In 2013, the Quinlan family endured a horrific tragedy when an unknown assailant brutally gunned down Alexandra Quinlan’s parents and younger brother in their own home. Astonishingly, seventeen-year-old Alexandra was the sole survivor, found unharmed amid the chaos. However, her traumatic ordeal took an unexpected twist when she was treated as a suspect, taken into custody, and unfairly dubbed “Empty Eyes” by an overzealous journalist, leaving her reputation tarnished. Despite the lack of concrete evidence to convict her, she successfully won a defamation case against the State. Law enforcement attributed the incident to a botched home invasion and didn’t delve deeper into the investigation. Yet, Alexandra never ceased her relentless quest to uncover her family’s true murderer.

A decade later, Alexandra, now known as Alex, works as a legal investigator at the very firm that once assisted her. However, her relentless pursuit of justice for her family has led to countless dead ends, marked by a crime board dominating her apartment walls.

This narrative offers a thrilling, suspenseful journey that kept me riveted to its pages. The author’s storytelling prowess shines as they masterfully unveil surprising twists and turns in the plot.

Overall, this compelling tale ensnared my attention right from the outset, delivering a suspenseful and engaging narrative that left a lasting impression.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Alexandra Quinlan was the only survivor when her parents and brother were killed in their home. She was arrested and charged with their murder. The local reporter on the scene called her Empty Eyes as she stared blankly while being taken from their home. She was acquitted and sued the police. She got a nice settlement, then disappeared. She changed her name to Alex Armstrong and tried to stay out of the limelight. She never gave up on finding out the truth about her family's murder. It is ten years later and she is working as a legal investigator. She is trying to find evidence to prove that Matthew Claymore, is not responsible for the disappearance of his girlfriend, a student journalist named Laura McAllister. Laura was about to break a major story about rape and cover-ups on her college campus. As Alex investigates what Laura is working on, she begins to find connections to the murder of her parents.

The book opens with a bang, the horrendous murder of three people and one barely escaping with her life. Alex is sitting by her parent's bodies with the weapon in her lap when the police arrive. Jacqueline Jordan and Garrett Lancaster defend her as well as working the suit against the police. That is the firm that Alex now works for. Then, Charlie Donlea adds more to the story. We have the disappearance of a college student who is working on the story of rape, drugging co-eds and coverups, as well as a summer camp where there is a pedophile on staff. How does all this fit together had my brain going around in circles. When I thought I had something sorted, there was new evidence that had me starting over. This is a twisty story with a smart, courageous, strong, protagonist. Although I enjoyed this story, there were a few too many twists and things that were unbelievable to give it 5 stars. If you enjoy a twisty thriller that needs you to suspend belief and just go with the flow, then you will enjoy Those Empty Eyes.

I'm a fan of Charlie Donlea's Twenty Years Later and this next book was just a captivating. The writing is stellar and the pace had my heart racing! Did not expect the ending at all! A thrilling ride!

This book started off with such a compelling plot, but the main storyline in the opening chapters -- of Alexandra Quinlan and how her life is affected by the deaths of her family -- kind of dwindles to focus on other things. The story moves ten years into the future and completely changes focus. Alexandra reinvents herself as Alex Armstrong, and she becomes a private investigator for the law firm that helped get her acquitted when she was accused of her family's murders. Nothing wrong there, except that the plot moves completely away from that part as if it's just a backdrop and then goes in a different direction. I almost felt like this was two books mashed into one.

Also, the amount of info dumping and unrealistic dialogue in this book made me start skimming about three-fourths of the way through. I guessed the identity of the killer of Alex's family around that point and wanted to know if I was right (I was.) The explanation for the killer, though, was kind of clumsy and only loosely tied together at best. There were many questions left unanswered (which I won't mention here because of spoilers.) The first one-third of the book had me hooked; later on, it kind of became too far-reaching in its story. I started to forget who some people were because so many other characters came into play.

This one was just so-so for me.

This book started off very strong and had me hooked right away, and then it literally dragged me through the rest of the story, this book is long! Both in length and in feeling. The final twist and ending was good. I would suggest getting a library copy. I thank Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

As always with a Charlie Donlea book, my heart was in my mouth the whole time. I actually stopped reading this book before bed because if I did, I just couldn't sleep very well!

Alex is a young woman whose life changed completely when someone gunned down her family when she was a teenager. She was charged with their murder and although she was later released and compensated for being unjustly jailed, the mystery of why they were murdered haunts her still.

It has been 10 years now since the events which made Alex an orphan and she has reinvented herself by becoming a legal investigator. She is particularly good at finding out facts that others can't seem to find and even though she has tried to get on with her life the best she can, her past is about to start catching up with her, in ways that she never expected.

Top writing, as always, and the twists and turns were incredible! That ending too, wow! I just sat back and had to let it all percolate before I could write my review.

5 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books.

This was one of the best books I have read in a very long time. I was completely captivated with Charlie Donlea's writing and with Alex's life. It take a lot to surprise me, and finding how all the story lines intertwined and connect was mind-blowing. I still can't quite believe it. This was the first I've read of Charlie Donlea, but definitely won't be the last.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the digital ARC copy of this book in exchange for my opinion.

Donlea fans rejoice! He does it again. A great thriller that can’t be put down and the twists had me guessing til the end.

Charlie never fails when it comes to an edge of your seat book!!! Enjoyed this one throughly & cannot wait to read more!!

I was pretty captivated by this story, but there were a handful of unnecessary detours, and lots and lots of redundancy.

Alex is the sole survivor after her family is murdered in the night. She's initially accused of the murder and though she eventually clears her name, there are still those who doubt her innocence.

Alex is taken in and looked after by the officer who arrived first to her home that night, and the officer's husband, the attorney who supported her in court. Alex never stops searching for the person who murdered her family.

The side story of the politicians, the campus rapes, etc, all helped bring the story full circle, but felt much slower paced.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Charlie Donlea is one of those authors that not a lot of readers know about, but he really should be talked about more. I was introduced to Charlie Donlea by a fellow librarian who swore by his books and when she tried to read Some Choose Darkness but couldn't get through the opening bit because according to her it was "too graphic", I knew I had to give it a try. I read that book in a day. I didn't enjoy it because it was too graphic, because it was far from it. Charlie Donlea takes an idea and runs with it when he writes. He writes about unsolved cases that seem to be unsolvable but with a twist and those twists and turns are what draw in a reader.

Alex Armstrong is not what she seems on the outside. Just by looking at her, you wouldn't be able to tell that her mother, father, and brother were murdered in the dead of the night and that she was blamed for it, with the media calling her Empty Eyes, because of her empty stare Ten years after their murders, Alex is now legal investigator working to keep others from falling prey to the legal system, for a crime they did not commit, while also digging into the murders of her family. Will Alex find the person who killed her family or will she end up just like them? Read Those Empty Eyes by Charlie Donlea.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free copy of Those Empty Eyes by Charlie Donlea in exchange for my honest review.

Wow. It’s rare that a book really surprises me anymore, but this one sure did! From the great core mystery, to the subplots that dot the periphery, it’s just a bonanza of detail and intrigue that kept me hooked and guessing.

It has a complex plot with many facets and, which all tied together nicely. Alex Armstrong is fighting for justice not only for her family, but when she takes on a job as an investigator with a criminal defense firm, she starts fighting for her clients, and along the way, she finds herself embroiled in cases where she feels she needs to dig further into cases to make sure she knows what she’s actually fighting for. It’s interesting to see how she operates as she works through cases and connects all the pieces of each puzzle together and ultimately connects the pieces of the largest puzzle of her life.

And wow, the ending! It really knocked me for a loop there! It’s clever and fits in with everything the author has been setting up from the very beginning. I loved it.

Fans of great, complex and exciting mystery/thrillers will love this one, where the action starts right at the beginning and ends at the very, very end. It’s an amassing ride that incorporates so much detail and depth, I can’t recommend it enough!

I haven't read a Charlie Donlea book I haven't liked. This is no exception. I am such a fan of his writing! He does such a good job of capturing the reader’s attention and weaving so many storylines together. This book started out with a bang and had so many interesting characters. As I got into the story, it was hard to keep track of the multiple characters and storylines going on. The beginning felt like it was going to be a different book than it turned out to be. Donlea did a great job of weaving them all together, but it got confusing for a while and it was a lot to process. I like that this book had some characters from his previous books. There were definitely trigger warnings in this book. There was a lot going on, but it kept my interest the whole time.

This was a good story, easy to read, though I found the jumps in time a tad confusing to follow at times. Alex Quinlan was the sole survivor of a home invasion when she was 17, her mom, dad and brother were all shot and pictures were scattered over her dad's body. Alex was found sitting on the floor in her parent's bedroom with the gun they killed them on her lap, she was arrested and charged with their murder, a photo of her in handcuffs leaving the scene made some think she had empty eyes, which became her nickname. Alex was eventually cleared but the stigma and the thought that she had done the deed never did. She successfully sued and received millions as a settlement (still did not lose the stigma). She spent a bit of time in England but when she was caught up in an extortion attempt that required assistance from her American lawyer to get her out of, she returned to the States and began to earnestly pursue who killed her family, she also became an investigator for her American lawyer who owned a law firm. Ten years into her pursuit of justice, Alex gave up and worked on her job, she was tasked with investigating a young student who was charged with the killing of another young female student who was about to drop a podcast of a story involving rape at the University they attended. There are jumps back in time to a youth camp where one counsellor is doing bad things to the youngest kids. All of this eventually ties together nicely, but it does take a bit. Overall I would recommend. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Kensington Books for the ARC.

I was excited for this and listened to the audiobook as well. I was bored a good majority of the time and I kept waiting for it to be over. The narrator was ok this audiobook wasn’t for me.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review

I've read a few of Charlie Donlea's books and I always enjoy them - Those Empty Eyes is another good read!

Those Empty Eyes is a complex mystery told using several timelines and through multiple points of view. There are plenty of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the end!

It's been ten years since Alex Armstrong's family was brutally killed and she was falsely accused of the crime. She's got her life together as a professional investigator, but continues to quietly pursue the unsolved murders of her family. Alex is flawed but an easy character to root for as she searches for answers and justice. This multi-layered story starts out slow and steadily builds as puzzle pieces fall into place for both Alex and the reader.

I listened to the audiobook, and at times it was a little difficult to keep track of everything going on with the changing timelines and points of view throughout. I was glad to also have a copy of the ebook to pick up and clarify pieces along the way. I think maybe due to the multiple timelines, different narrators might have helped? It's a tough problem because you don't want to give anything away due to the narration choices either!

Pick up Those Empty Eyes if you're looking for a complex, multi-layered mystery that will keep you guessing!

This new thriller suspense novel was a quick entertaining read/listen. Alexandra is trying to move past a horrific family tragedy that happened ten years ago. When her parents and brother were brutally shot in their home Alex is initially accused of the murder. Even after clearing her name,true crime fanatics and reporters are still fascinated by the unsolved case. Alex works as a legal investigator while still trying to piece together what happened to her family. Eventually several different cases of sexual assault lead her to the answers she’s looking for. This had some good twists but it wasn’t as clever as some other thrillers I’ve enjoyed. Moderate language, violence right at the first when the family’s murder is described, references to sexual assault but nothing graphic.

Thank you to @netgalley and @kensingtonbooks for the advance ebook in exchange for my review!

this book was so good !! I loved the way the author alternated between the actual crime and the trial... and I also really loved how he tied together the past to the present. very very tricky... the twist I did not see coming at all !!!
I am excited to read more of his books !!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Alex was just a teenager when she lost both her parents and her brother in a horrible home invasion while she slept across the hall. Not only did she have to live through this horrible night for the rest of her life but she was also accused of being the murderer. Thankfully she was represented by one of the best lawyers in town who happened to be married to the police officer in charge of the murder scene that night. Once she realised what was happening, she contacted her husband for help. Alex continued to look for the real murder who changed her life forever. I really liked this book and I can't believe I kept putting off reading this one. Enjoy!!!

The description for Those Empty Eyes had me moving this book to the top of my to read pile.

This book opens with a triple murder. Seventeen-year-old, Alexandra Quinlan’s mother, father, and brother are shot to death. Alex survives but is then accused of the horrific crimes.

“If it bleeds it leads”

The crimes result in a media circus. Alex is even given a nickname by the media. They call her “Empty Eyes”. Eventually Alex is proven innocent and in turn brings a defamation case against the state of Virginia who had botched the investigation into her family’s murder, ruining her life in the process. The trial and the defamation case are highly publicized.

Many years pass. A decade later, Alex hasn’t stopped investigating the deaths of her parents and brother. She has changed her last name and appearance to avoid being harassed by those who still believe she killed her family.

Will she finally find the answers she craves?

“Those Empty Eyes” was an intriguing story with an interesting plot. Most of the story was told from Alex’s perspective. However, there were quite a few chapters told from other minor characters points of view. There were quite a few characters to keep track of and I found that I did have to go back and re-read a few pages now and then. There were times when the plot seemed a bit all over the place, heading one way then going a whole different way. I definitely didn’t see or guess everything coming.

Overall I still enjoyed this novel. Once again I was lucky enough to have both the e-book and audiobook to review. The narrators were very good. However with the many characters and their different perspectives, it was easier to follow along with the actual book.



I'd like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel. All opinions are my own.