Eye of the Beholder – Jim Bates

Pages: 174
Released On: 30/01/2024

When Jena’s new boyfriend Herm announces that he is traveling the Northshore of Lake Superior to meet Commander Donner, she is skeptical. After all, Herm is convinced that he is an alien from the planet Xylan who has been sent to Earth to search for rare minerals. As far as she is concerned, he is living in a dream world. However, Herm is also a nice guy, the best she’s ever known, and she enjoys being with him. So does her eight-year-old daughter Sylvie. If only it wasn’t for that alien issue…

Jena is conflicted. Herm’s entire trip up north seems like a figment of his imagination. The night before he is scheduled to leave, they argue but to no avail. He leaves the next morning and Jena is not so much distraught as she is ready to forget all about him and move on. Six hours later, though, she receives a text. Herm has been put in jail for hitchhiking in a small town north of Duluth. Against her better judgment, Jena travels north to help him, taking Sylvie with her along with her best friend Kalli.

Unbeknownst to Jena, on the drive north, Herm escapes from jail and goes on the run. Jena is able to find him, and she agrees to take him to his meeting with the commander. It is then she learns the awful truth about Herm’s past.

This is a story of the horrors that some people can inflict upon the innocent. It is also a story of how incredibly strong the human spirit is. Ultimately, it is a story of how strong the bonds of love truly can be.

*****

Thanks to Jim for a gifted copy of his new novella in return for an honest review.

Jim has sent me a couple of his works over the years and they’ve all been very interesting reads, and so I’m always keen when he has a new one.

I also like that it’s a novella, which meant I could read it really quickly between jobs. It also has fairly short chapters which is always a bonus in my eyes.

When Jim sent it to me, I didn’t twig at first the sci-fi elements to it. I thought it was “just” a piece of contemporary fiction, a dialogue between characters as it were, so that was a nice surprise. He marries the mundane and the fantastical well. It’s identifiable and familiar but with an extra layer.

There is a lot in a very small space. Love, friendship, hate, loneliness, abandonment, abuse, trust, trauma, fantasy – there’s a lot, but on the whole it doesn’t feel overloaded.

Some of the dialogue is a bit stilted. It doesn’t negatively affect the story as such, but at times it isn’t very natural and you are reminded you’re reading a book rather than listening to a conversation; it doesn’t flow as naturally as I would have liked.

I read a review that said there was a great twist ending. Personally, I wouldn’t say it’s a twist as such, but it is very well done and I think worked well in the context of the rest of the book.

Even after finishing it, I kept thinking about it, and that’s always a sign of a good story for me.

Jim’s books aren’t necessarily ones I’d have chosen to read off my own back, just going on my personal tastes, but I’m glad he’s found me because they’re really quite interesting.