In the Blink of an Eye (Paperback)

When Forensic Expert Mac Taylor decides to work late he is unprepared at the illegal activities that he finds taking place at the police crime lab. There he discovers his lab assistant is destroying crucial crime evidence. He is determined to put an end to this means of sabotage, but he is not quick enough to prevent a lighter being lit in the highly flammable area. The explosion plunges him quickly into a world of complete darkness.

Only when you believe things cannot possibly get any worse, the world suddenly shifts and another obstacle arrives in your life to battle.

Nurse Julie Dalton recently resigned from her job and sought the comfort of her family to help heal the pain in her heart. Arriving home, she learns a neighborhood friend is in need of her help and services. Mac Taylor was blinded in a horrific explosion that cost one man his life. Circumstantial evidence suggests he is covering up a crime scene. She knows in her heart Mac could not be guilty of such betrayal, she is determined to help prove his innocence. By doing so, she puts her own life in jeopardy.

Julie Miller has impressed me with her superb writing talent. IN THE BLINK OF THE EYE is the first of her books I had read, but it surely will not be my last. This Romantic Suspense contained all the elements I have learned to demand from this type of novel. The pages seemed to effortlessly fly by as I helped gather the clues to prove the hero's innocence. This is just the type of book to convert any mystery reader into a romance fan.

Mac Taylor ("the professor" according to the Taylor clan details) is a forensic cop who gets blinded in a lab explosion which kills one of his staff. He is released from the hospital, only 6 weeks after the accident, which I thought a bit strange as he goes to live on his own and not into some serious rehab to learn some basic daily living skills. Anyway, his interfering but loving mother gets old neighbour hiding a hurt, Julia Dalton, RN, to come and look after him aided and abetted by Julia's own mother.

Without going into too many plot details, Mac and Julia become caught up in a rather complicated conspiracy which has been fomented by an Internal Affairs cop gone bad. The "mystery" of the novel is OK - probably about averagely portrayed. The main focus of the story is on the relationship between Mac and Julia.

I felt there were some really pretty silly details here about sudden loss of sight and the impact it has on a man's life. Mac becomes able, almost immediately Julia arrives on the scene, to cope with his blindness and solve a complicated crime whilst on the run and in hiding. Sorry, I believe this stretched reality a bit too much. Julia, for an intelligent woman, aged 30, still sees herself as an ugly 15 year old because she has a poor body image.

Mac loves Julie and Julie has always loved Mac. So, ergo, they are destined for a deep and abiding love. Whilst that is OK and quite satisfying for the reader as well as our H/H, the peripheral details of Mac's blindness, the idea that he could solve a complicated crime with the unhesitating and unquestioning support of his family (mainly cops themselves) who, although unquestionably loyal, should have known better is a bit too much for me.

I have problems with Intrigues because they are "neither fish nor fowl". I think I will stick to Faye Kellerman or Elizabeth George when I want a detective story, and revert to my usual sorts of traditional contemporaries, historicals and regencies for romance.

A good enough book but nothing here that would make me want to read it again.