Book review: The Shut Eye

The Shut Eye weaves together so many strands of a compelling murder mystery it is sometimes easy to get too tangled up in its disparate plots and sub-plots. Jumping from one line to the next leaves the reader fighting for oxygen as much as some of the characters, coming up for air after each chapter as the different angles threaten to overwhelm.

The disappearance of Daniel Buck and the whereabouts of Edie Evans play on the minds of the police as well as the parents left behind.

A shut eye is that between-worlds figure who can see what has happened to the lost and tries desperately to tell their story. Daniel’s mother, Anna Buck, battles with the things she sees which a disbelieving world dismisses as the ramblings of a crazy woman.

Not even Bauer’s skill as a writer, bringing together different cultures with colourful storytelling can save what proves to be a flawed process. Bauer leaves a major question unanswered and that fatally flaws an otherwise exciting read.