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Formats
Paperback Book Details
  • 08/2015
  • 9781514190159
  • 260 pages
  • $13.99
K.C. Eckels
Author
A Dark Mind: Visions: When Fantasy Becomes Reality
K.C. Eckels, author

Adult; Mystery/Thriller; (Market)

Dustin Furlong's a well-respected pillar of the community and a loving father and husband. However, there's another side of his mind he keeps hidden from the ones he loves—a dark side that exists in complete contrast to the peace and tranquility he craves.

In this dark side, he fantasizes about making love to a woman, making her moan, and then snuffing the life out of her. It's a murderous affair but one that only happens in his mind.

Things change when he hears that two young women have been found dead—and right where his most recent murderous romp had happened in his dream the night before. Naturally he fears the worst.

Dustin reaches out to a beloved local priest about his concerns, but gets no answers. As his wife notices an inexplicable change in him, he can't help but wonder what beast lives inside him.

Reviews
What if you were unable to keep your mind from wandering down dark paths that showed you visions of yourself committing horrific crimes? That’s the captivating premise of Eckels’s moody thriller, set in the quiet Midwestern town of Chesterton. Dustin Furlong, a local insurance salesman, has a loving wife, two adoring children, and the respect of his community, but “no one would ever suspect or believe the torture which resides in his heart and mind.” Without warning, Dustin is plagued with violent images of himself as a savage murderer. His torment reaches new depths when he has images of slaughtering two teenage girls, and he reads the very next morning that someone had actually done so. While the town’s suspicions focus on the drifter who recently was taken in by the local priest, Dustin is convinced that he has blood on his hands. Steamy sex scenes help propel the action to the fairly clued resolution. (BookLife)
Review and Roast

"A Dark Mind: Visions is an unconventional mystery from author K.C. Eckels. We had the pleasure of meeting author K.C. Eckels at Wizard World Chicago in August. Like most crowded events, we didn’t get enough time to speak with her but we did learn of this new project. We kept in contact with her and will be interviewing her via podcast in the near future.

Meet Dustin Furlong, an upstanding member of his small town community of Chesterton and loving family man. Dustin hides a dark side, one where he fantasizes about seducing women and then taking their lives. He leads a seemingly normal life besides his dark fantasies. He has a beautiful loving wife, and two young children he would do anything for. Dustin coaches his sons T-ball team with a couple of Chesterton’s other fathers and has friend throughout the town. He is best friends with Jack, the town sheriff who he frequently hangs out with. To all who know him, Dustin Furlong is your average small town insurance agent. But can he let go of this other part of his mind?

When two young women are found dead where he fantasized about their murder, things take a turn for the worse as he begins to have trouble distinguishing fantasy from reality. Jack and the local police struggle with the case leaving Dustin with zero leads as to what is going on within himself. He reaches out to his aunt and then Father Baker the town priest in hopes of some clarity with little success. With new and more vivid fantasies plaguing his mind, Dustin has trouble piecing the events together and keeping his family safe. We don’t know wait awaits in his mind’s eye or in the reality unraveling around him.

To be completely honest, I didn’t exactly know what I was getting into when I picked up this book to read it. Right from the beginning I was drawn in by one of Dustin’s visions that are so real he can almost feel them with all five senses. The book stays on a decent pace keeping the reader interested in the next page which is good for those of us that might loose focus easily. Eckels does a nice job of painting the scene in you mind with little effort and no real use off page filler which keeps the book a little shorter than most I’m accustomed to getting into. She gives the characters just enough depth that you can relate to them and even picture them in your head as they go about their story lines. The “dark visions” have just the right amount of sexual undertones compounded with brutal actions and assaults. There are a few erotic scenes in the book that read like a romance novel (or at least how I picture one to read as I am not a romance novel reader) but these are short and infrequent. The Story does stay on point with a few twists you can see coming and a few that you can’t.

Overall the book was a great read for me and I recommend to a mature audience. The book reads quick and smoothly moves along well. Although the final chapters of the book seem to come to close quickly, any loose ends are tied and we are left to wonder what may come."

 

Formats
Paperback Book Details
  • 08/2015
  • 9781514190159
  • 260 pages
  • $13.99
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