Million Eyes – A Review
Million Eyes
How do you fight an enemy who has a million eyes?
What if we’re living in an alternate timeline? What if the car crash that killed Princess Diana, the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower, and the shooting of King William II weren’t supposed to happen?
Ex-history teacher Gregory Ferro finds evidence that a cabal of time travellers is responsible for several key events in our history. These events all seem to hinge on a dry textbook published in 1995, referenced in a history book written in 1977 and mentioned in a letter to Edward III in 1348.
Ferro teams up with down-on-her-luck graduate Jennifer Larson to get to the truth and discover the relevance of a book that seems to defy the arrow of time. But the time travellers are watching closely. Soon the duo are targeted by assassins willing to rewrite history to bury them.
Million Eyes is a fast-paced conspiracy thriller about power, corruption and destiny.
Review
An intriguing combination of history and science fiction, ‘Million Eyes’ certainly had me engrossed early on. I’d describe the action as fast-moving thriller style, with chapters cutting seamlessly between times and characters. This might have been confusing, but C R Berry achieves a good balance, with just the right content within each chapter. It was easy to connect with the main characters, who each had a distinct role to play in the narrative.
The only element which didn’t resonate with me was the section on Diana, Princess of Wales. Although she died over twenty years ago, her death remains in the public eye. There are many people alive today who will remember where they were and how they felt when news of her death broke, I include myself in this number. It is probably the first wall-to-wall coverage news item which I do remember. The inquest into her death reported its conclusions just over 10 years ago, and conspiracy theories continue into the accident which led to her death. It didn’t sit quite right having it included in this book. Particularly the part which imagines dialogue between Diana and one of the book’s characters. The rest of the historical story telling takes place much longer ago, and is a much better fit for the book.
So I recommend the book for a well written conspiracy thriller, which fuses science fiction with history. If, however, the death of Diana evokes an emotional trigger, I suggest reading with caution.
Purchase Links
Elsewhen Press — Amazon (UK) — Amazon (US)
Trailer
Author Bio
C.R. Berry caught the writing bug at the tender age of four and has never recovered. His earliest stories were filled with witches, monsters, evil headteachers, Disney characters and the occasional Dalek. He realised pretty quickly that his favourite characters were usually the villains. He wonders if that’s what led him to become a criminal lawyer. It’s certainly why he’s taken to writing conspiracy thrillers, where the baddies are numerous and everywhere.
After a few years getting a more rounded view of human nature’s darker side, he quit lawyering and turned to writing full-time. Berry now works as a freelance copywriter and novelist and blogs about conspiracy theories, time travel and otherworldly weirdness.
He was shortlisted in the 2018 Grindstone Literary International Novel Competition and has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies, including Storgy, Dark Tales, Theme of Absence and Suspense Magazine. He was also shortlisted in the Aeon Award Contest, highly commended by Writers’ Forum, and won second prize in the inaugural To Hull and Back Humorous Short Story Competition.
Berry grew up in Farnborough, Hampshire, and has since moved to Haslemere in Surrey.
Social Media Links
Websites: C. R. Berry (Author), Million Eyes, Gregory Ferro Blog
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CRBerry1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CRBerry1/
Many thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for hosting this blog tour, and offering me the chance to review Million Eyes. I received a copy of the book, in return for an honest review. All views expressed are my own.
Disclosure notice: I was gifted a copy of this book in return for a review. All views expressed are my own. Thank you to Rachel, of Rachel’s Random Resources, for organising the tour, and offering me a place.
This looks fascinating, Emma! I’m a little bit into “what would/might have been” at the moment. In case you are (or anyone else is) interested, I’ve been putting together a world scenario description of what might have happened in recent history if a couple of important inventions did not happen in the era that they did – due to commercial concerns or redirected interests. This all came from a Jim Al-Khalili (physicist) prog on BBC4 where he described 6 or 7 inventions that were needed throughout history for the smartphone to be created. I thought, but what if some of them didn’t happen, at least at the crucial time? Some very surprising offshoots happened in my scenario, mixed with a bit of speculation. Like, no WW2, no nuclear bomb, massive resources and finances freed up, Turing goes to USA resulting in quantum computers by 1960, Pseudo-Human IA Entities (androids to you!) by 1980, Einstein stays in Europe and works with the Russians, cracks Unified Field Theory, anti-grav by the year 2000. I plan to let this scenario feed into my digital art, the first pic hopefully to be of PsHE’s (see above) piloting huge anti-grav transports to bring resources to famine-hit countries. I possibly don’t have the time to write full-blown novels within the scenario, so might even open up this alternative world scenario for other people to do that – by agreement! If anyone is interested, do reply in a comment! Thanks again for sharing this story, Emma.
Thank you for reading and commenting! I find the sort of thought process you describe fascinating. Things of such huge significance can hinge on the smallest event. Million Eyes is, ultimately, a conspiracy thriller. Actions are taken in order to work towards a future which the governing body wants. An interesting premise, and it makes for a lively story. I do enjoy the what if type scenarios associated with some of the major moments throughout history. Even in one’s own life story, there are so many times when decisions are taken which lead to quite unexpected (and often for the better) results. I look back at some of my own choices and am in awe of how so many small decisions have led me to be here today sitting next to our son while I reply to your comment. Life is incredible. Thank you, and hope to see you soon.
This sounds like intriguing read. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for reading and commenting. It is indeed. I like the conspiracy element which weaves its way through the narrative. Of those in charge who seek to create the future they desire. As I said, there is a trigger warning as the part about Diana is so comparatively recent that it feels a little out of place with the rest of the story. She remains in the public eye through the legacy of her sons and grandchildren, and I think some readers may feel uncomfortable with the imagined conversations which Diana has in the book. As well as the coverage of the crash which killed her. But having said that, yes, an intriguing read.
Thank you so much for your review Emma! 🙂
You’re welcome! Thank you so much for the opportunity to review your book, and for reading my review.