Author: Charlie Donlea
Narrator: Vivienne Leheny
Publisher: RB Media, Recorded Books
Publication Date: March 2023
Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible
Description: You know her name.
You know her face.
You know those eyes…
Ten years after she was exonerated for the slaughter of her family, the girl the tabloids called “Empty Eyes” is the only one looking for the truth in this propulsive thriller from #1 internationally bestselling author Charlie Donlea.
Alex Armstrong has changed everything about herself—her name, her appearance, her backstory. She’s no longer the terrified teenager a rapt audience saw on television, emerging in handcuffs from the quiet suburban home the night her family was massacred. That girl, Alexandra Quinlan, nicknamed Empty Eyes by the media, was accused of the killings, fought to clear her name, and later took the stand during her highly publicized defamation lawsuit that captured the attention of the nation.
It’s been ten years since, and Alex hasn’t stopped searching for answers about the night her family was killed, even as she continues to hide her real identity from true crime fanatics and grasping reporters still desperate to locate her. As a legal investigator, she works tirelessly to secure justice for others, too. People like Matthew Claymore, who’s under suspicion in the disappearance of his girlfriend, a student journalist named Laura McAllister.
Laura was about to break a major story about rape and cover-ups on her college campus. Alex believes Matthew is innocent, and unearths stunning revelations about the university’s faculty, fraternity members, and powerful parents willing to do anything to protect their children.
Most shocking of all—as Alex digs into Laura’s disappearance, she realizes there are unexpected connections to the murder of her own family. For as different as the crimes may seem, they each hinge on one sinister truth: no one is quite who they seem to be . . .
My Thoughts: Based on the description of Those Empty Eyes by new to me author Charlie Donlea, I anticipated a thrilling and twisty ride of suspense and mystery. Unfortunately, this book failed to deliver. Instead, I was given a very choppy story, disjointed writing and excessively repetitive details (how many times does the reader need to be told that hiding behind the grandfather clock saved Alex’s life?) Honestly, I got it the first time! If that wasn’t bad enough, the author adds insult to injury by giving me an ending that provided absolutely zero closure with a whopper of a cliffhanger! Is Alex going to be privy to the nuclear explosion you just dropped in my lap? Will there be a sequel or will Alex live out the rest of her life never knowing the whole bloody truth of what really happened to her family and who was involved?
Come on dude, you can’t end a book like that, with some out of left field twist without any follow-up or resolution after everything Alex has gone through with losing her family, being accused of the crime, being stalked and harassed by paparazzi to eventually learning the truth and rebuilding her life.
So, what did I like? I liked the cover and the narration of the audio by Vivienne Leheny. This was also my first audiobook narrated by Ms. Leheny and I found her performance to be realistic and the characters authentic. She employed the right amount of emotion of verbal tension to make their actions more believable.
My Final Verdict: I would have liked this book so much more had there been logical resolutions that fit the plot instead of twists that seemed to be thrown in as an afterthought. Fans of suspense, mystery and thriller novels will find much better options elsewhere.
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of Those Empty Eyes from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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