My apologies for not posting over the last several days. I was under deadline with my latest novel, EYES TO SEE, and every spare second went to getting it finalized and turned in. Since it was EYES that kept me from you, my readers, I thought it only fair that I share a little bit of it.

So, without further ado, here are the opening paragraphs of EYES TO SEE. (I’ll be back with a regular blog post in the next day or so…)

CHAPTER ONE

Now

I gave up my eyes in order to see more clearly.

I like to tell myself that if I had known then what I know now, I never would have made such a Faustian bargain, but the truth is that I probably would have done it anyway and to hell with what my self-esteem wants me to think. I was pretty desperate in those days, the search for Elizabeth having consumed every facet of my life like a malignant cancer gorging itself on healthy cells, and I’d have tried anything to find even the smallest clue to what happened to her.

Still would, for that matter.

Despite my sacrifice I’m not completely blind. Some light still filters through, allowing me to see the general shapes of things around me, though the brighter my surroundings the harder it is for me to focus on them. And of course, the finer details are lost. I’m forced to wear dark sunglasses to protect the sensitivity of my eyes and allow me to see even the little bit I’m able. As a result, I’ve adopted many of the life skills of the blind in order to function in the everyday world.

Tonight, for the first time in weeks, I had some work to do. The offer had filtered down late the night before through the handful of people who know how to get in touch with me for just these kinds of things. I don’t have an office. I don’t advertise my services. No “Jeremiah Hunt – Ghost Buster” business cards or any crap like that. Most of the time, I just want to be left alone. But occasionally, if the time and circumstances were right, I’ll help out the odd individual here or there. I hadn’t decided if I was going to take the job until reviewing the sorry state of my bank account earlier that morning. The monthly checks from the university still come in, the benefits of a well-negotiated severance package in the wake of Elizabeth’s disappearance, but they are never enough for what I need. Searching for someone who might as well have fallen off the face of the earth isn’t cheap. A quick infusion of capital goes a long way.

Even if it does mean facing off against a homicidal ghost.

You see, one of the consequences of my decision was a newfound ability to see the ghosts that surround us on a daily basis. Arthur C. Clarke once said that behind every man now alive stand thirty ghosts, for that is the ratio by which the dead outnumber the living. And while I haven’t counted them all, I can say with confidence that good ole Arthur was off by more than a few zeroes.

The truth is that the dead are everywhere.

They wander the city streets, drifting unnoticed through the crowds. They sit beside you on the bus, stand next to you in the supermarket checkout line, sometimes one or two of them might even follow you home from work like lost puppy dogs looking for a place to stay.

That little chill you sometimes feel for no reason at all? That’s their way of letting you know that they are there, watching and waiting.

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Photo by Baston

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