Darksight Review | DC Mallery

My attempt to get through my backlog of reviews continues today, as I’m finally sharing my review of Darksight.

*External links below are affiliate links, meaning at no extra cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase

Publisher: Black Opal Books | Date: 2019 | Genre: Science Fiction | Buy it here*

Plot: Audra Carter, a popular deejay in Manhattan, won’t let mere blindness keep her from living life her way, sometimes even riding her bicycle through town, relying on keen hearing and uncanny instincts to guide her. Her father, Jenson Carter, a neuroscientist, has devoted his career to finding a cure for her particular form of blindness. He now believes he has. With Audra and several other test subjects, Jenson takes his research to the next level, only to face apparent failure. Jenson becomes alarmed by several bizarre deaths involving the test subjects. He fears his experiment was hijacked by former colleagues with a secret agenda, but the police blame him for the deaths.

Audra is kidnapped and forced to survive a series of terrifying ordeals designed to hone a new and dangerous kind of vision that the hijacked experiment unleashed: Darksight. As Jenson races to discover the truth and find his daughter, Audra struggles to survive increasingly-deadly challenges. Will Audra master her mysterious Darksight and defeat her captors to keep both her and her father alive?

I received Darksight from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Darksight Review

Making my way through my backlist of ARCs makes me kick myself for not doing it sooner. Darksight is a gripping science-fiction thriller exploring how far you’d go to truly see. If the cost is higher than you’re prepared to pay, what would you sacrifice to keep your vision?

An intriguing mix of science and science fiction, Darksight has a strong pace, great characters and will keep you hooked as events spiral out of control.

I love the premise of Darksight. Returning vision to the blind is far more primal than scientific, tapping into parts of the human brain that have long been dormant, bringing not only vision, but abilities with it. The powers vary from person to person, but the idea of being able to get into someone’s head – controlling their heart; knowing their fears – is so chilling. The tension and suspense meant I couldn’t put this one down.

Audra is a great protagonist. She’s stubborn and headstrong, her determination to live her own life rivalled only by her need to protect her father from himself and false hope. When she starts to experience abilities, there’s no sudden mastering of the talent, but a real and painful development as she fights to protect those she cares for.

Jenson is a desperate father and a brilliant scientist – although the two things aren’t mutually exclusive. While he’s driven by his need to save Audra, there were times when I wanted him to stop and think rather than being rash, but you understood his drive.

Audra held her hands before her eyes, ghostlike, ethereal. Shimmering. Darksight. The word seemed to fit.

Darksight by DC Mallery

The secondary characters are all engaging in their own right. The blind stripper who longs for more, but her heart is in the right place. The special agent who takes on a case more complicated than she’d ever imagined. They balance Audra and Jensen perfectly – pushing them on, but also holding them in check when needed.

 The misdirection with the villains and who is the true power behind the experiment adds a sense of foreboding, and you reach a point of realising there are no depths they won’t stoop to in order to get what they want.

Darksight opens with a lot of science, and it took a few chapters to establish this isn’t just going to be about medical procedures. But the pace is strong and you’re soon swept up as the tension builds, each chapter raising the stakes more. What starts off as an effort to restore vision soon turns into a potential terrorist threat, murders, kidnappings and understanding how far you’ll go to hold onto something as precious as vision.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book – a solid five stars from me. It achieved that level of having no idea how the characters are going to get out of their situation, who would come through and what price would be paid before we reached the end. Any book that keeps me gripped in such a manner is a definite recommendation.

If you like your science-fiction set into today’s world and sounding plausible, you’ll enjoy this!

Grab your own copy here!

What books would you recommend where the main character has a disability such as blindness?

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• Book Review: The Nothing Within by Andy Giesler
• Book Review: One Word Kill by Mark Lawrence

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