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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780345386137
ISBN number: 0345386132
Label: Ballantine Books
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 576
Printing Date: November 29, 1995
Publishing house: Ballantine Books
Release Date: November 29, 1995
Sale Popularity Level: 55037
Studio: Ballantine Books
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Product Description:
Ricardo Arias is found dead, the gun still wedged in his mouth. It looks like suicide, but the physical evidence strongly suggests murder. The police investigation uncovers an estranged wife, Terri Peralta; an ugly custody battle over their six-year-old daughter, Elena; heated charges of child abuse; and a murder suspect: San Francisco defense attorney Christopher Paget.
Paget has motive--it's his son accused of abusing Elena, his political plans for the future put at risk by the dead man's accusations, and his alibi that is dangerously threadbare.
And the shocking revelations that threaten to explode in the courtroom may remain hidden forever...by Chris Paget's refusal to testify on his own behalf...by Elena's tangled loyalties...and by dark secrets that some desperately wish to keep silent....
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Rated by buyers -
Thought to writing a review of this book... something which brought a lump to my throat after a long, long time...
The story is about an estranged child, called Elena, the love child of Teresa and Richie, whose parents don't love each other any more. For adults it is easy to say and accept, but for a child to comprehend that her parents can be separated is almost unfathomable. And it is this very delicate and most intricate feeling that Richard North Patterson sought to capture in this book. It is ostensibly a legal thriller, a murder mystery, a whodunit, a courtroom drama... but above all, it is the story of Elena, who is torn between her parents, both of whom tell her that they love her, but not enough to be able to settle their own differences and live together... even for her sake... imagine Elena's sense of being betrayed when her Mom tells has that her Dad is the cause of their divorce proceedings, and her Dad insists that her Mom's extra-marital affair with her boss, Chris, is the cause of this estrangement...
The book is kind of long, but the length is almost an asset, used well by RNP to make the reader bond with the characters. You end up taking sides, and almost willing for things to happen and fall right... more than once while reading did I realize that I was clenching my teeth, and surprised, I let go... actually, was more than just a little surprised... not since the time I read "Les Miserables" did I experience such plight and pain in a character made solely out of paper and ink and one man's imagination...
Though similar to Grisham in topics and characters, this book certainly qualifies to be way up and beyond the caliber of Grisham's best (with perhaps the sole exception of "The Chamber")! The mystery and whodunit aspect is kind of tolerable and in the end things fall into place so that everything somehow makes sense (or does it?). Though the author has tried to intertwine the story into knots, starting with the murder, and then going a couple of weeks in the past to build a background into the characters, then carrying on with the past, and then finally a jump right into the middle of the fiery courtroom battle. Rarely does one get to see such delicious courtroom scenes... each argument has a counter-argument, and another one there... and just when you think one side comes up with their strongest witness, the other simply breaks through and gets back! It was a treat to follow the proceedings of the court.
A few things I found lacking in the story... at times, the characters are too single-sided... some are too white while others too black. Acceptable, but at times it makes the story that much less plausible. Still, just a nick in the armor... Another point worth making out is that the characters suffer so very much as part of the story, and as a result they take very long to reconcile and come to terms with their lives, but once they are around the bend, they bounce back almost too easily and are able to diagnose their feelings and psychologies a little too easily and objectively... Again, not something that takes too much out of the story or its effect, but I felt the author had just gone overboard a few times in trying to conceive his characters in depth.
Overall, I would rate this book a neat 4 out of 5, primarily for the delicate yet plausible handling of the sensitive topics that are covered in the book, and the way the plot comes together, with everything - every small detail that at times felt nagging and inconsequential - falling into place, while maintaining the acceptability of the characters and situations, at all times.
I have two more of Patterson's books lined up in my bookshelf, and will tell you more once I am through them too!
Rated by buyers -
I've recently become a big fan of Richard North Patterson's work. My favorite books of his are the ones involving Kerry Kilcannon. I feel Patterson is at his best when he combines politics with law. It is also when I feel his work is the most interesting and most compelling.
However, after reading Eyes of a Child, I've discovered that he also writes a pretty darn good legal thriller. Child abuse is a very difficult and touchy subject to address. I tend to admire Patterson for his research capabilities to ensure that he's putting credible information behind his plots and characters.
The story surrounds the 6-year-old daughter of lawyer, Teresa Peralta. There is a vicious custody battle between Teresa and her extremely manipulative husband, Ricardo "Richie" Arias. Beginning on the outer fringes of the story is the man whom Teresa has come to love and rely upon, Christopher Paget, himself a lawyer and Teresa's boss. Christopher is a single parent raising his 16-year-old son, Carlo.
First of all, Teresa loves her little girl, Elena, more than anything. Christopher Paget also loves his son at the same level.
So, what happens when Carlo is accused of molesting Elena? What happens when Christopher Paget himself is accused of murdering Richie? While these are intriguing questions for the movement of the story, the heart of it lies in this: how does this impact and affect the relationships between parent and child?
Patterson succeeds in creating one of the most unlikeable, diabolical character I've seen in Richie. The man is not above using anyone or anything for his own personal gain, and disguising this behind impressions of compassion and love, two concepts that are totally alien to him.
The story opens with Richie's death. I question whether it would have been more effective to do this later in the story. I almost felt disapppointed to find out from the start that Richie is dead. He is such a despicable character, that I wonder if it would have had more impact had his death been written later in chronological order.
Patterson creates realistic parents in Teresa and Chris who do their best to protect and love their children without compromising them. They are both flawed characters. They aren't perfect parents. They simply do what they feel is best. They will soon learn that, for children, it is not so much what a parent "does" but who a parent "is," that really counts. Sometimes not saying something as a parent can do more harm than good. Besides, as adults, we forget that children aren't stupid and are often much brighter than we ever give them credit for.
One of the most difficult things for a writer to do is to give a little child a realistic voice. It's hard to remember what a 6-year-old sounds like. How do they express themselves and what kind of words do they use. Patterson struggles with this early on with Elena. I work with kids all the time, and I just couldn't see Elena speaking the way she does in this story. As the story progresses, Patterson finally seems to find that voice, thus making Elena much more realistic and believable.
While I still feel that author, Sheldon Siegel writes the best courtroom scenes of any author on the market, Patterson does a great job in this story. The trial is tense and intriguing, and you simply can't put the book down once it gets going. At least he finally put in a judge who isn't cranky and snapping at everything. The judge during the custody hearing is like this which forced me to question: Christ, are all judges like this? Not by my experience, so I was relieved when the trial judge escaped this type of characterization.
This book is very well written. You won't be disappointed. You won't be cheering for Richie. You may start to cheer for Teresa and Chris, but in the end, you find yourself truly cheering for Elena and Carlo because you do begin to see through the eyes of a child.
Rated by buyers -
Eyes of a Child is an excellent novel, but it lacked the suspense and thrill I hoped for when I picked it up. It more based on the trial of a murder than the actual murder itself, which I thought it was about. The book does have many twists though they are not resolved until the last few chapters. This book is very good, but do not expect a typical murder mystery novel.
Rated by buyers -
This was the very first RN Patterson book, and I found it to be very suspenseful. I simply could not put the book down! Like another reviewer, however, I must say Patterson was a bit too heavy-handed in his development of the characters. Richie Arias, the victim of murder or suicide, comes off as too evil, just as Terri Peraltas and Chris Paget are portrayed as angelic parents/people. In addition, they go through a series of dramatic events, after which they are still able to reconcile their relationship -- something that could ONLY happen in this fictional work. However, if you are like me and like books with enough mystery to keep you reading, and a happy ending to satisfy you at the end, Eyes of a Child is perfect for you!!
Rated by buyers -
The story Eyes of a Child by Richard North Patterson is a intence murder mystery. The main characters are Terri Peralta, Richie Arias, Elena, and Christoper Paget. Terri is Elena's mother who is a divorced to her late husband Richie, who was murdered in his apartment by an unknown killer. Christoper is Terri's new boyfriend who helps her out with the case since they both work together as lawyers. The genre for this story is both horror and mystery because of the unknown killer. A major quotation in the story is when Terri yells, "'I didn't do it, why does everyone blame me? '" This affects the story because it is a turning part close to the end. On a scale of one to ten I would give an eight because it keeps you interested but you have to remember what happened or else you will get lost since the length of the book is a little to long by being over five hundred pages. You also have to have a pretty good reading ability since there is a lot of descriptive words. I would highly recommend this book.
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