Quality dark female characters in fiction are very rare to encounter.Turning that character into a believable positive force takes a skill that few writers can pull off without having the reader bail out. Back in 1997, Barry Hoffman produced one of the most underrated novels that began a series which all fans of suspense and mystery should know. HUNGRY EYES introduced the world to Shara Farris, Shara has been transformed into a bounty hunter and employs a brand of vigilante justice that walks a razor line between sociopath and heroine.
Now, in the fifth book in the “EYES” series, Shara is the sole guardian of Renee, who she rescued in a previous story. Detective Lamar Briggs, who has worked for Shara, has been called back to duty on the force. His daughter, Alexis, has strong ties to all of them and now recovered from her own traumatic ordeal, may harbor psychic abilities. Yet not all is fine in Shara’s world.
Briggs has made plenty of enemies along the way, perhaps more than Shara. One of them, Norman Flowers, blames Briggs for his life’s woes and decides to take away his life, specifically, his daughter. During the kidnapping, Flowers abducts Renee, thinking her to be Alexis, and the story begins to burn through the pages. Shara sets off on a mission to find Renee before Flowers realizes he has taken the wrong victim while Renee must assume the role of Alexis in order to stay alive.
Tense, brutal, and engaging from page one, BLIND VENGEANCE follows the pattern of the previous novels as each one has improved upon the one before, a feat rarely accomplished in a series. Each of the characters is fleshed out, especially the two young women. Shara might be one of the most fascinating protagonists/anti-heroes in the history of suspense, Barry Hoffman, the brains behind Gauntlet Press, has always had an eye for the best fiction from others over the years, but many don’t know his novels, both the suspense and his popular young adult series, THE SHAMRA CHRONICLES. His writing has never been less than tight and colorful but it’s always been his characters that have brought his stories to the top of the genre.
Hopefully, readers will continue to see more of Shara, Alexis, and Renee in future novels.
The limited and lettered editions contain bonus material and if ordering through Gauntlet’s site, readers will receive a special chapbook from Splatterpunk Press which acts as a prequel to the phenomenal BORN BAD.
- THE BEST OF ROD SERLING’S TWILIGHT ZONE - April 11, 2015
- BLIND RAGE - April 11, 2015
- Black Static #44-45 - April 11, 2015
- The Halloween Children - February 12, 2015
- Darkness Ad Infinitum - November 24, 2014
- Fear City - October 5, 2014
- The Boneyard - July 24, 2014
- Double Feature: A Novel - July 24, 2014
- Never Alone - July 24, 2014
- Blind Vengence - July 24, 2014
