3.5 STARS - I requested this book based solely on Thomas Mullen's name on the cover. I absolutely loved his previous books Darktown and Lightning Men (the first two books in his Darktown historical police procedural series) and was eager to see what he had written now.

This time out, Mullens is changing up genres and has written a dystopian/Sci-Fi/ speculative thriller. Admittedly, SciFi isn't my go-to genre but it had a very unique premise. A pandemic takes the sight of everyone on earth and now people rely on technology called Vidders that approximate vision directly into people's brains. But what if someone was able to manipulate the images people 'see'?

Within this thriller, Mullen throws in some good twists and interesting world building. The story is told by a few POVs, but the one that stood out the most for me was Homicide Detective Mark Owens who is on the hunt for the person who murdered a scientist and is still reeling from the loss of his wife.

But I felt the thriller aspect gets a bit lost in the details, the multiple POVs and their backstories. Sci-Fi is not a genre I normally read so I appreciated that Mullen doesn't get into the nitty-gritty of the science behind how people now see with Vidders but would have loved to have known what caused The Blinding in the first place.

Audiobook: I jumped between the eBook and the eAudiobook for this read and while Gary Tiedemann did a good job narrating, I preferred reading this book on my kindle due to the many characters. I also couldn't help but feel like Blind Spots was written more like a TV script and less with a book format in mind.

A unique blend of genres, this dystopian story (with some social commentary for good measure), will make you wonder what your life would be like and how you would manage if you and everyone around you lost your sight.

Disclaimer: Thanks to Minotaur Books and MacMillan Audio for the complimentary eBook and eAudiobooks that were provided in exchange for my honest review.

I thought that the sci-fi/mystery crossover of this novel was such an interesting and unique idea, reminding me of titles like the "In death" series and "Bird Box". but taking its own unique twist on the futuristic view of crime and policing in a world where sight is only available by man-made devices.

I thought that amongst the sci-fi elements, the mystery got a bit lost in the story. There was so much character development and background information provided about the blinding and what has happened since, that the murder investigation seemed to take a back seat to the rest of the story, and made it hard at times to remember what mystery we were expecting to be solved in the novel.

***** I received this book as a free audiobook from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

How important is sight? When all sight is gone people have different ways to correct it. However, some technology could be used in bad ways! Even in murder!

This book has a very futuristic feel. It is a mystery that looks at sight and how it can be manipulated. It was a very different type of book than I typically choose to read.

As I am reviewing the audiobook, I will mention the narration was easy to listen to.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the free audio book in exchange for an honest review. The audio book was narrated by Gary Tiedemann, and he did a fantastic job!

Think what type of pandemic is coming next...perhaps blindness, where everyone is impacted as the plague progresses. Perhaps there is a very richest man who happened to be working on a solution to heal blindness and he quickly pivots to create this solution, called a vidder? Vidders include a chip that attaches to your head to restore vision. But it also requires integration with wires into your brain. Only the first responders, police and government types get the Vidder solution at first pass and the poor remain sightless. Of course there are the religious fanatics who choose blindness and their inner sight to lead them without the conspiracy of the solutions.

Now, a seven years later, there are black market Vidders that do things that enable you to see in ways that are illegal. There are new software updates coming out daily as well. You can visualize this new world, right?

This is a well thought out and well written dystopian story of the Blinding, which is just that. There is corruption and conspiracy that would be inherent in the blindness "cure". Its evident that the author spent a lot of time creating his "world" which includes corruption, drugs that a person might use to cope with the blindness, the technology, hopelessness, the meaninglessness of daylight and nighttime once those technologies are in place, and even how it would help to add black frames in the "new" vision to simulate blinking.

The crime aspect of the novel was well written and there are some surprises. I did like the lead Homicide Detective Mark Owens and thought his character, as well as the others, were well developed. In the beginning of the story, Owens is sent to investigate a murder. The perp is described as a black blur, a figure cloaked in darkness and practically invisible, which is impossible in the world of Vidders. Owens does not initially believe the witness's story but eventually is forced to confront this deadly reality.

Highly recommend!!!

Audiobook review! I'm not normally into dystopian books, but when a plot synopsis grabs my attention, I will give it a try. This one definitely piqued my interest. I'm happy I requested it. I ended up going with the audiobook of this one since I was walking outside a lot at the time. It was narrated by Gary Tiedemann. I thought he did a great job bringing the book to life. This was unique and fast paced. If you like crime fiction, this is exactly that, with a dystopian twist. I definitely liked it.

Out April 4.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own. My review will be posted on Instagram, Bookbub, Goodreads, and Amazon once it publishes.

This is a master craft novel that will definitely get the gears of your mind turning. Very well written and amazing detail. Wonderfully narrated, so much so that I could picture myself within the pages of the book.

Blind Spots by Thomas Mullen Narrated by Gary Tiedemann was a gripping and exciting story.
A dystopian crime novel with a very interesting story and world-building took me on a wild and honestly scary ride.
I enjoyed the characters and Mark Owens was a phenomenal protagonist.
I couldn’t get over the writing. Thomas Mullen I’d a really great job at setting the scene and tone here.
Overall, a wild, unpredictable and chilling book.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the new book by Thomas Mullen and wonderfully narrated by Gary Tiedemann - 4 stars!

Seven years ago, The Blindness swept through the world leaving everyone virtually blind. Technology created vidders, an implantable device that allows people a way to see. But it appears that someone has hacked that technology, creating black blurs in people's vision. When Detective Mark Owens sees a murder happen but the perpetrator is blurred out of his vision, no one believes him. Soon the detective himself is a suspect.

This is a scary dystopian look into a future pandemic's effect on society and will definitely give you present day issue vibes. There are conspiracy theories, anti-technology and anti-government protestors, police corruption, classism, politics - need I go on? Plus, going blind and having all visual cues taken away brings up so many fears - loss of control, loss of trust, loss of faith. With that as a background, there is a mystery here to be solved so buckle up!

This one was fine for me. I enjoyed the idea of the dystopia but wish it was more fleshed out. I was a bit disappointed in the execution; i wanted more science or explanation, if that makes sense? I did enjoy the mystery aspect, but it was a bit too "adrenaline thriller" / "man's airplane book".

I had a hard time getting into this one. I felt a bit lost at the very beginning not understanding why everyone was blind. The reason behind the blindness wasn't at the very beginning of the story, so I struggled a bit there. The sci-fi aspect of the story also wasn't for me. The premise of the book is a good one, just not for me. I will say that the audiobook narrator was phenomenal.

Thank you @NetGalley and @macmillan.audio for a gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

Blind Spots is a unique combination of sci-fi, mystery and thriller.

Set in the near future, an event known as "The blinding" caused everyone to lose their sight. Devices called "Vidders" are developed that are implanted into a person's temple, and allow some semblance of sight. There are groups that are anti-vidder, that assume the government is manipulating people's vision.

Homicide detective Mark Owens is investigating a murder, where a witness insists that they saw a black blur instead of a person. When other similar situations happen, Mark tries to figure out what is going on. Is someone manipulating what the Vidders show?

This was an interesting premise, and I was hooked early on in the book. However, the plot seemed a little confusing in the middle of the book, and by the end I was struggling to stay interested. We had multiple POV's which also didn't seem to help. I wish we had found out more about what caused The Blinding too.

II listened to the audiobook, and I think the narrator did a good job with all the different characters and different POV's - I certainly don't fault the narrator for my confusion.

I think this just wasn't really the best book for me.

Audiobook received for free through NetGalley

I loved this book. Couldn’t put it down and I as immediately pulled into the story. Realistic, futuristic, and oh so probably potentially.

A different type of pandemic strikes the world causing people to lose their sight. Eventually vitors, implants that can help you see, are developed. As with any new technology there are bugs and there are people trying to make the technology work for their interests. The anniversary of The Blinding is coming up and anniversary’s of terrible events can have big impacts.

After everything was closed in 2020, this book seems very real. It makes you think what would you do if you lost sight. It’s a very interesting book with some strong language in the beginning. I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the narrator.

Oh this was an addicting audiobook!! I was pulled in from the start. I liked the overall setting and characters too.

When you’ve read an amazing dystopian story involving a blindness pandemic, it’s challenging not to compare it to the latest blindness pandemic novel you’re reading. I wanted to be fair, knowing this wouldn’t embrace the literary content and strong social commentary that Blindness by Jose Saramago did, but I still hoped for a good story.

And it was a good story. Not great, but good. I did feel a bit annoyed with some things toward the end but to avoid spoilers, I’ll just say it all felt a bit like a cliche.

There was some decent social commentary within the story. While it didn’t carry the same weight as the book I’ve failed in not comparing it to, I was pleased to see the aspects the author aimed to address.

This is a gritty story that mixes law enforcement, science fiction, and the art world. While I could have done without the stereotypes surrounding artists, it was a pretty good mix that kept me invested, even if it didn’t fully satisfy all that I craved.

I am immensely grateful to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for my advance listening copy. All opinions are my own.

The idea of this book for a world wide blinding event happening is absolutely terrifying and the author does a great job of showing that. We get to see the fear, tragedy, and innovations that happened because of this event. Throughout the book, we get to hear about the main character Officer Owens and what it was like to be an officer during that time when no one could really see and how it was terrifying for everyone and mistakes were made.

Now we're 7 years from the event and things have changed drastically. Some sight appears to have been restored to some extent as some of the population is able to see again. Innovation has been running rampant, but with that innovation also comes some bad innovation and that is what Officer Owens is now dealing with the most. It's once again a scary thing that is happening and no one seems to know who made it or who is even behind it.

Overall I did enjoy and like this book. it kept me constantly needing to know what was going to happen next and how in the world certain things were happening because of how the world was set up. Blind spots does touch on disabilities and what a world-disabling event of this magnitude that would affect everyone would mean. It also deals/mentions with police overstepping and police brutality at times. These are two major themes throughout the book because of how much they are involved in this world and how much they have changed people's perspectives of the world this story is set in. Something else that I noticed throughout this book was how still money, and power reign supreme over everything, and with those two things, a new type of hierarchy is evolving throughout the story to show who has the real control and who doesn't which was interesting.

I think this was a very interesting political thriller and I'm interested in reading more by Thomas Mullen in the future.
The Audiobook narrator was good and kept the story going. You could tell who was the main focus at that time because we did occasionally get a different pov thrown in to help the story along.

Thank you, MacMillan Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review the audio of Blind Spots by Thomas Mullen.

I want to start off by saying I was interested in the premise of this book. As an avid audiobook listener, I was even more excited to listen to this one.

The story starts off seven years after the entire world has gone blind. Detective Owens is now in the midst of trying to solve a murder in which the witness has reported the person was "blurred." Owens isn't sure what to believe until he's seen the same "blurred" image.

Sci-fi is not my typical genre, but I do love a good mystery. I believe the disconnect with this novel and myself was that it was a lot going on. The narrator was fantastic, but I think I may have been able to follow along much easier with the book. I found myself getting confused between the timelines; what was current and past.

The Sci-fi aspect definitely took the lead in this one. I have learned that I am not big on police procedurals in books; I find the language to be really redundant and excessive.

The idea of this look into what the world could look like if we all went blind was a great premise. I was a bit underwhelmed with the ending. I have found that this story was not memorable for me.

I would definitely recommend this one to someone who loves police procedurals, solving a mystery, and sci-fi. I'm not sure if I'd classify this one as dystopian; but that is a personal preference. I'd also recommend they read this one in either physical or e-book.

Overall, I gave this one 2.5 stars our of 5 stars. I may have rated it higher had I read it versus listening to the audio. I have found that not all books translate well to audio and vice versa; some greatly improved by the audiobook.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an early edition of Blind Spot. I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by Gary Tiedemann. This was a fast paced science fiction mystery thriller. The story takes place 7 years after the world went blind. Now the entire world relies on technology to see. The character development of the protagonist Mark Owens was good. Other character development was not as strong, but the book still held together well.

The author does not spend a lot of time explaining just how so many people survived a world wide blinding and I have difficulty getting my head around, how people got food and water, medical care, and other day to day necessitates, while they waited for the technology. Not a single person could see so how were goods getting delivered to where they need to be? The book did have self-driving cars, but I still had difficulty believing the underlying premise.

That being said, the story was a strong story after you force yourself to accept the premise. Owens is a police officer who is dedicated to the work he does. He carries a lot of guilt from accidents that happened when the blinding happened, he lost his wife, and he takes risks that most people would not take. All of this portraying him as being mentally unstable. When he starts to see black blobs, rather than people, everyone begins to truly believe he is losing it. This fast paced book unfolds by exploring how technology is used to manipulate the masses (like many stories before it) and how people who think they are above the law can justify doing horrible things. It is worth the read.

Blind Spots by Thomas Mullen
Narrated by Gary Tiedemann

Blind Spot takes place in the near future, in our world, where everyone has gone blind. Seven years ago everyone was blinded by a mysterious virus. Chaos ensued, starvation was rampant, a tenth of the world's population died, and something had to be done to save humanity. The tech world came to the rescue by creating Vidders, a device that approximates vision, downloading visual data directly to people’s brains. Vidders brought it's own problems, there are people who want to control who can use them, how they can use them, or even if they get to use them. They are ripe for manipulation with the correct tech skills. Whoever can control the Vidders can control the world.

Sadly, money, power, and control drive evil humans who want those things and don't want others to have them. In just a few short years, this blindness and Vidders tech make so much money for companies that there are those who would not return normal sight to humans even if they could. Blindness and the tech that works around it pay off for the companies and people that mete out any hope of artificial sight.

Homicide detective Mark Owens feels guilt from the early days of the blindness. People died due to officers not being able to see but still trying to calm the chaos. People also died and suffered once those who got Vidders first took advantage of those who couldn't afford or weren't allowed to have Vidders yet. Now Mark is investigating a murder where a scientist is killed and the witness, another scientist, says that a black indistinct form killed the scientist. Since "my Vidder malfunctioned" is a common excuse from those who don't want to tell the truth, Mark didn't believe her. Then he sees the same phenomenon, a black, fuzzy, humanish shape running away from a murder. Now, Mark isn't believed and he knows he has to find out what is going on for both his own safety and the safety of humanity. So much is at stake but when he can't believe his own "Vidder" eyes, what can he do?

I can't say this was an "enjoyable" read. With all that we've been through over the last few years, this story felt a little too close for comfort. I didn't even have to imagine what it would be like for all humans to lose their sight. This story gives us a good picture and it is not pretty at all. There is no doubt that something like a Vidder would be manipulated by those who cherish money, power, and control over the welfare of others. We do get answers to some of my questions by the end of the story but there is so much that is left unanswered. The mystery is resolved but I can't help wondering if humans can survive this new world. The narrator, Gary Tiedemann does a very good job of portraying the emotions of Mark and others as they navigate this new disaster within in this Vidder world.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this ARC.

3.5/5⭐️

Some of the best world-building outside of the fantasy genre I've seen. Mullen really must have spent a lot of time thinking about what life would be like if everyone went blind in a short period of time. He touched on everything from the drugs one might use to cope with loss of vision, the technology society might need to get by, to the meaninglessness of daylight and nighttime once those technologies are in place, and even how it would help to add black frames in one's vision to simulate blinking. The story really felt like it could take place in a version of our world, or even just the future of this one.

The crime aspect of the novel was well written and the reveals, well executed. I would have liked the implications of the dystopian world to have played out on more of a micro level, personally, as opposed to this overarching conspiracy/political thriller that gave more Jack Ryan or Secret agent energy, but that is just personal preference.

I think this would be great for someone reads thrillers with political intrigue, but also enjoys a dystopian/black mirror element.