My Two Cents (Book Review): FIFTEEN EYES by Tyler Downs

I would like to apologize to author Tyler Downs. In the afterword of Fifteen Eyes, he writes: "When I first started putting this collection of stories together, like any delusional first-time author, I assumed I'd have agents and publishers brawling in bloody pits to determine who got their hands on my life-changing work."

Most writers have shared similar aspirations. And for most of us, our first attempts at a published book are awful: manuscripts best left hidden in the dusty corners of old hard drives or in forgotten alcoves in the cloud, never to see the light of day. Those of us who might have braved querying agents or publishers with these pitiful but well-intentioned abominations may reflect upon these efforts in retrospect with sheepish and pained grimaces.

So I'm sorry, Mr. Downs, that you thought industry professionals would be clamoring for the chance to publish your book, and that Fifteen Eyes would become an international bestseller reaping you handsome profits and a lifetime spent writing additional volumes at your literary leisure.

Because it should have.

Fifteen Eyes is amazing. Downs has a level of creative genius I haven't seen in a long time. Just when you think you know where a story is going, he takes a 180-degree twist and wrenches the plot in a whole new, surprising direction. And his writing is phenomenal, his narrative style comfortable and conversational, drawing you in the way a good friend beckoning you closer might, in order to share a secret. And although he touches on dark and disturbing scenes, Downs interlaces much of his work with underlying gallows humor. His subject matter covers the gamut: cosmic, arcane, cryptids, and more. Although each story is a stand-alone work, they're all interconnected through a brilliant plot device: a central character named Solomon who works in what appears to be an office from hell, transcribing stories gleaned from the disembodied eyeballs collected and delivered to his desk.

Downs includes a clever interlude midway through the book that revisits Solomon and his cast of ghoulish fellow corporate drones, and again at the end, when Solomon ties all the stories together in unexpected but brilliantly devised fashion.

And what wonderful, wicked stories these are. There wasn't one in the bunch I didn't enjoy, but my favorites were:

"Rotten Fruit," a dark twist on a tried-and-true creature feature trope, with a historical angle.

"Paradise," an introspective and ultimately melancholic twist on what may await in the afterlife.

"Seventh House," a fable (of sorts) warning against tempting fate with little white lies.

"Happy," a delightfully wicked yarn the curmudgeon in me adored.

"Freak Show," which begs the question "what could possibly terrify the denizens of hell?"

"Anthill," about a group of criminal thugs who have a strange encounter with a most unusual little girl.

"Method," about a young woman who sets her sights on an aspiring actress with malicious but unexpected intent.

Fifteen Eyes is one of those books that makes me wish I had some kind of pull in the universe, or at least in the publishing industry, because although it may be hubris for most writers to say they dreamed of agencies and publishers battling it out for the chance to publish their debut work, in this case, that would have been well earned. This book deserves a mass audience. It's that damn good.

Fifteen Eyes is available here.