The Blinds by Adam Sternbergh

I received The Blinds through BOTM way back and finally got around to it. While on paper it seems to have everything I would like in a book, something about it kept me from reading it (aside from my ever growing TBR list). But I am glad that I finally read it. While it was not amazing, it is definitely a thought provoking novel.

(Source: Kelsey Darling)

In west Texas, a hundred miles from civilization, is a small town called The Blinds. It is so small, the number of residents is less than 50. But these people are not your average bunch. Each of them has a dark past of murder, rape, and other unspeakable acts, and each of them have had their memories wiped and have been given new identities. No one visits, and if you leave, you cannot come back. In eight years, there has been nothing more severe than a bar brawl. But now, residents are turning up dead and now the FBI is involved. How do you know who you can trust when you know deep down, everyone in town is a killer, including yourself?

This is my first novel by Adam Sternbergh, and I would probably read more by him because he does tell an interesting story. But I did feel that in this book, the plot was a little all over the place. I had a hard time keeping up with what characters view I was reading from as it frequently changes, not just among characters, but past and present. You really have to pay attention to what you are being told.

I also felt that some plots were not very well explain. While the story really focuses on Fran, the only resident to have a child while in The Blinds, and how her past is coming back to haunt her, a lot of the people in The Blinds have links to her, but the reader is left putting them all together.

(Source: Giphy)

What I really enjoyed about the book was the idea that you could give people a second chance and is it ethical to use that science on people who have committed crimes, or should it be used to help the victims of the crimes. When The Blinds is first "opened," the method of removing memories is more crude, so the earliest residents have very few memories, even going back to childhood, while later residents have only had the memories of their crimes removed and they can still remember friends, family, vacations, and other assortments of memories. The idea of giving the worst of humanity a form of rehabilitation is an interesting concept. But as you see in the end, they are all still felons and are capable of committing crimes. I wish more time had been spent on exploring these ideas and if they were working on helping victims elsewhere.

(Source: Giphy)

I would have enjoyed more information of the Fell Institute in general. You are given a complete blow by blow of some of the characters entire lives up to the point of them entering The Blinds, but others, Fran included, you only get snippets of information of their life before and during. There is a part where Fran is "re-introduced" to her ex-husband, who she almost murdered, and Sternbergh even says that she hears nothing after he says hello to her even though he talks for a while. I feel that a lot of information could have been gathered from that conversation and Sternbergh took a cop out by just saying she didn't hear it.

Overall, the book was just okay. It could have used some work, but it wasn't horrible. If anything, I just want more detail. But like I said in the beginning, I would still read another book by Sternbergh and see how it goes before making a decision on him as an author I enjoy or not.

Rating: 4/10
Author: Adam Sternbergh
Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
Dates Read: November 19-21, 2019