Blind Side

by William Bayer

Book Overview

Written by the author of "Tangler", "Punish Me With Kisses", "Peregrine", "Pattern Crimes" and "Switch", this thriller is a story of love, blackmail, violence and betrayal. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394572572
• ISBN13: 9780394572574
• Release Date: June 1989
• Publisher: Villard Books
• Length: 321 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Good read

This is the third book by William Bayer that I have read, and the best one so far. The plot is fast and unpredictable. The writting style grabs the reader. He has also written under the name David Hunt.

Neuvo Noir What/Who Do You Really Know?

William Bayer wrote this Modern Noir novel some sixteen years ago. I found this novel particularly haunting, reading it through four times over the past years. It starts with the girl that is edgy, too good to be true. Needing a liberator, the photographer gets much more than he bargained. He begins the first person narrative lost in his art, an emotionally damaged man that can only photograph after hours in the night, capturing only dark images. And, as the novel progresses, he ensnares himself more and more hopelessly. He finds himself propelled into one sinister and evil situation after another in the race to the most ill-fated denouement. His life has mirrored his art. Their chance meeting (of course it is not a coincidental meeting), their love and then her disappearance are an avalanche. The story is compelling, moving rapidly with terse, realistic dialog. Soon it is evident that she is not who he thought she was, nor in the end is he who he thought he was. I found particularly intriguing how the spurned photographer could piece together her trail, little pieces of the detritus of a shabby, sham abandoned life that link to an unknown person and life. This book examines the question of how well we can really know someone, the capacity for evil, and the energizing passion of revenge. Much like a great Hitchcock movie, this is a novel with a common man put in uncommon circumstances, rising up to find unexpected strength to avoid doom. And, femme fatale's opportunity to escape the prison of her life, despite cunning, a complex scheme/scam and a near perfect disappearance can only come to zero. William Bayer has written two later novels (Magician's Tale, Trick of Light) under the pseudonym of David Hunt, where there is a heavy component of photography as a plot device. He captures the sensitivity of the photographer's use of light, darkness and shadow to reveal his disturbing portrait. There is symmetry, where in the beginning our war photographer creates art from an unspeakable tragedy. Later, his quest to find his missing lover is a chase into the blackness of true Noir.

Above average

Geoffrey Barnett, an ex-photojournalist, has the inability to photograph faces due to a traumatic event in his life. He now makes a living by selling photographic prints and at night he likes to prowl the streets of New York to find great shots. One evening he meets a young beautiful woman named Kim who helps him overcome his photographer's "block" and who also ultimately becomes his lover. His mundane life suddenly takes an adventurous turn when he becomes involved with her. Several of her friends are murdered; she skips town; and after tracking her to Key West he learns of her blackmailing scheme. The cops are suspicious of him and the blackmailee harasses him. Overall, the book was an easy read but I found Geoffrey to be a bit naive considering his worldliness.