From the Corner of His Eye

Infobox Book
name = From the Corner of His Eye


image_caption = Cover of "From the Corner of His Eye"
author = Dean Koontz
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Suspense, Thriller
publisher = Bantam Publishing
release_date = 2000
media_type = Paperback
pages = 768
isbn = ISBN 0-553-58274-7
preceded_by =
followed_by =

From the Corner of His Eye is a novel by the best-selling author Dean Koontz, released in 2000. It is the story of a boy named Bartholomew Lampion, a ruthless killer named Enoch Cain, and a girl named Angel, born by the result of a rape.

ynopsis

Dean Koontz tells a fascinating tale of good and evil, and how the concepts influence people's lives. The book begins with three separate stories that eventually intertwine: a loving relationship between a mother and her genius son, a ruthless killer, and a young woman who takes it upon herself to raise her late sister's baby.

Characters

Bartholomew Lampion

Bartholomew Lampion (known as Barty by his mother and his friends) was born to Agnes and Joey Lampion, but Joey died in a car accident on the way to the hospital to take Agnes in for labor. Barty was exceptionally smart as a baby. He learned to talk and walk exceptionally early and taught himself to read at the age of two. He also started advanced mathematics a little later. Throughout the book he is known as a "child prodigy." One day, Barty and his mother go to his father's grave when it is raining. Agnes gets soaked in the weather, but not a single drop touched Barty, as he says, "I ran where the rain wasn't."

Barty, when reading at the age of three, starts to complain about wavy lines in the pages of his book. A doctor informs Barty and his mother that Barty has a rare cancer that would spread to his brain if his eyes weren't removed. Barty's eyes are then surgically removed, but later in the book he gets to see again. When he is thirteen, Barty says that he sees where he wasn't blind. His daughter, Mary, eventually permanently restores his sight.

Agnes Lampion (The Pie Lady)

Agnes Lampion was Barty's mother, married to Joey Lampion who died the day Barty was born. Agnes guides Barty through life and its obstacles. She was known as the "Pie Lady" and gave out pies, as well as doing various acts of kindness around the town.

Enoch Cain (Junior)

Enoch Cain is a delusional and arrogant psychopath. He pushed his beloved wife Naomi out of a fire tower to her death, with apparently no motive. He manages to fool all the investigating officers into thinking that it was an accident. Only one detective, Thomas Vanadium, is unpersuaded, and later devotes his life to proving Cain's guilt.

Cain often promises himself he will never kill again for fear of punishment, and yet he breaks these promises due to his increasing insanity. His life and the White family's destinies become intertwined because of an unsettling dream and an act of violence. Early in the book, he believes that Angel is Bartholomew, and attempts to kill her, Celestina, and Wally. Later, Cain is revealed to be Angel's father. He is ultimately pushed into another world by Angel after trying to kill Barty.

Thomas Vanadium

Thomas Vanadium was a detective and previously a priest. He had a talent to flick quarters through a hole or gap in dimensions and into another. He was sent into a year-long coma after Junior killed a nurse and tried to kill Vanadium. Vanadium suffered numerous facial injuries as a result of this, thus making his face severely distorted. Unlike Angel, Barty cannot extend his power to Vanadium so he can walk in the rain without getting wet. Near the end of the story, he helps Angel, Grace, and Celestina move into the Lampions' house. Eventually, after Jacob is killed by Junior, he moves into Jacob's apartment on the Lampions' property (by then Thomas had become good friends with the Lampions, the Whites, and the Isaacsons). He also helps start The Pie Lady Services. A few years before Thomas eventually died from old age, he once again became a man of the cloth.

Celestina White

Celestina White was the sister of Seraphim White (Angel's mother) and adopted Angel when her sister died. She was hunted by Junior, but managed to escape.

Angel White

Angel was the daughter of Seraphim White and Seraphim's rapist, Junior. Angel was adopted by Celestina, her aunt. She and Barty become friends almost immediately; she and Barty also later get married and have a child named Mary. Celestina, Wally, and her grandmother, Grace, live next door to the Lampions.

eraphim White

Seraphim, or Phimie, was Celestina's younger sister. She died after naming Angel. She was 15 when she was pregnant with Angel, and was 16 when Angel was born. When Junior visits Phimie's grave, he remembers the time he spent with Seraphim. He mentions that Seraphim was not raped but had sex with Junior willingly, which led to her being pregnant with Angel; she claimed she was raped in order to be spared scorn from her family. However, Seraphim was in fact raped; it is only in Junior's mind that she was a willing participant. Junior is delusional; he sees life very differently than others. He believes that when his rape victims struggle and plead they are in fact simply playing hard to get and in fact are inviting him to rape them.

Jacob Isaacson

Agnes's brother as well as Edom's twin brother. Jacob lives in an apartment on the Lampions' property and has been there since he graduated from high school. He thinks of himself as a miserable failure. He also has a good talent for baking. Jacob is ultimately shot and killed by Junior when Junior manages to track Angel and Barty to the Lampions' property.

Edom Isaacson

Edom, as stated above is the identical twin brother of Jacob as well as Agnes's older brother. He often recites terrible tragedies from the past to mostly unwilling hearers. Later, he gets married to Maria (Agnes's English student and good friend), a Mexican woman.

External links

* [http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/0553582747.asp From the Corner of His Eye Book Review]