Tab's Terrible Third Eye by
Isaac ThorneStarted: November 3, 2024
Completed: December 2, 2024
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: The author who provided this book for free through book funnel. I wanted to support his effort to get this book out, so, despite this not being my genre, I downloaded it.
Review:
I am not a horror guy. I also tend to write terse reviews just for myself. Here is a time when neither is particularly appropriate. So, I'm going to try to write a more standard review.
Plot Summary (no spoilers)
Tab seems to get infected by an encounter with a wolf and this results in a bump on his temple. Oh, and also a ghost who haunts his closet. The ghost is missing his eyes, but feels that he can see through Tab's bump. The ghost is pretty rough and tumble and scares young Tab who's father ends up sleeping on the floor in his room as a comfort and protection. A variety of bad things happen (in real time and in flash back) and Tab, who is an artist, draws this ghost whom his mother recognizes. The ghost clearly has it out for Tab's brother, Jeremy, and the book investigates how Tab deals with this ghost and how his whole family deals with the threat the ghost represents.
The review
In one sense this is a pretty standard coming of age story, but, oddly, the coming of age part is skipped over as the book is wrapped up rather quickly in the final chapter. I'm not fond of the ending which cuts over into a lot of detail about sexual orientation (something not addressed in the rest of the book). Oddly, I really liked the discussion of sexual orientation which offered both insights and understanding into the world in which Tab will move while also providing a sense of acceptance as well as unacceptance which is typical of how people currently react to non-hetero orientation. It is neither the extreme of complete acceptance nor the extreme of complete rejection (which also happen). So, the ending seemed rushed, incomplete, and like Thorne had grown tired of the characters and lost his sense of their lives. The discussion of LGBTQ+ was great.
There is a point in the book where Tab ends up having his bump treated medically but it doesn't really seem to make any difference in the plot. Perhaps it is the start of how his family is trying to deal with the ghost (via a kind of exorcism by removing the bump), but this whole thing seems like a waste of time in general as far as the plot goes except, perhaps, showing that in some ways the ghost is vulnerable. I don't understand this digression, to be honest, but maybe it fits into the larger scope of "what would you do" to try and treat a wound of sorts.
The idea of the ghost as a manifestation of Tab's feeling of "otherness" within his own family has some play and as an allegory into acceptance of one another it has a possibility of coming to fruition, but simply does not really end up that way in my opinion. This book is no Pilgrim's Progress and I don't think that there is some allegory lurking on or even slightly below the story.
As horror goes, this book was far less of the genre than I anticipated. I thought that there would be a lot of things going bump in the night (the closest analogy I have to that in my book reading would be Jaws). I was relieved by that, I was trying to read this book in bed after the lights were out and I didn't particularly want to be creeped out--I use the Kobo Reader because it is backlit and doesn't require a separate book light. This might be a killer for horror fans, but I did not find the book scary (which, again, was good for me). Or, it might be an indicator that I like more of the horror genre than I thought.
Analogy to Fantasy
This book could be viewed as a coming of age book in the fantasy genre (switch the ghost to an other worldly demon and switch the artistry to spell casting and, BOOM!, you have a fantasy book). Of course, to use the Earthsea analogy, poor Tab has yet to learn how to use his power effectively and needs guidance, but he has already unleashed his own nemesis. In this sense, the book would be a bit ground breaking in fantasy literature as it would introduce a new kind of magic and, additionally, could introduce a new form of villain who could not learn from his mistakes (since he is a member of the undead and his learning is done). This could be contrasted nicely with the coming of age for Tab and lead to some form of world saving (which is exceedingly common for the fantasy coming of age story--see Harry Potter).
Analogy to Bump in the Night Horror
The book could drift toward the scare you silly horror by making the ghost only partly visible and becoming increasingly so as his power of Tab increases. This would add a nice symmetry to the story, but writing the fast paced heart thumping fear scenes is difficult. It would not be a story of Tab trying to understand the ghost, but of Tab trying to get the hell out of its way. Tab would be a lodestone for the ghost with destruction whirling around him and none of it would make any sense until near the end when the "bump in the night" reveals itself with malevolence and vengeance that goes way beyond what the ghost is in Tab's book. Perhaps the ghost is vulnerable to Tab in a surprising way, but is all but pulled into the ghost's world trying to fight back. I dunno, this is not my genre.
Final thoughts
So, this book has a weak ending, could easily fit into other genres, and has some inexplicable plot turns. All the same, it was a decent book and I can recommend it. I like that the violence was rather minor for the most part and the book did not leave me with a racing heart. There was minimal character development, but that was not really the point (after all, this was not a coming of age story). The pacing was good and the story was engaging.
