The Shut Eye weaves together so many strands of a compelling murder mystery that it is sometimes easy to get too tangled up in its disparate plots and sub-plots.
Jumping from one line to the next leaves the reader fighting for oxygen as much as some of the characters, coming up for air after each chapter as the different angles threaten to overwhelm.
The disappearance of Daniel Buck and the whereabouts of Edie Evans play on the minds of the police as well as those of the parents left behind.
A shut eye is that between-worlds figure who can see what has happened to the lost and tries desperately to tell their story to those left behind. Daniel’s mother, Anna Buck, battles with the things she sees which a disbelieving world dismisses as the ramblings of a crazy woman.
Not even Bauer’s skill as a writer, bringing together different cultures and joining them with colourful storytelling can save what ultimately proves to be a flawed process.
Sadly for all those involved, Bauer leaves one major question unanswered and that fatally flaws an otherwise exciting read.
