Member Reviews

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

a detective blinded whilst on the job and now in rehab to try and get his life back together and learn new skills to aid with his blindness, but he misses his old job..

this was an interesting book as i have joined it 7th book in so the characters are well established and i found i had no difficulty getting to grips with the storyline

a jadded private eye who was blinded on his last job and now hes trying to put his life back together but with the thought that there are enemies out there and he cant see them coming...

plus his mate has just been arrested for murdering his girlfriend, so it was an interesting ride

will be keeping an eye out for more of this authors works as i love the style and ease of writing

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Blind Vigil opens with San Diego private eye Rick Cahill recovering from the gunshot wound which almost took his life in the last book and left him blind. Cahill is learning to cope with being blind by focusing on the simple things; how many steps from the bedroom to the bathroom, how to dress himself and how to safely walk and feed his dog. His future as a private eye looks grim, but as a favour to a former colleague he agrees to help with a case. She wants him to listen to her newest client, an old friend of Rick’s, and figure out if he is telling the truth or not. It is a simple request, but it leads to murder and once more Cahill is put in considerable danger.

This is the seventh book in Matt Coyle’s award winning series about Cahill and is a very well plotted PI novel that rises above many of the genre’s clichés. The story proceeds along logical lines and delivers some good surprises and a lot of suspense. Cahill has always been a well developed and engaging character, but the burden of having to overcome the limitations imposed by his blindness has added another interesting dimension to him and the story.

Cahill’s visual limitations add a lot of tension and the manner in which he deals with the threats that he cannot see is credible and exciting. Cahill is not without his flaws, but he is a tough character who perseveres until the end. The final climax is well executed and as good as any I read in the PI field.

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The seventh book in a series where I have only read book six that centers around a private investigator and former police officer, Rick Cahill. He is living in San Diego and is called in by a friend to help get to the bottom of a mystery behind what he thinks is a cheating significant other. A murder spins this story on its side and Cahill is determined to find the truth.

In this series each book's mystery is self contained, so although I am missing some major plot points when it comes to Rick Cahill's personal journey, I was easily able to read book six and now book seven and feel as though I wasn't missing too much as each mystery happens and is solved within each book.

What made this book so interesting above the typical detective mystery novel was that this character in this book was injured in the previous book in this series and he ended up blind. Following a main character who is a private investigator while also living with a debilitating injury was just interesting in and of itself, but then to have him continue to do his job and help his friend get to the bottom of a murder was fascinating to follow.

At some point, I would like to go back to the beginning and read the other books in this series because I have grown to love Rick Cahill as a character and his stubborn pursuit for the truth is enjoyable to read.

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First book I've read in this series but it was a duzzy! Loved it. Extremely well written with excellent characterization. Look forward to reading more. Enjoy!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.

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Intriguing private investigator tale. Not letting his blindness slow him down in finding evidence in a murder. Familiar location helped peak my interest. Some surprises. Great dog.

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Rick's struggling with blindness, the result of a gun shot wound 9 months ago, so when Moira, his former partner, calls him, he's iffy about getting back in the PI game. He's especially iffy because Moira asks him to help her interview Turk, a former friend with whom he's fallen out. Turk, it seems, wants to know if his girl friend Shay is cheating on him and Moira wants Rick's take on it. Then, of course, Shay is found murdered, Turk's the lead suspect, and Rick finds himself back in the PI game. This has some good twists but I enjoyed it most for the chance to watch Rick adapt to and navigate within his new reality. I do think it helps to have read at least one of the preceding novels (I wish I'd read the one before this) but it's still perfectly enjoyable as a standalone. Thanks to the publisher for the arc. Good characters and good use of the La Jolla setting along with the plot make it a good read.

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Blind Vigil by Matt Coyle is a very highly recommended classic PI novel and the seventh in the Rick Cahill series.

Private investigator Rick Cahill was blinded by a gunshot wound to the face nine months ago while on his last case (Lost Tomorrows, #6 in the series). Now he is trying to learn to live without sight at his home in San Diego and, perhaps, find a new direction to his life. When his friend and sometimes partner Moira MacFarlane asks for his help on a case, he acquiesces. Apparently Moira is interviewing Rick's estranged friend, Turk Moldoon, and she wants Rick to sit in on her interview of Turk about the case. She is sure Rick will be able to tell if Turk is telling her the truth or not, something that is important to her after a previous case turned out disastrously. Turk wants Moira to follow his girlfriend, Shay, to find out if she is having an affair. Rick is sure Turk is telling the truth, so Moira takes on the case. Then Shay is killed, Turk is the main suspect, Moira is furious with Rick, and Rick is determined to discover the truth behind Shay's murder and defend his friend. And who is the man Rick keeps smelling as he follows Rick?

First, you can jump into Blind Vigil without having read the previous novels. I have read the previous novel, Lost Tomorrows, but I'm sure anyone could read Blind Vigil as a stand-alone. The writing is straightforward, the investigation is logical, and the pace is quick. This really is an entertaining, engaging, fast read that will also holding your attention from start to finish. If you like classic noir PI novels, you really need to check out this series.

Personally, I like the way Coyle portrays his hard boiled detective in this series and Rick Cahill is a great character. Rick is compelled to discover the truth no matter the cost and with his current lack of sight this compulsion may put him in danger. He may also be putting any chance of personal happiness at risk with his girlfriend, Leah, as they try to make a long distance romance work. As he investigates the case on his own with some help from Moira due to his impairment, he makes very logical connections and observations, putting the pieces together while trying to prove Turk is not guilty.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Oceanview Publishing.
After publication the review will be posted on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

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I don't know whether I struggled with this because I had not read any of the previous books in the series.
I just found it far fetched that a man supposed, blinded by a gun shot of which we were repetitively reminded could still carry on being a PI.
This was just not for me.

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Please note that I received an Advanced Reader Copy of “ Blind Vigil” by Matt Coyle from Net Galley to read and review. Many thanks to the publisher and Net Galley.
The digital pre- pub copy of the book had numerous formatting problems , but that did not prevent Blind Vigil from being an excellent novel that continued Matt Coyle’ string of entertaining , well- written , taut, dark and dangerous noir crime novels. They will disappear, I am sure, in publication.
The word “ blind” in the title comes from the fact that at the end of the previous novel entitled Lost Tomorrows, private detective Rick Cahill had finally solved the years long mystery of who had murdered his wife. That book has a furious climax that resulted with the killer dead, and Cahill being shot in the face. He received a wound that caused r some damage to Cahill’s optic nerve. Cahill’s stubbornness helped him to survive a terrible wound, but it also had driven him to take dangerous decisions . In Blind Vigil, at one point, Moira, a friend and fellow private eye, tells Rick that” You’ve been blind a long time, and it has nothing to do with your eyes.”
At the beginning on Blind Vigil, Cahill is alone, blind , despondent , dependent on others and nearly broke. Who needs a blind private eye? But then his long-time friend, Turk, a man who once hired him to work in his bar and allowed him use it as an office for his PI work is arrested for the murder of his girlfriend, Shea.Turk hires Moira, to look into Shea’s murder, who asks Rick to help out. It may be more as therapy than because she really needs his help, but Rick takes it seriously.
When Rick Cahill ,even a blinded Rick Cahill, takes things seriously, things can go wrong very quickly.
As Moira tells him, while searching for the truth, Rick “ acts above the law.... People die while you are chasing the greater good. “ but Cahill believes that his friend Turk is innocent of murder and starts probing on his own. This only seems to make thing worse. For one thing the local cops despise him; for another Even Moira thinks that Turk is guilty, and tries to keep him reined in. Fat chance. Once again, despite his handicap, Cahill goes his own way.
By having his protagonist suffer blindness, Author Matt Coyle opens a whole new dimension to refresh and expand his Cahill series. Driven as he was with a search for vengeance on the murder of his wife, Cahill as a character was not always likable, but he was interesting. Now he is unique, as far as I know, in crime lit. The blind Cahill is more symphatetic, but not patnetic, less self- condemning , less bitter and cruel in this book. He is willing to rely on his few friends for help, although not always to listen to their advice . There is less violence than in previous novels- at least until the climax- but there is more detection into who really had the motive to kill Shea: Turk, or the mysterious man whom Shea was seen with earlier. That makes for a interesting, fast moving and compelling book. But any more details and I will spoil the book for others.
I will leave it there, because Blind Vigil is really worth reading for all mystery fans, and not only devotees of the series. Vey good with four stars.
Cautions: no sex, no bad language, some violence

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Thanks to Oceanview Publishing for providing me a copy of this book for this honest review.

Matt Coyle’s private investigator Rick Cahill is back in the 7th book in this series, a very enjoyable book for this first-time reader of the series. Rick is recovering from a gunshot wound to his face that has left him blind when y his onetime partner, Moira MacFarlane ask him to help with a case she is considering with Turk Muldoon, Rick’s now estranged good friend. She’s somewhat humoring Rick but also hoping his new instincts honed by months of blindness will show her that Turk is honest in his request of Moira. Based on Rick’s assessment, Moira decides to help investigate Turk’s girlfriend Shay Summers who Turk wants to marry but feels she hasn’t been honest with him. Moira finds some unexplained meeting that Shay has with an unknown man and when she tells Turk he becomes angry. He promises not to act on his anger but by the next day Turk’s girlfriend is dead and Turk is the main suspect. Despite his promise, Turk visited Shay and according to Turk, although he was angry with her, she was still alive when he left. Moira becomes upset with both Turk and Rick and refuses to help Rick when he decides to do what he can for his former friend. Of course, with Rick’s blindness, he can only do so much, but that doesn’t stop him from trying.

This series has many of the characteristics of traditional private detective series – a strong willed lead who gets himself into trouble that he probably should avoid, especially against the request of the local police. In this case, Rick also does some things that his partner and girlfriend would hope he wouldn’t do, especially in his disabled condition. Fortunately, he doesn’t go so far astray to create disbelief to his readers or to get his friends too angry with him. (He wouldn’t be a good PI if he didn’t go too far to annoy the police though.)

Although I’ve been collecting books in this series almost from the beginning, this is the first one I’ve read. I had no trouble reading this without having read the prior books in the series, although I probably missed out on some of the references. I really enjoyed it and I’m glad I have most of the prior books to read. The occasional bits of humor along with some interesting back story among the characters makes for some enjoyable reading that I’m sure I’ll like even more when I see some of the progression of the characters in the earlier books. I’m sure to catch up quick so I’m ready for the future books.

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That’s the second time in a row I’ve jumped ahead in a series 😱. Although in this case I had read the first book (this is no. 7) which I enjoyed enough to want to read more. And I really enjoyed this one. The lead character, Rick Cahill, is a PI in the vein of the ‘hard-boiled’ private detectives of old, so a bit of fun. Only in this story his progress is hampered somewhat through being blind!

Nine months earlier a shot in the face nearly killed him and rendered him sightless. He is now fully fit and stir crazy from inactivity so when old friend and fellow PI, Moira McFarland, seeks his help he jumps at the opportunity. The client is another old friend of Rick’s (although they had had a falling out), Turk Muldoon. Muldoon wants to know if his girlfriend, Shay Summers, is cheating on him as he is sure she has been lying about something. Rick is along to determine the truth of what Muldoon is saying as, due to blindness, his other senses have become more acute - and he knows Muldoon well.

They are on the job for less than 24 hours when Shay is discovered dead in her apartment. The police look no further than Turk Muldoon for their suspect. It doesn’t help that a witness and certain evidence points his way. But Rick is convinced of his friend’s innocence and, pig-headed as he is, he doesn’t give up trying up trying to clear Turk. Soon he has another line of inquiry with its origins firmly rooted in the past but nobody is interested. Can this explain why Shay was murdered and can Rick convince the police to listen to him before he, too, becomes a victim? Although (don’t tell anyone) his vision is very slowly returning.

This was a fast paced story with lots of good, snarky dialogue. Rick was a bit annoying at times so I can’t give this 5 stars, but his accomplices in his quest to clear Turk were all great characters in their own right. It was a fun and entertaining story that was even (shock, horror) plausible! This will appeal to all readers who enjoy hard-boiled PI stories or just murder mysteries. There was no gratuitous violence, swearing or animal abuse. Thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture and Matt Coyle for providing a copy of the book. My opinions are my own.

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The writing and the characters are good, and this is a readable and entertaining story, but the plot is really simple. In addition, there's a lot of repetitions, as almost every page contains a reference to the blindness, and we do understand that other senses are heightened. And why can't he use the camera, when he can use every other function on his phone?

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Though this book is part of a series I felt comfortable reading it as a standalone. The private investigator being blind intrigued me into requesting the book and the writing kept up to the premise. The plot and characters are developed and move fluidly. What I felt cliched was the PI going alone to tackle the killer, when so much emphasis was on his routine life as blind . 4.5 stars

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What happens to a man when his profession requires him to be observant of practically everything around him but his present reality is total blindness? Rick Cahill is a good private investigator even if he doesn't exactly play by all the legal rules of the game. He takes his job seriously and doesn't hesitate to slip over the line if it will benefit his client. Now Cahill has been nine months trying to recover from a gunshot wound which took his sight but almost took his life. How can a private eye have a profession without any vision? Well, he can let his friends help him as much as possible when he finds that his friend Turk Muldoon wants to hire someone to find out if his girlfriend is cheating on him.

Cahill is the type of PI who gets things done and rubs folks wrong along his way to doing it. Lots of things in his past have made him the hard, tough guy he is now and he's learned those lessons along the way. In this book author Matt Coyle has added a new component - blindness - to kick up the tension throughout this story. Cahill begins to rely heavily on his other senses to get along in his daily life and in learning how to operate as an investigator again. Because others still rely on sight, Cahill has an almost impossible task of getting someone to believe in his Invisible Man.

This story was well plotted and executed. My only point of negativism was the overload of repetition of things that had happened to Rick previously. Yes, I know, it was to give readers a full understanding of the man as he is now, but those are pretty easy concepts for a reader to pick up after one or, at the very most, two mentions. Less is definitely best for me in these cases.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oceanview Publishing for an e-galley of this novel.

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this was a great mystery novel, I enjoyed getting to know the characters. I really enjoyed trying to solve the mystery. I look forward to more from the author.

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A good quick read with plenty of action and suspense. A definite page turner.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

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No doubt I sound like a broken record, but I really, really like this series. The central character, Rick Cahill, is the perfect combination of tough background and no-nonsense approach to his life and his job as a private detective (empathy, perhaps not so much). As this one begins, though, he's having a hard time; he's still recovering from being shot in the face nine months earlier, which, among other things, left him totally blind.

He's not sure where his path will lead next, but given his condition, being a private eye is pretty much out of the question when neither of yours is working. But then he gets a call from old partner Moira MacFarlane, who tells him another old (but now estranged) friend Turk Moldoon wants to hire her to find out if his girlfriend Shay is cheating on him. Moira says she needs Rick's insights when she goes to interview Turk - if the man doesn't seem on the up and up, she doesn't want to take the case.

Turk doesn't seem all that happy to see Rick again, but he's desperate to learn the truth about his girlfriend. Meantime, Rick must deal with his own issues that come with adjusting to blindness and a somewhat long-distance romance with his partner Leah. Soon, though, he's drawn into the case in a way he never expected as Turk finds himself the primary suspect in a murder case. Just about everyone involved, including Moira, think Turk is guilty. But Rick is certain his old friend isn't capable of such an act and sets out to prove it - even if he can't see his own hand in front of his mangled-up face.

Much of the book focuses on how Rick deals with his injuries - and I must say to that end he's got amazing intestinal fortitude (I'm pretty sure I'd just hole up in my house and let the rest of the world pass me by unseen). Rick isn't one to feel sorry for himself, though - at least not when his friend is looking at a lifetime in prison. There's plenty of action, some of which puts Rick's life in danger, all making for a terrific adventure that made me sorry when I got to the end. Thanks once again to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy.

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Another excellent story in this series--and so well written. I absolutely love the entire series. This is a 5-star all the way. Can't wait for the next one.

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Rick Cahill was a PI who just wants to lead his life in peace. He is also blind due to a gunshot to his face some months ago. All is going well, until his former partner, Moira MacFarlane comes knocking at his door asking him for assistance for a case. Cahill should refuse but he just cannot.

Soon, they are entangled in circumstances well out of their understanding. And no one to help.

The characters are so well defined, I felt like I was actually in the midst of these people. Matt Coyle has described Cahill's blindness and the little ways he tries to overcome the disability in such wonderful detail, it's almost as if the author has himself experienced some part of it.

Blind Vigil is the 7th book in the Rick Cahill series, but it is the first one I read. However, there was no part I couldn't understand as the book covers Cahill's past without dwelling too long on it.

An excellent, fast-paced thriller, perfect for thriller fans.

Thanks to Netgalley and Oceanview Publishing for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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A really good read. Normally, I am uncomfortable joining a series other than at the start, but this book was written with enough back story to avoid that being a problem.

How can someone be an investigator when having no sight? This book addresses that question and deals with it sensibly and sensitively.

It was a well thought out and crafted story that had enough of a "whodunnit" vein to keep it interesting throughout.

Having discovered this writer I now have the joy of reading the back catalogue.

I fully recommend that you read this.

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