[Review] Night Watch - Iris Johansen, Roy Johansen

Summary: Sometimes, what you can’t see will kill you…

Born blind, Kendra Michaels spent the first twenty years of her life living in the darkness. Then, thanks to a revolutionary medical procedure developed by England’s Night Watch Project, she was given the gift of sight. Her highly-developed senses (honed during her years in the dark), combined with her new found vision, have made her a remarkable investigator, sought after by law-enforcement agencies all over the country. But her newest case becomes deeply personal as she uncovers the truth about the shadowy organization that has given her so much.

Kendra is surprised when she is visited by Dr. Charles Waldridge, the researcher who gave her sight. All is not well with the brilliant surgeon; he’s troubled by something he can’t discuss with Kendra. When Waldridge disappears the very night he visits her, Kendra is on the case, recruiting government agent-for-hire Adam Lynch to join her on a trail that leads to the snow-packed California mountains. There they make a gruesome discovery: the corpse of one of Dr. Waldridge’s associates. But it’s only the first casualty in a white-knuckle confrontation with a deadly enemy who will push Kendra to the limits of her abilities. Soon she must fight for her very survival as she tries to stop the killing…and unearth the shocking secret of Night Watch. (Pub Date: Oct 11, 2016)

Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

A mild disappointment. It just took too long for the story to pick up rhythm.

I wasn't a fan of the cover but the title was the first thing that captured me. Then the summary. Just listen—or read. Kendra has developed high perception from the many years she was blind, and now she has sight, she doesn't want to take anything for granted. When the doctor who performed this miracle goes missing and an associate of his turns up dead, she'll do anything to have him back safe and sound. Even work again with the FBI or call allies she preferred not to face.

It does get good eventually. This was well-researched story, and easy to understand at the same time. Scientific shenanigans are not my specialty, so I don't know if it all makes real sense but it rang verisimilar to me. And it did amaze me. Kudos to the authors there. Also, they were really smart. I liked the plans, I liked how both sides could keep up without one's failure having been a stupid mistake. This was exciting.

Unfortunately, the book had serious flaws.

First, I had a problem with the main characters. Not that I hated Kendra and Lynch. I even liked them. But they just sounded too resourced, too fantastic. For they always had something, it took me long to actually fear for them—or for Kendra, as Lynch never seemed to be in danger. I kept thinking how the dynamics would work well in a TV series but it didn't do me anything as a book.

Also, the story was just too slow. To be honest, I don't know how it could have been done differently but I just didn't see any reason why to keep reading when for so long the only problem was some man missing. I feel thrillers also need to have stepping stones to keep us going, and this one held information for too long.

This was an ARC, so it will be revised by the time it hits stores. Still, I'm always reading ARC's, I know what to expect. This needs more than usual. So many "but"s! Really, that you should be able to take care of with CTRL+F, no need to let it for the final revision. By the way, I'm saying this but the language was mostly not an issue. Just the "but"s bothered the heck out of me. Sorry for whining here.

I think this should be a read for those who don't mind slow, slow, too darn slow beginnings. The opening scene is amazing—now I think of it, I wanted more of that Jaden character!—, the action scenes from around the middle section are superb, this is a smart book. Still, the main characters were too much of a cliché, and forget about feeling pierced to the reading.

Rating: 3 out of 5.