Book Review: Dead Man’s Eye by Shaun Jeffrey

After Joanna Raines has a cornea transplant, she begins to feel hope, the gift of vision from her donor being everything to her. Distortion and blurriness still blocked her vision, and she was afraid of rejection, but she was continuing with her doctors recommendations. It seemed a miracle that she received the transplant after losing her own to Fuchs Corneal Dystrophy. What would she do if her transplant failed? Her fear drove her back to the doctor for a checkup.

As she waited for train, another man, Lincoln Parker, also waiting, commiserated with her on the lateness of their particular train. She was having difficulty seeing, getting some halo effect as well as the blurriness. As the man got up and headed to the train, she began to get ready as well. As a stack of luggage fell over it created a chain reaction that caused the man she had been sitting next to, fall onto the tracks. As he tried to pull himself out of the way, the train hit him, severing his arm. Joanna’s view of the entire scene was surreal; she could see something shadowy seeping into the body, something dark and creepy, just before the man seemed to come alive again. Was it an effect of her vision, or did she really see something?

After getting confirmation from her doctor that she was doing well, and her eye was coming along fine, Joanna ran into her boyfriend Stephen Cook, also a doctor. As she is speaking with him, the man from the train station is pushed past her on a gurney. She again sees the shadow and quizzes Stephen as to what he sees. All he sees is a man who lost his arm. She is seeing something else, something dark and disturbing, and yet how can she tell anyone? Who will believe her?

As the shadow begins to take over the consciousness of Lincoln Parker, he becomes a different. Is he still a man, or has he become something more, something dark and deadly, a shadow looking to inhabit the earth again? Can Joanna get someone to believe her before it is too late? Was the gift of the cornea truly a miracle?

In Dead Man’s Eye, Shaun Jeffrey has found an effective form of terror. He has found an effective outlet to create a way to see something that others do not. The story keeps you wondering. Does Joanna really see something, or is she really just adjusting to the new transplant? As people around her begin to die and the shadowing surrounds the newly dead, bringing them back to life, she finds that she is the only one who sees them. Her boyfriend Stephen wants to believe her, but when her friend dies, he turns her over to the police. Only then does he realize that she may truly know something. Can he get her to trust him again, to allow him to help her before it is too late?

This is a good scary story, different and unique. It is fast paced and interesting, with just enough horror to keep you reading, but with a wary eye, and prompting you to make sure the doors are locked and the window closed. I really enjoyed the story, but I would have liked to know more about the characters prior to the actual events.

Shaun Jeffrey has put together in interesting scenario explaining the visions. The characters, even without the added depth, are well written, and as sometimes happens in times of great stress, extremely brave in a foolhardy way. If you enjoy spooky, creepy stories, you will enjoy this Dead Man’s Eye, a must-have for the spooky aficionado. Shaun Jeffrey is an author to keep an eye on.