Those Empty Eyes by Charlie Donlea

‘They’re all dead.’

Ten years ago, three members of a family were brutally murdered in Virginia. The only survivor, teenaged daughter Alexandra Quinlan, was accused of the murders. As she was led from the house in shock and in handcuffs, she was nicknamed ‘Empty Eyes’ by the media.  The nickname stuck, even after Alexandra was able to prove her innocence and won a highly publicised defamation lawsuit.

Ten years later and now known as Alex Armstrong; she has never stopped looking for answers about the night her family was killed. Alex has completely changed her appearance: she knows that there are some people still convinced she is guilty of her family’s murder and at least one member of the press is still working on the case.  Alex works as a legal investigator for the Garrett Lancaster, the lawyer who represented her. Alex becomes involved in a missing person case. Matthew Claymore is under suspicion after his girlfriend Laura McAllister goes missing. Laura, a student journalist, was about to break a major story about rape and coverups on her college campus. Alex believes that Matthew is innocent, and her enquiries lead her to some disturbing revelations about a college fraternity and the powerful parents of one of its members. And, shockingly, there seems to be a link between the disappearance of Laura and the murder of Alex’s family.

Well, that was rollercoaster ride! More than a few twists in this tale, some of which I did not see coming. There are several seemingly separate threads as well, covering a number of contemporary issues, but Mr Donlea weaves them all neatly together by the end.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Canelo for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith