Eye of the Beholder

by Marc Behm

Book Overview

"One of the most remarkable combinations of a private-eye novel and psychological suspense story, with an entirely new slant, that has ever been published." -- The New York Times Book Review"A pivotal... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345427998
• ISBN13: 9780345427991
• Release Date: December 1999
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 183 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.0" x 0.5" x 4.5"

Customer Reviews

Bone-chilling suspense, almost more than I could handle

The books is amazing in every way. I wanted to read it after watching the movie, and certainly didn't regret it. Although, not quite. The author paints a picture of a private investigator chasing after a woman he was paid and instructed to find. He does his job, successfully, but then gets mildly infatuated with her. Then simply obsessed. And he also has a daughter who helps him at it; what is unnatural about this daughter one will have to read to find out. What I disliked about this book was its coldness, its cruelty. The book throws you into endless feelings of discomfort and fear; until the very end. Though the main character does, in a sense, get what he wanted, the book felt very unemotional to me. I think the author did an outstanding job at providing this feeling, but in the end I wanted nothing more than to read or watch something with a PG rating. Maybe it's just me. Find out for yourself, you certainly have nothing to lose; I'm still fine.

bizarre masterpiece

Strange and sad, this epic multi-year tale of loss and obsession is one book you will not easily forget. Behm creates a cold and abusive world where his characters drift aimlessly across a dangerous and uncaring American landscape. Crossword puzzles, murder, sex, travel, and desperation all populate this story that will get under your skin. Much more interesting and believable than the movie.

Mesmerizing

This novel is a hynotic journey that questions the definitions of love and compassion and presents a wasteland America seen through the eyes of one man who has stumbled on a woman who quickly becomes the center of his universe. All other questions become secondary when she walks into the lense of his camera. A tragic love story or a disturbing novel of obsession? The line between the two is cleverly blurred in this breathtaking novel.

Great psychological thriller

I read this book because, despite the 1-star rating I gave the film, I suspected that there was some at-least-decent material in the underflying source (the novel). My expectations were vastly superceded; it is clear that the movie was unintelligible because (a) too much was cut out and (b) there was an obvious effort to over-modernize it (the book was written almost 20 years ago)."The Eye," a private investigator becomes obsessed with a woman after he witnesses her kill a man who he has been surveilling. Unlike the film (which takes place over a relatively short period of time), in the book he trails her for over a decade. Also, unlike the film, one begins to really "understand" both characters' motivations. The result is a fast-paced, tight psychological page-turner.

Private eye novel like no other

This 1980 private eye novel isn't like any other I've ever heard of. Some private eye novels have PI's who are obsessed with women. Or who shadow femme fatales. In this one, a nameless, at-the-end-of-his-rope private eye shadows the same woman (who happens to be a serial killer of men) all over the U.S. for 10 to 15 years, without her ever knowing. Occasionally he acts to protects her; it's like he's appointed himself her angel; it's his reason to be. "Eye" is a pure, uncluttered novel, poignant to the max. Though it's presently out of print, it's achieved a genuine cult status, and I firmly believe that it will find its audience and literary place in coming years