Title: Blink of An Eye
Author: Gregg Luke
Publisher: Covenant Communications
Softcover; 293 pages
Genre: General/Mystery-Suspense
ISBN# 978-1-60861-026-6
About the Author:
Gregg Luke was born in Bakersfield, California, but spent the majority of his childhood and young adult life in Santa Barbara, California. He served an LDS mission to Wisconsin, then pursued his education in biological sciences at SBCC, UCSB, BYU, and subsequently graduated from the University of Utah College of Pharmacy. His biggest loves are his family, reading, writing, music, science, and nature.
Gregg has published four books through Covenant Communications: The Survivors, Do No Harm, Altered State and Blink of an Eye.
Learn more about Gregg on his website: www.greggluke.com and on Goodreads.
Learn more about Gregg on his website: www.greggluke.com and on Goodreads.
Read the first chapter of Blink of An Eye in this post.
Shanda's Review:
Having read all of Gregg's books, I can say that so far Blink of An Eye is his best for many reasons.
It amazes me Gregg's ability to take a story involving memories of events that happened so many years ago and make it into a page-turner. He has a writing style that is both comfortable and easy to read as well as intense and suspenseful. Gregg's intelligence and love of science, medicine, the study of the human body and his home state of California are obvious in the way he tells Joseph's story.
Blink of An Eye isn't the typical mystery-suspense novel, yet it holds the reader's attention like one. It is the intriguing and heartbreaking story of Joseph (aka Jose) Ramirez and the accident that triggered the release of repressed childhood memories. While recovering in the hospital, Joseph begins experiencing terrifying nightmares that he cannot remember once he wakes. Joseph's roommate, Clyde Richter, is witness to Joseph's nightmares but is reluctant to talk about what Joseph is revealing in his sleep.
Joseph's father, Estefan, disappeared when Joseph was ten years old and he has almost no memory of his father or his childhood. Consuela Ramirez, Joseph's mother, has always been reluctant to talk about Estefan to Joseph and he has never felt the need to push the issue.
Michelle Haas is Joseph's lawyer in the case against the owners of the cement truck that hit him. I really like Michelle's spunk and generosity. While working to settle the lawsuit, Joseph is suddenly being investigated by police for something unrelated to the accident. Gregg does an excellent job in making his characters believable and real to the reader. Even secondary characters like Joseph's physical therapist, counselor and the nurses never feel cardboard or hollow.
Blink of An Eye took me on an emotional roller coaster; from the intense description of the accident to the confusion of Joseph's dreams, the fear young Joseph felt towards his father, the admiration and love he felt for his siblings and the frustrations Joseph had with his mother.
I wondered why Michelle waited so long to reveal her connection to Joseph, especially because it is revealed on the back cover of the book and isn't any kind of secret she needed to keep from Joseph. I also wondered why Joseph didn't guess the instigator of a certain incident before he did, but neither of those things affected my opinion of the book much.
I give Blink of An Eye 4.5 stars not only because it is an excellently told story, but because I know Gregg Luke's potential and I can't wait to give him that last .5 star for one of his future novels that I most definitely plan on reading.
Well done, Gregg. What is your next book about and when will it be released?
FTC FYI: LDSWBR was sent a review copy by the author that did not change our opinions of the book.
Sheila's Review:
I love all of Gregg Luke's books. The thing I like the most, is that they all are very different.
Blink of an Eye starts off with a bang! The first page has one of the most wonderful hooks that I have ever read! The first line says, "It happened in a blink of an eye." From there you find out how the main character, Joseph Ramirez, is in an almost fatal car wreck. Gregg is so wonderful at "showing" what happens, that you can almost feel the pain Joseph is going through right after the wreck.
This book has so much in it; a mystery, a little romance, and a psychological thriller. Gregg writes Joseph as an empathetic character. Joseph has experienced such disturbing things in his childhood. His mind had blocked out these experiences until he had the brain injury. Though you do read of physical abuse, it is not as graphic as it could have been. Gregg brings out each characters personality in a big way.
This book has so much in it; a mystery, a little romance, and a psychological thriller. Gregg writes Joseph as an empathetic character. Joseph has experienced such disturbing things in his childhood. His mind had blocked out these experiences until he had the brain injury. Though you do read of physical abuse, it is not as graphic as it could have been. Gregg brings out each characters personality in a big way.
As a reader, you dislike his hospital roommate (I did from the start), you really like his attorney, Michelle, you are angry at his drunken father who is the abuser and you shake your head at Joseph's mother for letting the abuse happen right in front of her. This was a very emotional read.
Lastly, the highest compliment that I can give this book is, I call Blink of an Eye a "Pick up this book and you can't put it down until you are finished" novel. I predict that this book will be in the final five for a Whitney Award. In fact, this novel is a winner already from the amazing cover down to the last page.
I loved it and am giving it 5 stars!
Hillary's Review:
Hello Friends!
Did you miss me? I know it's been a while since I've posted, so I am excited to express my opinions about Gregg Luke's new book, Blink of an Eye.
One of my favorite things about Gregg's books in general is that they are all very unique. He has talent as a writer and a vast knowledge of cool stuff, well, like the cool guy that he is. Gregg's ideas are never ordinary and for that I am grateful!
The story, I know the other girls have briefed you on, so I will just tell you what I thought. I lost track of how many times in this story I said "Holy Cow!" because I wasn't sure how Joseph was going to get out of the mess he was in, or "holy cow..." because of how sad his childhood was. Joseph was such a sweet, likeable guy, that you just wanted everything to work out for him. Of course it takes until the end of the book for that to happen, but talk about a ride to get there!
If I could change anything, it would only be that as a reader, the snitch was obvious, and yet it took Joseph a while to figure it out. The great thing is, it's not a deal breaker for me. There were plenty of intense, and frankly, scary scenes to capture my attention.
I would give this book a 4/5 stars! Thanks for yet another good read Gregg!
Later Gators,
Hillary
Did you miss me? I know it's been a while since I've posted, so I am excited to express my opinions about Gregg Luke's new book, Blink of an Eye.
One of my favorite things about Gregg's books in general is that they are all very unique. He has talent as a writer and a vast knowledge of cool stuff, well, like the cool guy that he is. Gregg's ideas are never ordinary and for that I am grateful!
The story, I know the other girls have briefed you on, so I will just tell you what I thought. I lost track of how many times in this story I said "Holy Cow!" because I wasn't sure how Joseph was going to get out of the mess he was in, or "holy cow..." because of how sad his childhood was. Joseph was such a sweet, likeable guy, that you just wanted everything to work out for him. Of course it takes until the end of the book for that to happen, but talk about a ride to get there!
If I could change anything, it would only be that as a reader, the snitch was obvious, and yet it took Joseph a while to figure it out. The great thing is, it's not a deal breaker for me. There were plenty of intense, and frankly, scary scenes to capture my attention.
I would give this book a 4/5 stars! Thanks for yet another good read Gregg!
Later Gators,
Hillary
Mindy's Review:
Joseph Ramirez is driving, turning left at an intersection, and in the blink of an eye his whole life changed. He is hit by a cement truck, and hurt badly. In fact, Joseph stays in a coma for three weeks. During his recovery he has visits from his family. His mother in particular, isn't very thrilled with his recent conversion to the LDS church. And has some things put on his chart that Joseph isn't happy about. Aside from that, Joseph loves his mother. What Joseph can't explain is since the accident, he keeps remembering things from his childhood. Terrible things. Events that have been blocked from his memory until now. A monster that hurts him and at times, his mother. Joseph's dreams are very real, he wakes up screaming most nights, drenched in sweat. But, after he awakens, Joseph cannot remember the details. Joseph turns to his siblings for help, buy they would rather let the past stay in the past. To make matters worse, as he tries to get the bottom of his dreams, he has some problems that come up from the accident.
I liked how the author added in explanations here and there of the church, without being preachy, and made our beliefs easy to relate to and understand. I really enjoyed the ending, and thought that with all that Joseph has been through, he will be alright. He experienced unspeakable things as a child, and ended up an admirable man. There was one thing I wanted answered that wasn't, but not getting my answer didn't make me enjoy the book any less.
4 out of 5 stars
Great reviews. I liked reading all of your opinions. And, Gregg is a very cool dude!
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