Seeing Eye
Jack Ellis
Pinnacle Books
Fiction, Horror
Themes: Bonded Companions, Canids, Medicine, Mind Powers
****
Description
A year ago, Campell Knight was an energetic man, owner of his own business, full of life. That was before a terrible accident blinded him, sending him deep into a well of depression and anger. Now, he is offered a unique chance to restore his sight. His sister's new boyfriend works with a company that is testing a revolutionary new method of linking a blind person's brain to the eyes of their guide dog, enabling them to see again. Campell never liked dogs, but he leaps at the chance to regain some semblance of a normal life. The procedure appears to work marvelously, only there are some unanticipated side-effects after he is connected to Shadow, his black Lab partner. Some of what he sees can't possibly be so simple as Shadow's normal sight... such as visions of a terrified child and a deranged killer. There are many mysteries of the canine mind, and Campell is about to unearth more of them than he ever bargained for.
Review
I saw this offered for sale years ago through a book catalog, and never got around to buying it. Seeing it in print renewed my interest in the concept, so I picked it up. It's a good, suspenseful story with a unique premise, decent characters and a satisfactory - if somewhat abrupt - conclusion. Nobody spends too long fretting or whining in order to prolong things; they tend to catch on reasonably fast and get on with solving the problem. I wanted something a bit different than the fantasy tales I'd been reading so much of lately. I got it here.