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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If you’re looking for a book full of conspiracy theories and speculation then this is the one for you. Blind Spots is set in the future where an unknown source has caused the world’s population to go blind. Thanks to a young genius, technology is created to give people their sight back, but only if they have the right connections or enough money to obtain what is known as a vitter. There are those who have the means to own a vitter but choose not to use them. The main character, Mark Owens is forced to begin to take the conspiracy theories about vitters being hacked to be true, when he experiences it firsthand while investigating a mysterious murder. A sci-fi filled crime novel!
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
In the future, everyone on Earth goes blind, and technology creates Vidders that allow electronic images to go directly to the brain so people can "see" again. The mystery begins when two prominent scientist involved in sight technology are murdered, and no one is able to "see" the killer. The pace seems very slow at times, dragging into flashbacks of what occurred during The Blinding, but it does play a part in the current mystery.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Blind Spots is a future dystopian detective thriller with engaging world building. This novel by Thomas Mullen hinges on a future in which everyone has become blind- but nobody is exactly sure why or how.
After an initial period of chaos and danger, a capitalistic company came on the scene with a potential solution. Vidders are devices that allow people to have their sight restored, but at a very high price. In this story, we follow a few perspectives including a detective named Owens who has lost his wife to mental illness. When a scientist dies and it is ruled suicide, Owen is very suspicious.
Launching into a murky world of suspect technology and blurred visions, this story kept me engaged from start to finish. There are some powerful flashbacks that enhance the world building and ample time is spent establishing the present day as well. I would say that the author prioritized world building over character development, so if you are okay with that I think you might like this speculative crime story. I found it fun and unique, outside my comfort zone just enough. Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Minotaur books for an ALC in exchange for my honest review.
After an initial period of chaos and danger, a capitalistic company came on the scene with a potential solution. Vidders are devices that allow people to have their sight restored, but at a very high price. In this story, we follow a few perspectives including a detective named Owens who has lost his wife to mental illness. When a scientist dies and it is ruled suicide, Owen is very suspicious.
Launching into a murky world of suspect technology and blurred visions, this story kept me engaged from start to finish. There are some powerful flashbacks that enhance the world building and ample time is spent establishing the present day as well. I would say that the author prioritized world building over character development, so if you are okay with that I think you might like this speculative crime story. I found it fun and unique, outside my comfort zone just enough. Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Minotaur books for an ALC in exchange for my honest review.
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an audio arc in exchange for my honest review.
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.
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.
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the gifted book. I've read this in paper and audio format.
The book takes place in our world, but something happened and every human went blind. Tech advanced so far as to implant vision directly into our brains, overcoming the lost of sight. But what if it can be hacked?
This was an awesome idea and a great plot that touched on many important questions of morality and humanity. Loved the main character, his humor, and development. I wanted more of the after-story for him (unless we will be seeing sequels to this). There wasn't any resolution with his sister and that was definitely missing for me.
Fast-paced, short chapters, very unique, and while it is sci-fi it is easily accessible.
The book takes place in our world, but something happened and every human went blind. Tech advanced so far as to implant vision directly into our brains, overcoming the lost of sight. But what if it can be hacked?
This was an awesome idea and a great plot that touched on many important questions of morality and humanity. Loved the main character, his humor, and development. I wanted more of the after-story for him (unless we will be seeing sequels to this). There wasn't any resolution with his sister and that was definitely missing for me.
Fast-paced, short chapters, very unique, and while it is sci-fi it is easily accessible.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Blind Spots takes place in world where everyone on earth had lost their sight seven years ago and only through a new device (Vidders) are they able to see again. But when a scientist is murdered and the only witness says that a black blur in her Vidder obscured the perpetrator the investigating officer Mark Owens is immediately suspicious. In the past, victims and witnesses have used that excuse before and it’s only until Mark sees a black blur fleeing from a crime scene does he start to believe that there is more to Vidders than anyone knows. Mark will have to race against the clock to find out who is behind the black blur and what their motives are.
Blind Spots is a police procedural mixed with the speculative and science fiction genres. I’m not sure I ever understood how Vidders worked but I appreciated the way they are used to separate the have/have nots and how one religious group chooses to go without and stay blind. Each character is also giving a compelling backstory which makes it more than just a crime thriller. Overall, this is a mystery with non-stop action and plenty of science fiction too.
- Audiobook notes: Blind Spots was narrated by Gary Tiederman who does an excellent job with the different POV’s.