to get into someone’s head – controlling their heart; knowing their fears – is so chilling. The tension and suspense meant I couldn’t put this one down.

Audra is a great protagonist. She’s stubborn and headstrong, her determination to live her own life rivalled only by her need to protect her father from himself and false hope. When she starts to experience abilities, there’s no sudden mastering of the talent, but a real and painful development as she fights to protect those she cares for.

Jenson is a desperate father and a brilliant scientist – although the two things aren’t mutually exclusive. While he’s driven by his need to save Audra, there were times when I wanted him to stop and think rather than being rash, but you understood his drive.

The secondary characters are all engaging in their own right. The blind stripper who longs for more, but her heart is in the right place. The special agent who takes on a case more complicated than she’d ever imagined. They balance Audra and Jensen perfectly – pushing them on, but also holding them in check when needed.

The misdirection with the villains and who is the true power behind the experiment adds a sense of foreboding, and you reach a point of realising there are no depths they won’t stoop to in order to get what they want.

Darksight opens with a lot of science, and it took a few chapters to establish this isn’t just going to be about medical procedures. But the pace is strong and you’re soon swept up as the tension builds, each chapter raising the stakes more. What starts off as an effort to restore vision soon turns into a potential terrorist threat, murders, kidnappings and understanding how far you’ll go to hold onto something as precious as vision.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book – a solid five stars from me. It achieved that level of having no idea how the characters are going to get out of their situation, who would come through and what price would be paid before we reached the end. Any book that keeps me gripped in such a manner is a definite recommendation.

If you like your science-fiction set into today’s world and sounding plausible, you’ll enjoy this!

Description

Audra Carter, a popular deejay in Manhattan, won't let mere blindness keep her from living life her way, sometimes even riding her bicycle through town, relying on keen hearing and uncanny instincts to guide her. Her father, Jenson Carter, a neuroscientist, has devoted his career to finding a cure for her particular form of blindness. He now believes he has. With Audra and several other test subjects, Jenson takes his research to the next level, only to face apparent failure. Jenson becomes alarmed by several bizarre deaths involving the test subjects. He fears his experiment was hijacked by former colleagues with a secret agenda, but the police blame him for the deaths. Audra is kidnapped and forced to survive a series of terrifying ordeals designed to hone a new and dangerous kind of vision that the hijacked experiment unleashed: Darksight. As Jenson races to discover the truth and find his daughter, Audra struggles to survive increasingly-deadly challenges. Will Audra master her mysterious Darksight and defeat her captors to keep both her and her father alive?

As Jenson races to discover the truth and find his daughter, Audra struggles to survive increasingly-deadly challenges. Will Audra master her mysterious Darksight and defeat her captors to keep both her and her father alive?

Advance Praise

"The blade that clears the path for medical progress has another edge, one that often creates unexpected, unimaginable, even unthinkable side effects, both real and imagined. Such is the case with DARKSIGHT. A tightly-written, fast-paced thriller that will make you think--and disturb your sleep. Highly recommended." DP Lyle, award-winning author of the Jake Longly and Cain/Harper thriller series.

"Mallery's novel is a fast-paced thriller that is part X-Files mixed with a dash of CSI. Along with the bodies that begin to pile up are the questions about what exactly is happening to these people and who is responsible. It is easy to disregard a couple of inconsistencies in a story whose momentum consistently builds from start to finish. Mallery does a great job creating interesting characters with reasonable motives driving their actions. This gives his story weight and credibility which allow it to explore science fiction elements without losing the sense that it is grounded in a reality the reader knows and understands. At its heart, it is a story of a man driven by guilt and motivated by love. Readers will identify with this and find themselves caring about the characters and the outcome of their story." —The US Review of Books

Available Editions

EDITIONPaperbackISBN9781644370612PRICE$15.49 (USD)

Press Kit

Publicity/Press Kit

MY REVIEW:

Darksight is a medical thriller full of suspense and a bit disturbing. I had a hard time getting used to the idea that blind people were kidnapped and those were the ones being used for the experiments. However, it is very well written and I must say that the overall storyline is very intriguing.

The characters were indeed well written.

Overall, it is a great book and I highly recommend.

I was provided this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion.

I give this book a 5 Star *****

Darksight is a great medical thriller that shows the darker side of medical experiments and cures. This is a fast paced thriller that will keep you flipping the pages.

A creepingly spooky chiller and certainly not for the faint-hearted in terms of blood, gore and trauma. Take some real science about blindness and push the barriers; think the old X-files, if you are old enough. Remember how you can sometimes feel someone behind you although haven't consciously heard or smelt them coming? That's blindsight. It's considerably enhanced in some blind people and this is the starting point of the story. A group of people with strong blindsight is brought together by a scientist who has developed a treatment that could allow them to "see" using this faculty. Naturally there are those who want to highjack this, as it could give a military or strategic advantage rather than just for the good of blind people. 'Blindsight' quickly becomes 'darksight'. The characters are strong, although a little stereotypical - snake tattooed pole dancer and drug addict, her boyfriend, a rejected man who trains killer dogs, a devout Christian woman, mad aka eccentric scientist and so on, The relationships develop well especially between Jenson, the scientist and his daughter, the very talented Audra. He has a lot of guilt from the past and is trying to come to terms with it. She wants to continue her independent life. The group of blind people is, essentially, kidnapped by Jenson's rogue colleagues, given drugs and then put through scenarios, not pleasant, to test the efficacy of the 'treatments'. It seems as if half the book is taken over with the tests and challenges presented to the group - becoming more visceral and gory as they go. This almost dropped a star for me. However, the story is strong enough in itself and compelling enough to merit 4 stars (with skip reading over the most gory bits!). There are twists and turns as to whether any of the subjects will resist and survive to help their fellow kidnapees or whether any will escape at all, will the FBI charge in in time to save them? If so will their new "sight" be retained or do they return to their former world of senses? Does Jenson come to terms with his guilt? All good story telling and the author does a good job of turning scientific knowledge into something understandable by all. Thanks to NetGalley and Black Opal Books for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley, Black Opal Books, and D. C. Mallery for a copy of Darksight in exchange for an honest review.

In a word: freaky. While Darksight is fantasy, there’s a realistic edge. Whenever science proclaims medical “progress”, there is the flip side: what are we giving up in exchange for the cure? Are the side effects worth the treatment? Or is the cure worse than the illness?

What worked for me:

1. The father-daughter relationship
Jenson, consumed by guilt from the accident that caused his daughter’s blindness, obsesses over curing her. But Audra’s content with her freedom and empowering lifestyle and wrestles against her father’s will. He wants to cure her; she doesn’t want to be cured.

It’s the age-old child-parent tug-of-war, freedom versus protection, with the complication of blindness, both literal and metaphorical. They love each other, but neither truly understands the other’s concerns.

2. The scientific/medical aspect
Mallery does a great job integrating and explaining the complicated science of sight and blindness. Some people have cortical blindness: the optic nerves and retina function, but the visual cortex (part of the brain that processes vision) is damaged. “Blindsight,” Jenson explains, is the ability among some with cortical blindness “to sense objects even though they have no visual field, even if totally blind” (chapter 2). That’s how Audra is able to ride her bike, work her way through complicated mazes, and find her way through New York City.

This is fascinating. As best I can tell, it’s all true, too. It’s not echolocation (like bats have).

3. The protagonists
It’s easy to root for Audra. She’s snarky, spunky, good at yanking other people’s chains, reckless, and empathetic. She was an art major (!) who’s made a life for herself and refuses to give up her independence, even for her father. Just as importantly, she’s empathetic and a natural leader. Though she doesn’t want to undergo the procedure, her reasons for doing so make sense.

Jenson is also easy to care about. What dad wouldn’t want his daughter’s sight restored? Who wouldn’t feel consumed by guilt over the accident that killed his wife and blinded his daughter? What person wouldn’t develop a bit of a blindspot, tunnel vision over their scientific quest?

4. The plot
Mallery cranks up the tension over and over and over. I stayed up late reading because I needed to find out what happens. Ironically, this happened even though I’d read the ending first: I needed to see all the story dots connected, and I couldn’t bear to leave Audra and company in danger over night.

What didn’t work for me:

1. The antagonistic characters
In my opinion, Mallery doesn’t quite develop all of the antagonistic characters in depth, unfortunately. But people like Sasha (the blind stripper with snake tattoos) and Stefan (Jenson’s colleague with the massive ant colonies) are given more development and a chance at redemption. (Though whether either will take that chance is a different story!)

Some of the other test subjects feel a bit cliched. Connie, for example, seemed a stereotype of an overly devout woman. Frank Parker feels over-the-top as a blind, paranoid, bad-to-the-bone attack dog trainer.

2. Some of the writing quirks
Frequently, words are italicized for emphasis. It’s a style quirk that I personally dislike, as I don’t need the author to stress which words should be emphasized: my mental reading “voice” fills that in well enough.
There are a few typos, as well. “Gate” instead of “gait”, “now” instead of “know”, that sort of thing. Whether either of these are things that other readers notice or care about, I don’t know. But they distracted me.

Overall, a good thriller.
For fans of fantasy thrillers and those who love a spooky read, Darksight will please you and make you think.

(Review on my blog will go live on June 3.)