Official Review: Visions Through a Glass, Darkly

[Heidi M Simone]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Visions Through a Glass, Darkly" by David I. Aboulafia.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Who truly controls our actions? Is it us or is there some other being that does? In David I. Aboulafia’s Visions Through a Glass, Darkly, the reader follows Richard Goodman as he tries to solve a mystery that can result to his untimely death.

Richard works as a caregiver for a school that specializes in watchmaking. The students who are in training have a variety of handicaps, and it is the school’s job to assist these students in learning a skill that can be useful for the future. Richard has always possessed an extraordinary sensory skill that keeps him frightened most times, but he tries to live life as best he can. That is until one day as Richard visits Coney Island with his girlfriend, he obtains a most disturbing new ability and terrifying news. He is told that he has two days, eighteen hours, and fifty-eight minutes left to live…

It was extremely easy to dive into this story. The protagonist, Richard, is very likable. I truly enjoy his interactions with the students at The Waterman School of Watchmaking; he clearly has a good rapport with everyone. I love the way the author provides flashbacks of Richard’s youth to fill in the holes as to why this man is recluse in his personal life. In general, the story is mostly captivating and I found myself trying to piece the clues together in identifying the murderer.

Although, there were some parts that brought my enjoyment down a bit. Firstly, there were a fair number of errors. For instance, missing punctuation, a word here or there oddly placed, and even a misspelling of a character’s name (‘Bobbie’ versus ‘Bobby’). Secondly, I felt the dropping new characters into the book was distracting and did not really add to the story. At times, the reader is giving a couple of pages of background information to one character that really diverts from the main storyline and doesn’t come up again. Lastly, the animal cruelty in this book was too much for me. Though, the cruelty is not explicitly described while the action is taking place, the aftermath is. Along with this, I found some of the bloody scenes too much.

Keeping all this in mind, I would rate this read a 3 out of 4 stars. The beginning was captivating, but the story started to lose its initial pull towards the middle of the book. However, I felt the tie-in with an unseen being added an interesting element to the plot. I would recommend this read to adults who enjoy a murder mystery with some horror.

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Visions Through a Glass, Darkly
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Like hsimone's review? Post a comment saying so!

[LivreAmour217]

Once again, you've given us another wonderful review! This book seems like it has potential, but I must admit that I am turned off by the high number of errors and the animal cruelty! I'll probably pass on this one.

[Heidi M Simone]

Thank you, LivreAmour217, for your kind words! I completely understand. I was cringing the entire time when the author described the outcome of the animal cruelty. Way too much detail!

[bookowlie]

Great review! The animal cruelty would be too much for me, too. The central plot and main character sound interesting, but I don't think this book is my cup of tea due to the cruelty.

[Heidi M Simone]

Thank you, bookowlie! Completely understandable. To be honest, I turned my head away from the book while reading those parts a couple of times. It was too much and a bit of a surprise...not a very good one for sure. But, like you said the central plot and main character are interesting, so at least that's a positive of this book.

[bookowlie]

Thank you, bookowlie! Completely understandable. To be honest, I turned my head away from the book while reading those parts a couple of times. It was too much and a bit of a surprise...not a very good one for sure. But, like you said the central plot and main character are interesting, so at least that's a positive of this book.

You did a great job of being objective when deciding on the rating.

[DennisK]

Thank you for the excellent review, hsimone. At first, I was intrigued with your mention of hidden forces governing the protagonist's life - what potential a story like that could have! But, alas ... just a murder mystery. Animal cruelty is a complete turn-off for me.

[Heidi M Simone]

Thank you, bookowlie! Completely understandable. To be honest, I turned my head away from the book while reading those parts a couple of times. It was too much and a bit of a surprise...not a very good one for sure. But, like you said the central plot and main character are interesting, so at least that's a positive of this book.

You did a great job of being objective when deciding on the rating.

Thank you, bookowlie!

-- 09 Feb 2017, 18:46 --

Thank you for the excellent review, hsimone. At first, I was intrigued with your mention of hidden forces governing the protagonist's life - what potential a story like that could have! But, alas ... just a murder mystery. Animal cruelty is a complete turn-off for me.

Thank you, DennisK! Without giving too much away - the author does explore that hidden force some, but it didn't have a real closure at the end, so you're right. It did seem like another murder mystery.

[Cee-Jay Aurinko]

The amount of time Richard has left is very specific. I like that you mentioned that hsimone. It makes the plot more interesting, giving readers a sense of coming towards something as they plow through chapter after chapter.

[Heidi M Simone]

Thank you, Cee-Jay! The time is what captured me, so thank you noticing. Also, thank you for your thoughts. It's very much appreciated!

[kimmyschemy06]

Wow! The premise sounds very interesting. Too bad, though, about the errors and the character dropping. I find that frustrating sometimes probably because I always pay attention to characters. Great job on the review.

[Heidi M Simone]

Thank you, kimmyschemy06! I agree. I think doing so many review, sometimes things that bother me may not bother others. But regardless, the rest of the book was pretty entertaining. Thank you for your thoughts.

[rbhavsar236]

This book is really nice & review is also a very nice.

[Efa Dina]

I love it but is it true story?

[Yung Lunyard]

Re:Official Review:Visions Through a Glass,Darkly
#1 by Yung Lunyard

Hi.. I'm new here but i must say i really liked the story so much..my review would be it's nice at the beginning but frustrating at the end.