Reviewed by Sammy
TITLE: Eye of the Beholder
AUTHOR: Thomas Grant Bruso
PUBLISHER: NineStar Press
LENGTH: 161 pages
RELEASE DATE: November 16, 2020
BLURB:
In the middle of a psychic session with Madame Petri, David hears a ghostly voice calling his name. But he is not sure if it’s the elderly fortuneteller exaggerating the reading or bizarre grumblings coming from a mysterious old man in a painting hanging in the psychic’s foyer.
When Madame Petri disappears in a ball of flames, David rushes home, terrified. From that moment on, David and his policeman boyfriend, Zane, find themselves trying to solve the series of murders and mayhem that begin to haunt David.
REVIEW:
It all began when David was a child. Leaving with an abusive drunken father who regularly beat his wife and made life a living hell for he and his mother, David burrowed deep inside himself—so deeply he sometimes lost himself. Years later, after a terrifying visit to a psychic whom his friends had referred to him, the nightmares begin again and so do the voices, the visions, everything. David is living a nightmare and only Zane, his partner, can make the space safe…until even he can’t. Zane doesn’t believe David sees his dead father. But still Zane stands by David, using his position as a cop to cover up his tangential involvement in the deaths piling up around them. It is really the ghost of David’s father doing the killing? Or is it something or someone far more sinister.
Honestly I am a bit gob smacked. As I sit here trying to write up some semblance of a review about this story I can tell you for one thing for sure–do not read this at night unless every light is blazing and you have human companionship close by. I actually had to stop reading it late one evening because I literally was afraid. Eye of the Beholder is a terrifying psychological horror story that will absolutely blow you away at the end. This is not your happy ever after romance by any means. In fact, if you are thinking at ay tie while reading this novella that things are going to get better bury that thought—this story creeps along from beginning to finish and just messed with my head immensely.
Barring the fact that the story occasionally jumped around a bit causing me a little bit of confusion as to what was happening, Eye of the Beholder is actually incredibly well written. Thomas Grant Bruso knows how to write horror and this story is a prime example of his talent. I absolutely wept for both David and Zane and the hell they lived through. Zane was so kind-so supportive even as he doubted everything David seemed to see and experience. He loves David and that is apparent throughout the entire novella—just as the reciprocal is—David loves Zane—views him as his safe harbor—his anchor.
I wish I could tell you more—but to do so would spoil the reading experience for you. I can say that the ending shocked me—completely– and that it broke my heart. Still I would recommend this novella to anyone who loves a good story with a bit of horror and a healthy dash of psychological thriller thrown in for good measure. But definitely…keep the lights on.
RATING: 
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