A well conceived and written futuristic novel about a world where everyone is blind. but a technological device allow some limited sight. The main character (Owens) is charged with finding the killer of a leading scientist who was working on a project to make peoples' sight even better. There are nefarious forces at work here and I liked the authors approach to a very tricky premise. It would a nice screenplay. ( )

2023 book #54. 2023. 7 yrs after the Blinding, most people have their sight back thanks to brain implants and society is slowly getting back to normal. When a cop sees a fleeing suspect turn to a black blur he accidentally discovers a plot to hijack people's implants. Pretty good ( )

I feel like I should've liked this book more. It wasn't bad and I was curious to see where this went. And I absolutely love the premise. Speculative fiction is one of my favorite genres. It got me thinking about if I didn't have eyesight. The speculative-ness along with the tech piece of the "vitars." (I listened on audio so not entirely sure how to spell that!). It was a great theme and I did enjoy it, but I felt like it was a little confusing at time. SPOILER: And in the end, it was his partner (and a whole bunch of other people.) It seemed a little trite in terms of cop stories. ( )

An unknown agent spread around the world causing everyone to completely lose their eyesight. Fast forward several years and they have discovered a way to make people see again by implanting a transistor in their brain.
Not everyone believes in this science and some have chosen to remain in the dark. The police had first dabs on the new sightseeing goggles and they had bad cops taking advantage of those without sight.
Now it appears that they have dark blobs killing people and nobody is able to see them to tell who they are. The MC must figure out who is behind this and stop them before they can take over the world.

This was a great dystopian with loads of mysterious twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. ( )

Science fiction plus crime/detective story is original and unsettling.

When everyone in the world lost vision and became totally blind in a matter of months, the chaos and destruction resulted in a tremendous loss of life and an uncertain future for all who struggled to survive. Eventually scientists and business interests were able to restore sight through an invention known as the vidder. Implanted on the side of the head and able to interact with the brain, these devices gave people the ability to see again. As life returned slowly to something approaching normal (much like we experienced during and after the coronavirus pandemic), Detective Mark Owens makes a startling discovery. Someone is manipulating the vidders. What happens to world order when you can't trust what you see?

A unique concept developed into a narrative that was quite entertaining and interesting. I enjoyed the story even though it mostly played out as expected. I tend to like dystopian scenarios and this did not disappoint. The pace was good and there was plenty of action and a wide variety of characters. I could see this easily as a film adaptation.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for this e-book ARC to read, review, and recommend. 3.5 stars rounded up. ( )