Vision Impossible (Psychic Eye Mysteries, Book 9) by Victoria Laurie

 

Vision Impossible is a play on words, we're supposed to think of Mission Impossible... and the analogy is apt, in this case.

Here is the blurb:

Abby Cooper's next mission may truly be impossible...

Abby Cooper, the FBI's newest Civilian Profiler, is adding Spy to her resume. The military's digital photography software that captures one's aura- just like Abby can - sits in a drone aircraft that's been stolen. It's a major breach in security as every country's leader can be identified by their aura...

Abby springs into action to stop the criminals before they set their diabolical plan into motion, while making herself a prime target.

The plot was pretty good, though there were several things that were terribly implausible. Not saying the psychic stuff wasn't believable, I'm good with that... it was the procedures and CIA conversations and the way a few people reacted that just didn't ring true to me.

The continuing plot arcs were mostly okay, Abby and Dutch are still doing good together, their relationship still strong. Though honestly there was so much action in Vision Impossible that there wasn't much time for them to interact very much. Still, there were a few things that would have had less secure couples fighting, and both Abby and Dutch handled them like grown ups. That's a good thing.

The voice this time seemed a bit off to me. Nothing I can put my finger on, it's just that at times I was paying attention to the writing more than the story. In a few pieces it was repeated words, or the same exact sentence structure over and over and the cadence pulled me out. Once or twice it was the use of adverbs or adjectives in an odd way, something that made me stop and look at the writing instead of being immersed in the story.

As for the writing elements:

• The plot was good with lots of twists and turns. I figured out one of the bad guys fairly early on, but then another plot twist came up out of nowhere and surprised me.
• Pacing had some issues. Too much action in places and then too much talking and debating in places.
• Prose and dialogue could have used some help. Not terrible, but as I said, the writing pulled me out of the story more than just a few times.
• Character development was fairly consistent for Abby and Dutch, and was acceptable for the new people we meet. Not great, but not terrible.

This series was raised to an 8 of 10 from a 7 of 10 at some point, and I'm going to keep it at an 8 of 10. I'll give Vision Impossible an 8 of 10 as well. It's an enjoyable story with a nice series of plots that keep you guessing right up to the reveal.

• Book Rating: Vision Impossible: 8 of 10
• Series Rating: 8 of 10

1. Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye
2. Better Read Than Dead
3. A Vision of Murder
4. Killer Insight
5. Crime Seen
6. Death Perception
7. Doom with a View (Sept 2009)
8. A Glimpse of Evil (July 2010)
9. Vision Impossible 

A Glimpse of Evil (Psychic Eye Mysteries, Book 8) by Victoria Laurie

 

I have had issues with the Psychic Eye Mysteries in the past, enough that I almost dropped the series. The previous book in the series, Doom with a View, was pretty good and gave me hope.  A Glimpse of Evil once again did not disappoint. Once Victoria Laurie stepped out of the formula that wasn't working, it seems to have given the series new life. That's a good thing.

Abby and Dutch are moving to Texas, and Abby will be working for the FBI now.  It was a bit painful to watch Abby walk into a room full of FBI agents assigned to work cold cases, and who are all majorly skeptical about the psychic they've heard will be joining their department. But Abby handled it okay, and she had two people batting on her side. (Which, BTW, brings me to a major sticking point with me -- how believable is it that someone can move from Michigan to Texas and have her entire social circle move with her? Right, not very likely. But we have Candace and Agent Harrison and the handyman and even Milo joining them in their new city. It was a huge stretch for me.)

Back to the main part of the discussion: Abby has Dutch and Agent Harrison on her side, but a whole lot of other agents who are a bit hostile at first. Until she starts to work on the cold case files and shows she's the real deal, but that's pretty predictable, right?

The majority of the story involves a rocky relationship between Candace and Brice (Agent Harrison), Abby trying to deal with working for the FBI in a corporate environment. (No candles, all florescent lights, official paperwork, lots of rules, boxes and boxes containing oodles of files, etc.). We don't really get into the crime part of the plot until we're a decent ways into the book, but I guessed the culprit soon after realizing which of the crimes the plot was going to center on. So, I guess that annoyed me, too. I mean, Abby's telling the story, which means we have the same information she has, so should we really be able to figure it out so much sooner than she does?

Here's the blurb:

Professional psychic Abigail Cooper has received a cold welcome from some prickly investigators at the FBI. But that won't stop her from following her intuition...even if it brings her eye to eye with acts of true evil.

SOME COLD CASES ARE BETTER LEFT COLD...

As the FBI's newest civilian profiler, Abby Cooper has a tough job ahead of her. Not only does she have to use her powers of intuition to help solve a backlog of the bureau's cold cases, but she must also win over a frosty group of seasoned investigators and teach them how to develop their own perceptive abilities.

If that weren't challenging enough, Abby's sure that several of the cold cases are connected, but she's the only one who's convinced. Things go from bad to worse when Abby and another agent are suspended for not following protocol, leaving Abby and her old partner, Candice, to investigate on their own. To discover how these pieces fit together, Abby will have to call on every intuitive bone in her body...before she's the one put on ice. 

As for my usual rundown: there were multiple story lines, some of which were better than others, but the main plot was too obviously solved (in my head, not in the book) too early on. Pacing was well done, not really any slow points, which is good. Prose and dialogue were good. Character development is fairly well done.

In other words, the various elements don't win any awards, but the story, the entertainment value part of it, was higher than the individual elements would lead one to believe.

I'm going to give A Glimpse of Evil an 8 of 10, and I will raise the series from a 7 of 10 to an 8 of 10. The end of the book gives us a good idea of what the next book, Eye Spy, will be about, and we even get a preview of it. I'm looking forward to reading Eye Spy, when it comes out.

Book Rating: A Glimpse of Evil: 8 of 10
Series Rating: Psychic Eye Mysteries: 8 of 10





1. Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye
2. Better Read Than Dead
3. A Vision of Murder
4. Killer Insight
5. Crime Seen
6. Death Perception<>
7. Doom with a View (Sept 2009)
8. A Glimpse of Evil (July 2010)
9  Eye Spy (2011)

Doom with a View (Psychic Eye Mysteries, Book 7) by Victoria Laurie

The seventh book in the Psychic Eye series is one of the best books of the series. The pacing is well done, the plot is a good one, and the characters all act like the adults they are. A very refreshing change from some of the previous books in this series.

As Doom with a View starts out, Dutch has desk duty until Internal Affairs sorts through the events of the previous book. Abby is called in to help on a case, and she's pretty much on her own without Dutch's help, since he can't get involved until IA is done with him.

Abby does manage to keep Candace with her, and these two make a great team: A purely logical PI, and an intuitive who is good at figuring out what her intuition is telling her. The bad guys don't stand a chance.

The main protagonist in most of Doom with a View is Dutch's new boss. The man detests psychics, and all they represent. He tries to get Abby taken off the case, repeatedly. He's pretty nasty to her through most of the book, too. Abby does a good job of rising above it, but Candace does not, as Candace wants to defend her friend.

Speaking of protagonists, I figured out the bad guy long before he was revealed. Somewhere around half way through the book, actually. So I was a bit frustrated that Abby and Candace and the FBI weren't seeing it, but not so frustrated that it spoiled the book for me.

Here's the blurb:

Business has been frustratingly slow for Abby. She reluctantly agrees to a job with the FBI, putting her at the center of an internal political struggle between two agents. Abby's skills and patience are tested, but when she helps them locate three college students who've mysteriously disappeared, they know she's the real deal.

Her intuition says these weren't random abductions. With her psychic eye wide open she sets out to find a kidnapper...

Doom with a View easily gets a 9 of 10. In the past I've given the series a 7 of 10, and I think I have to leave the series rating as is. Some of the previous books have had some pretty serious problems, and one good book doesn't change that.

Book Rating: 9 of 10
Series Rating: 7 of 10

I really enjoyed Doom with a View. I even enjoyed the way it ended this time, and I look forward to the next book, A Glimpse of Evil.





1. Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye
2. Better Read Than Dead
3. A Vision of Murder
4. Killer Insight
5. Crime Seen
6. Death Perception<>
7. Doom with a View (Sept 2009)
8. A Glimpse of Evil (July 2010)

Death Perception (Psychic Eye Mysteries, Book 6) by Victoria Laurie

The sixth book in the Psychic Eye series is once again a pretty wild ride. Maybe even an e-ride. Unfortunately, I'm not a great fan of extreme roller coasters so some of this book was a bit uncomfortable for me. Is there a thing as too much suspense? For me, there is. Especially when we aren't sure if a character we really like is going to live or die, but we are given the impression they are going to die. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

The premise here is that Dutch's cousin is kidnapped and Dutch needs to go to Las Vegas to try to find him. Abby insists on going with him to help and within a few hours they are on a plane.

Dutch goes missing and the FBI are after Abby. Running out of options, Abby calls in Candace and her sister for reinforcements. Candace used to live in Las Vegas and she knows her way around town, including knowing who to go to for help.

Once again the plot has many twists and turns and we don't know who the bad guy is until the grand finale at the end. Well, we know who a bunch of bad guys are, but we don't know... oh, take my word for it, we don't really know what is going on until the grand finale.

Abby and Dutch are coming along in their relationship and they aren't as annoying as they were a few books ago. I really wish we'd been able to see them resolve a few things in this book though. We are given a very quick epilogue type diatribe at the end to let us know how everyone manages afterwards, but we don't see Abby and Dutch deal with the fallout of some of the things Abby learns earlier on. It's wrapped up too quickly, I needed more.

And that's what I want to see. I want to see Abby and Dutch together, being a couple. Doing things together. We got that some at the beginning of the book, then they are once again separated for most of the book.

I wavered back and forth on giving this one a 7 or 8 out of 10. I'm giving it an 8, but it was a close call. The series rating is still a 7, though.

Book Rating: 8 of 10
Series Rating: 7 of 10




1. Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye
2. Better Read Than Dead
3. A Vision of Murder
4. Killer Insight
5. Crime Seen
6. Death Perception<
7. Doom with a View (Sept 2009)

Crime Seen (Psychic Eye Mysteries, Book 5) by Victoria Laurie

Book five of this series starts a few months after the last book ends. Abby is still living with Dutch and she is on the way to recovery. Dutch is concerned because he thinks she is well enough to start working again, but Abby has lost her confidence and isn't really sure about the whole psychic thing anymore. She feels her intuition should have kept her from getting shot in the first place, and if it could fail so miserably for her, how can she trust it where other people are concerned.

Meanwhile her friend Candice (the PI from Kalamazoo) moves to town to open her own business, and she rents out the empty space in Abby's business office.

Dutch asks Abby for help on a few of his cases, and when she's closing her eyes and grabbing files she accidentally grabs a different one. A case that is closed, with someone already in jail, and Dutch and Milo put him there. And she sees that the man serving time didn't actually do it. The problem is that this is a hot button issue with Dutch and Milo, so she's got to secretly investigate it without them knowing what she's up to. She enlists the help of her friend Candice, and for once we see the girls handling themselves without having to get help from the guys. Nice.

And, Abby and Dutch (mostly) act much more mature with their relationship in this book. A very refreshing change.

I also like that we see Abby having to fight to get her life back as she recovers from the bullet wound. She has to fight to get her body back in shape and fight to get her emotions back in order. And there is that place in the relationship where it's time for Dutch to stop sheltering and protecting and start treating her normally again, and even that is handled well in this book. In real life we aren't just magically okay again after that kind of trauma, and I'm glad that we got to see Abby having to work through this in order to be herself again.

I didn't figure out the "who-dun-it" aspect of the mystery until everything was explained near the end, and I appreciated the twists and turns we were put through while our girls figured out what happened. One thing I wasn't so happy with: Even though I liked the ending, I think that Abby and Candice took too big of a risk handling things the way they did. As much as I enjoyed them handling things through much of the book without needing Milo and Dutch as backup, I think they should have waited for backup for the grand finale. It was fine the way it happened, but may have been a little more believable if they'd have had a Plan B in case Plan A didn't work out.

This book gets an 8 out of 10, and I'm moving the series rating up to that as well.


Book Rating 8 of 10
Series Rating 8 of 10






1. Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye
2. Better Read Than Dead
3. A Vision of Murder
4. Killer Insight
5. Crime Seen
6. Death Perception
7. Doom with a View

Killer Insight (Psychic Eye Mysteries, Book 4) by Victoria Laurie

In the fourth book in the series we don't have to deal too much with what bothered me so much in the last book - immature handling of a relationship by both Abby and Dutch. But that is because in this book they break up at the beginning and then Abby goes to Denver. Hard for them to bicker if Dutch isn't in much of the book.

I think I've realized that the author wants us to experience what it is like to know part of what is going to happen but not have the details we need in order to have the whole story. I'm sure that's how psychics feel when they see bits and pieces of the future but not enough to know for sure what will actually happen, just pieces of what will happen. I think she does a great job of throwing us off balance with this in this book. I actually didn't like it very much, it made the book more stressful, and harder to enjoy since I wanted to get to the part she kept telling us about to see how that worked out. But, I think that was the point, so I'm not really complaining.

As I said earlier, this book has Abby going to Denver, so we get a nice change of scenery and secondary characters for this book (though her sister is still around, and she talks to Dave on the phone since he's taking care of Eggy).

Abby's childhood friend is getting married and Abby is going to be part of the wedding party. She spends a week in Denver and almost as soon as she arrives the murder mystery starts. Her friend's brother is now (conveniently) the sheriff, and since he grew up with her he already trusts in Abby's psychic abilities, which is also pretty convenient since he believes her from the very beginning.

Speaking of which, I enjoyed hearing a bit more about Abby's childhood. We hear that when she was a child and someone lied she would chant out loud to them "liar liar, pants on fire", which makes sense since that is what she hears in their head when someone lies.

But even with a few lighthearted moments thrown in, this is a very stressful book, mostly because of the foreshadowing, but also because of the events that happen. It is not a light read. The ending is especially rough, and once again I stayed up later than I'd originally planned so I could find out what happened. (I actually have to set an alarm when I'm reading, otherwise I just keep reading until I either finish, get bored, or have to use the bathroom really bad. When my alarm went off last night there were only about 45 pages left, so I opted to keep reading.)

One final note, since I complained about how the sex was handled in the previous book: Abby has a fling while she is broken up with Dutch, and the sex is handled much, much, much better than it was handled in the previous book. No graphic details, but enough so we get an idea of how things start and how things end and that it was good in between.

This book gets a 7 out of 10, and I'll give the series the same.


Book Rating 7 of 10
Series Rating 7 of 10






Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye
Better Read Than Dead
A Vision of Murder
Killer Insight
Crime Seen
Death Perception

A Vision of Murder (Psychic Eye Mysteries, Book 3) by Victoria Laurie

As I finish the third book in the series I'm still enjoying the series as a whole, but I didn't like this book as much as I liked the previous two.

The premise of this book has Abby going into business with her handyman Dave and her sister Cat. The three agree to form a business to buy houses and let Dave fix them up and then sell them for a profit. They buy the first house and it turns out to be haunted. Not just eeery-noises-haunted, but power-tools-flying-towards-your-face-haunted. The way to un-haunt a house is to learn the story and solve whatever issues the dead people had so said dead people can move on to The Other Side.

Which means they have to solve a mystery that started back in World War II.

The plot has plenty of twists and turns and even though I knew who the current-day bad guy was from fairly early in the book, the historic part of the story that told us what everyone was after didn't surface until closer to the end, so there was still a mystery that kept me reading later than I'd planned to stay up.

It's not the plot that I had a problem with. It's the relationship stuff I had a problem with. Abby and Dutch acted like two whiny-assed kids through a good part of the book and it seriously got on my nerves. And even if there were injuries, what is this with going to bed and going right to sleep? And then when there is finally some good stuff, we get a single paragraph that it was good and everything fit? Please. It doesn't have to dip into erotica to give us some details, and that was a pretty crappy way to handle that after the tease of the shower scene earlier. (Select the spoiler text to view it.)

So, the plot gets a thumbs up but the romance portion gets a thumbs down. I like Abby and Dutch in every way except the way they handle their relationship with each other. I hope they grow up between this book and the next. And I will be reading the next book to see if they do or not.

I gave the first two books in this series an 8 out of 10 but this one gets a 6 out of 10. And that brings the series down to a 7 out of 10. The series rating is not an average of the individual books, it's an overall view of how I see the series, and the relationship kiddy stuff in this book annoyed me enough to bring it down to a 7.

I love the premise of the psychic who works with law enforcement, and of the FBI agent forced to accept the supernatural when he falls in love with an actual psychic. But no more hiding keys or hitting potholes on purpose, please. I want them to have an adult relationship, not something out of high school.

Book Rating 6 of 10
Series Rating 7 of 10






Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye
Better Read Than Dead
A Vision of Murder
Killer Insight
Crime Seen
Death Perception

Better Read Than Dead (Psychic Eye Mysteries, Book 2) by Victoria Laurie

I finished the second book in this series and I was again pleased with my evening.

It was an enjoyable read with a plot that had enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. I liked the main character as well as the secondary characters, most of which I think are going to be sticking around for a while.

I really enjoyed watching Abby look at the responsibility that her gift gives her. I was a bit uncomfortable in the first book when she used her gift to help her sister with some catty society stuff (helping her beat her SIL to the punch on a party, and outdoing her on a gift for the in-laws). Abby didn't bat an eye at that, but in this book she is seriously concerned with not using her powers irresponsibly. I don't have a problem with any of the ways she uses her powers in the second book. I mean, sure she's into the gray area a few times, but she's up against some very bad people who are wanting to use her abilities for bad things. She's kind of between a rock and a hard place, and she does the best she can.

I gave the first book in this series an 8 out of 10 and I'll give the same to this one. And after only reading two books I'll give the same to the series.

Book Rating 8 of 10
Series Rating 8 of 10







Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye
Better Read Than Dead
A Vision of Murder
Killer Insight
Crime Seen
Death Perception

Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye (Psychic Eye Mysteries, Book 1) by Victoria Laurie

I picked up the first book in this series to give it a test drive. Within an hour of finishing it I had the next five books ordered and on the way.

This book is kind of a cross between Stephanie Plum and the Charmed & Dangerous / Bronwyn the Witch series.

It's got a good plot and a cast of characters that is likable. It's funny in places, lighthearted at times and serious at other times.

Abby is single and works as a professional psychic. The real deal, not a poser. She does fairly well for herself, she owns her own home but has a handyman pretty much permanently installed since it was a fixer upper when she bought it. When her best friend moves out of town she joins a dating service. And then things get interesting.

Blind dates, murder, crazy psycho killers, a sexy detective... what else do you need?

I can't rate the series yet since I've only read the first book, but I have hopes that it will be a good series. I can see several directions the author can go from here, all of them good. The rest of the books in the series will arrive next week and I'll let you know once I've read them.

Book Rating 8 of 10




Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye
Better Read Than Dead
A Vision of Murder
Killer Insight
Crime Seen
Death Perception