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Trust Your Eyes  By  cover art

Trust Your Eyes

By: Linwood Barclay
Narrated by: Ken Marks,Rick Holmes
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Publisher's summary

Thomas Kilbride is a map-obsessed schizophrenic so affected that he rarely leaves the self-imposed bastion of his bedroom. But with a computer program called Whirl360.com, he travels the world while never so much as stepping out the door. He pores over and memorizes the streets of the world. He examines every address, as well as the people who are frozen in time on his computer screen. Then he sees something that anyone else might have stumbled upon - but has not - in a street view of downtown New York City: an image in a window. An image that looks like a woman being murdered.

Thomas's brother, Ray, takes care of him, cooking for him, dealing with the outside world on his behalf, and listening to his intricate and increasingly paranoid theories. When Thomas tells Ray what he has seen, Ray humors him with a half-hearted investigation. But Ray soon realizes he and his brother have stumbled onto a deadly conspiracy. And now they are in the crosshairs.

©2012 Barclay Perspectives, Inc. (P)2012 Recorded Books

What listeners say about Trust Your Eyes

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One of 2013's best!

"Rear Window" meets "Rain Man" in this longish thriller from Linwood Barclay, a writer you'd never mistake for a Canadian humorist, which is how Barclay earned his living before taking to penning suspense fiction. Even though it's a long book, I hated for it to end -- there were plot twists up to the very last page. Some I saw coming, most I didn't, but whatever, this is one of those books where there's simply no place to stop listening -- plus you know, as you get to the final hours, that whatever you decide to listen to next won't be half as good.

The plot is too complex to do a decent summary, but it all starts when Thomas Kilbride, a schizophrenic savant (I made that up -- is there such a thing?) who is "simple" in many ways -- a can opener confounds him, while he regularly holds meaningful conversations with Bill Clinton and assorted CIA operatives -- but who has an incredible ability to memorize details of maps, and of what he sees when he roams the world, all via a computer program comparable to Google Street. Without leaving his room, Thomas' goal is to memorize the entire world, and he's well on his way, every street detail of "most" major cities in his head, when he sees something odd in a window while computer-cruising a New York neighborhood. Is that a head in that window up there? With a plastic bag over it? Why would somebody be in the window with a plastic bag over their head?

Thomas convinces his brother Ray, a magazine illustrator who came home following their father's death, to go to New York to check it out. Sometimes, Ray thinks, it's just easier to do what Thomas wants, because when Thomas gets obsessed about something, he never gives up. Never.

What Ray finds out in his visit opens the door to the whole complex story, managed so awfully well by Barclay, as he moves from one story line to another, leaving you hanging at just the right moment each time. Turn the iPod off now? You've got to be kidding.... Not until you find out what happened....

All the way through, it's an excruciating cliff hanger. I have not one word of criticism, not a single suggestion for anything that would have made it better -- except that I wish it had never ended.

Well, okay, the narration is a little odd. Why two narrators? This story didn't call for it any more than any other book. It was fine -- just odd. I have to admit that not until I finished the book did I go back to see which narrator was reading which part. The dueling narrators thing doesn't detract from the book, but it doesn't add anything to it either. Go figure.

Whatever, don't miss this one. Just plan on not being able to quit listening once you start.



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26 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Trust Your Eyes is a great book -- trust me!

STORY (mystery) - I really loved this book. Thomas, a schizophrenic who spends his time memorizing maps on an ap called World360, thinks he sees the frozen image of a woman being suffocated in the window of a New York hi-rise. He and his brother, Ray, investigate. There's so much that happens in this story and so many unexpected surprises that I can't possibly give it justice in this review. Aside from the image of the woman with the plastic bag over her head, there are a couple other mysteries which are equally exciting as they unravel. The plot is complicated but not hard to follow, so you don't have to wear a thinking cap to enjoy it. Also, the author manages to inject a bit of humor occasionally. Great stuff!

PERFORMANCE - Good job, but I reserve five stars for stellar multi-voice performances. This reader does a great old woman's voice.

OVERALL - Highly recommended for all mature listeners. There's some profanity and references to sexual acts and lesbianism, though there are no actual sex "scenes" in the book. There is also occasional violence.

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19 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A Map-Obsessed Schizophrenic Trusts His Eyes

I really enjoyed and loved this story. Very well written and narrated. This is the most interesting and attention-holding novel that I've listen to in a very very long time. If you like mysteries/thrillers which you don't' have to think too much and is easy to follow , then I would highly recommend this one.

I've read two of Linwood Barclay's other books and I love the way his stories hit the ground running and hooks the listener into the story right from the very beginning. The Publisher's Summary for this one is very good, but the complexity of the story cannot be adequately summarized without giving too much away. There are good plot twists right up to the very last chapter. The whole multifaceted story is managed very well by author Linwood Barclay, as he moves effortlessly from one part of the storyline to another, and he dovetails the various interrelated parts into a whole with a "didn't see it coming" ending.

I loved, loved, loved this one. My next listen has a huge mountain to climb in order to top this one. The two narrators were good. It was not overly performed in any way, just enough to add to the enjoyment.

Very highly recommend.....

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stunning

Would you listen to Trust Your Eyes again? Why?

I dont read books twice. But this book was one of the most engrossing and twisted books I have read in a while. It was absolutely fantastic. The characters were unique and intriguing. You say to yourself, how the heck is Linwood going to pull his natural and twists that he does in every book, but somehow he does it. Even the very last sentence will blow your mind.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Trust Your Eyes?

The last sentence.

Have you listened to any of Ken Marks and Rick Holmes ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but the guy that does Ray's voice is fantastic, the other guy is just decent.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Laugh, think about it, enjoy it, loved it.

Any additional comments?

Don't even waste time reading reviews, just start the book, give it a bit, and you will be COMPLETELY engrossed.

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15 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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The Family That Yawns Together, Deletes Together..

I have always enjoyed Barclay's books, and was anxiously awaiting the publication of this one.I admit that I immediately downloaded it and started listening to it, the moment it was available here on Audible. Well, after hearing the narrator announce that I had made it to chapter 12, and I was still finding, "Trust Your Eyes," to be slow, uninteresting and peopled with only one character I liked, that being the briefly appearing psychiatrist, I asked my husband what he thought. He said he thought I would never ask, judging it to be tedious. So I did the thing I do rarely, I deleted it.

"The Accident," had been so fast moving, so engaging, from the very beginning, this one was, for me, a major disappointment. Should I have finished it, prior to reviewing it? Maybe, but I think by chapter 12, I should be interested in what is happening, or at least wondering about what will be happening...but I was not. I don't like writing negative reviews, and usually just write about the books I love, but I had read the reviews on Amazon, and almost everyone seemed to think this book was the best Barclay book they had ever read, which confounded me. Perhaps Audible listeners will feel the same, and it will wind up with a wondrous rating, but not from me. There are far too many books out there that do engage me from the very beginning, and whose narrators add to the enjoyment of the listening experience, and i did not find that the two narrators of "Trust Your Eyes," added any enjoyment or excitement. Okay, maybe it all started revving up in chapter 12; maybe the crazy brother and his older brother, who is trying to deal with the map and Internet obsessed brother, stop their repetitive conversations and begin to be relentlessly chased at a mind boggling pace and I would have been unable to tear myself away to feed my face...although I don't think I would have cared. (BTW, the schizo brother believes he has an ongoing relationship with the government, via Bill Clinton...so he sort of lost me, right there.) Maybe the bad girl waitress, looking to lie money out of her mom or blackmail money out of a rich lover with political aspirations will wind up to be the possible victim of foul play we first hear of at the very beginning of the book, but I definitely have next to no empathy for her; she is far too much like people I have been hit up by. I usually appreciate Barclay's victims often being people who are less than lily white, but in this instance, I was not intrigued...I was just bored by it all. I must be getting jaded in my old age, but this sure did not do it for me, and I am not investing any more time in it; there are far too many books out there that will keep me interested and anxiously listening, nonstop, to the very end, to spend one more moment on "Trust Your Eyes,"

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15 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Kept Me Reading

I have an autistic sibling and thought the portrayal of the handicapped brother was right on - in terms of the lack of socilazing skills - I know they said he was schizo but he was so like Asberger's people. That said - I've read other Barclay books and he does have a way to hook you! The story told by multiple view points and at different times, made for a good listen!

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12 people found this helpful

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Character driven with plot twists

I couldn't stop listening, and I was engaged trying to figure out just where this was going. I have to admit that with this novel and The Accident, I had a hard time getting into the first hour, but once I'd stepped into the story, I was trapped in Barclay's world. The main character does not do the expected, and the second main character Thomas is totally different from any other character I've seen. Thomas hears voices and is unreliable; at the same time he is emotionally childlike and pure, so he relates plot events that are totally reliable. The main character tries hard not to get frustrated with Thomas, and as a result pursues situations and bad guys that no sane person would. Of course he doesn't realize the troubles that will ensue. The action is riveting. The bad guys are maybe a little extreme, but the contrast between good and evil here makes for great fun. The use of 2 readers makes listening easier, and the narration is wonderful.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The latest Linwood Barclay does not disappoint.

Ray Kilbride faces a challenge. He has a full-blown flourishing career as an illustrated writer particularly of political cartoons. But his dad suddenly dies as a result of an accident where the lawn mower tractor tips over while he is mowing the lawn. Ray is forced to come home to rural New York to deal with clearing up his father’s effects, deciding what to do with the house, and, most of all, trying to figure out what he can do about his brother, Thomas, who is schizophrenic and lives totally in his bedroom on his computer. He seems unable to do anything to care for himself. But Ray is determined that he will find some way for Thomas to live which doesn’t involve Ray’s living with him and taking care of him. Then Thomas becomes obsessed with a new computer program, which allows him to zero in on individual streets and residences in cities. He believes that it is his duty to learn all the streets of all the big cities in the world because he is convinced that at some point, electronic maps will be totally lost and we won’t have paper maps anymore. So it will be up to Thomas, with his prodigious memory to help people figure out where to go throughout the world. He believes he is in contact with the CIA and that former President Clinton is his liaison to the CIA. This finally gets him and brother Ray into a world of trouble when Thomas, viewing a street in New York City, becomes convinced that he is seeing a murder through a third story window. At first no one will believe him, but then Ray attempts to help him figure out what is going on, and the brothers are in the crosshairs of some very dangerous people. This is an excellent book, an audio page turner I couldn’t turn off from start to finish.

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Pretty enjoyable

Good story. Good plotline. More then anything, I liked hearing about the relationship between Ray and his brother. An entire book just on the two of them fitting into life after the dads death (not a spoiler) would have been a good read. How about a follow up book?

The narration of Ray and his brother was pretty good, but I thought the other narrator was weak and not very expressive.

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google maps meets Rain Man

Thomas is a mentally disturbed person diagnosed with a strange type of schizophrenia. He stays glued to three computer screens in his room, "traveling" all over the world memorizing streets and places using a Web site on the computer. Thomas can come off as being really annoying, but that's just a part of that type of illness and the brilliance with which Barclay has conveyed. Thomas sees in an apartment window on a street in NY while he is scanning the area using a Web sit, What Thomas sees disturbing, very disturbing. Thomas insists he witnessed a homicide over the web

Thomas's brother Ray has come to stay with him to help get things in order after the alleged accidental death of their father. a task that he is sorely prepared to undertake. The job is further complicated by the fact that Thomas insists that he is employed by the CIA and listening to his intricate and increasingly paranoid theories. Ray soon realizes he and his brother have stumbled onto a deadly conspiracy. hey both soon learn that getting involved was huge mistake and now their lives are at stake.

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6 people found this helpful