Book Review: All Seeing Eye – Author Rob Thurmon

All Seeing Eye
By:  Rob Thurman
Pocket Books (an imprint of Simon & Schuster)

All Seeing Eye by the New York Times bestselling author of the popular Cal Landros series, Rob Thurman, is a cleverly written paranormal thriller that is filled with many unexpected twists and turns.  It’s definitely a page turner that will make you not want to put the book down until the very end.  The main character in the book, Jackson Lee, has some extraordinary abilities that will soon change his life forever.

As a young child, Jackson picked up a small, pink shoe that he stumbled upon in the grass at his family home in rural Georgia.  Not only did its presence mean that his little sister, Tessa, was dead, but the shoe itself told him so because of his incredible psychic ability.  To his horror, Tessa had been murdered and her body stuffed in a deep, narrow well.  Her untimely death triggers an even more horrific family massacre and young Jackson’s life will never be the same. The family life as he knows is over.  As the story unfolds, Jackson continues to have very fond memories of his mother, but harbors great resentment for his stepfather, Boyd.

Jackson grows up as a ward of the state and spends his childhood and teen years in state homes.  The only person he becomes somewhat close with is his roommate, Charlie.  From there, he lives in the streets working in a seedy carnival.  Eventually he becomes a successful psychic for hire and calls himself the All Seeing Eye.  His life is going well, as he has his own storefront office, a sweet dog for a companion, a cozy cabin on the river, and his assistant, Abby, who takes care of everything and seems to be a source of great strength for him.  His personal relationships are few since all it takes is a touch of his hand to see everything, the good and bad alike, about a person.

As an adult, his peaceful life is interrupted yet again.  The government blackmails him and Jackson is forced to help the military contain the aftermath of a bizarre experiment that has gone horribly wrong.  His life as he knows it is changed forever and his life history that he has always known is also changed.  Not everything is as it seems.

Hector is the government official who first approaches Jackson.  At first, he and Hector have a very strained relationship, but as the story is told, their relationship changes and it’s clear that they may have a larger connection that what Jackson once believed.  The other people working for the government who Jackson has daily interactions with include the doctor, Meleah, who is a warm-hearted person and treats Jackson over the time he is there, and she is a very likeable character.  There is the nurse, Eden, who seems to always be there for Jackson and comes to be a reassuring character when he goes through some of his worst times.  One of the other government officials working on the experiment is Thackery and he is not a likeable character at all.  His younger twin sister who was the only one besides himself who survived their horrific family massacre, Glory, makes appearances throughout the book and she isn’t a likeable character, either.

Thurmon has done a good job telling the story.  The characters are all very well developed and the story is told at a fast pace which keeps the reader in the moment.  The interesting story plot is set up very well in the beginning.  The ending is something that is not expected at all and leaves the reader a bit stunned.  It’s highly recommended that you read this book, and hopefully this is the start of another great series from this talented author.  It definitely pulls you in and leaves you wanting more.

For more information about the author:  www.robthurman.net or follow her on Twitter @Rob_Thurman.

All Seeing Eye – Author Rob Thurmon