When Jane Campbell's sixth novel in a row is rejected, she feels she's wasted yet another year of her life. Her husband doesn't understand why it hits her so hard; then again, Leon is the well-known author of a gritty crime series and winner of a Gold Dagger Award. Due to Leon's success, the couple and their two young children live in a tony Liverpool Victorian.
One afternoon, with the family in the car headed to a birthday dinner, Leon is angrily confronted by a neighbor about the misbehavior of the Campbell cat, another in a series of perceived transgressions that has soured relations on their quiet street. Jane retreats into the house momentarily to escape the argument and returns to the car to discover Leon incapacitated and unresponsive.
With Leon gravely injured, their future uncertain and suspicion beginning to swirl around Jane, she's forced to poke around in Leon's computer for answers. Jane's digging brings more uncertainty and danger to the forefront, leading her to believe something more serious than an aggrieved fellow author or uptight neighbor might be lurking in their lives.
Open Your Eyes is Paula Daly's (Keep Your Friends Close) fifth work of psychological suspense, and she entertainingly weaves elements of the publishing industry, seedy and reputable alike, into her trademark domestic-driven drama. Daly's characters acknowledge the plot is akin to "something Hollywood cooked up for the purposes of dramatic storytelling." Fun and fast-paced, Daly has prepared a menu fit to pack into one sitting. --Lauren O'Brien of Malcolm Avenue Review