Book Review: Blind Eye, Anna M. Holmes
Thriller: Blind Eye, Anna M. Holmes
Blog Tour October 8, 2021
Blind Eye, Anna M. Holmes
Blog Tour, October 8, 2021
Ben is in the midst of several personal crises. His wife has just left him. His job was unfulfilling so he quit. When an old acquaintance in the British government calls him to run a study in Indonesia, he reluctantly takes the job. Go to the rain forest, write a report on how a British company was using sustainable and environmentally friendly practices to harvest logs for furniture, and get paid. What could go wrong?
When Ben gets to Indonesia, there are a number of things that look good. The area he is supposed to study is indeed being managed well. Clearly the logging company had failed to keep some promises to the locals: a clinic had been built but not staffed, roads were never finished, jobs did not materialize. But the area of the study was being sustainably logged, just as promised.
Linda is an American activist, visiting the area with an Australian rock star. Rob is looking for inspiration for his music, hoping to burnish his environmentalist credentials, and enjoying the perks of being an internationally famous musician. He went to Indonesia to visit orangutans, get pictures taken in the jungle, and impress his social media followers.
A violent rape and a vicious double murder set in motion a chain of events that transforms the mission, the report, and the lives of every character in the book.
Ben went to write a simple and favorable report. As the scope of his investigation widens, as there are more murders and other assaults. As he sees that the sustainable management is a front for much darker activities, he is forced to decide whether he dares get involved or whether he should turn a blind eye to the situation.
Blind Eye is a dark and challenging book. An environmental thriller, author Anna M. Holmes brings in the real plight of indigenous peoples at the mercy of rapacious businesses focused on making money rather than supporting people or protecting animals or saving forests. This book is set in Indonesia, but it could just as easily have been set in Brazil or Congo or Vietnam or any one of dozens of other countries. The rampant consumerism of western populations does not care whether their furniture comes from devastated rain forests or their oil comes from polluted villages or their jewelry comes from blood diamonds or their cell phones use rare earth minerals that poisoned watering holes. Considering that I read this book on my cell phone and am writing this review on a computer while I am sitting in my wooden chair at my wooden desk, I am not casting stones at anyone else that I am not casting at myself as well.
Holmes has put together a first rate thriller, mixed in a little romance, and shown the brutal side of business putting profits ahead of people. If the end result of reading this book is not just an enjoyable ride through some thrilling pages but also beginning to open our eyes a little wider, then we can be grateful for this story on multiple levels.
Our thanks to Ann Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for our copy of Blind Eye, given solely in exchange for our honest review. The opinions here are solely those of Scintilla. For other perspectives on this book, check out the other bloggers participating in this tour.
Book Review: Blind Eye, Anna M. Holmes