In the Dark I See You

Neighbors, amirite? Audrey has some of the worst: Bob, who won’t stop dropping in unannounced, and, worse again, Sarah, a new mom who expects Audrey to babysit regularly for free. Adding to her stress is that the neighbors are going through a spate of frightening break-ins, with odd things of only sentimental value targeted by the thief. What only Audrey and readers know is that a different kind of crime might be going on, as Audrey, who is blind, uses her considerable hacking skills, and her hacker comrades, to spy on Sarah. Her activities become suspect when she finds Sarah murdered in her home and is hauled in for questioning as the last known person to visit the murdered woman. This is Narayanan’s debut thriller, and her background in short-story writing serves her well, as the scenes here are structured as neat packages that leave readers wanting more. The author herself is not blind, but used a consultant reader who is, and the protagonist’s disability is thankfully more a fact of her life than a plot device. Readers who enjoy tension and twists are the audience for this Alice LaPlante readalike.