Tunnel Vision

Some mysteries are better left unsolved.

It’s been fifteen years since Mandy Reasoner was murdered—a crime for which her boyfriend, Duke, was convicted. But when best friends Betty and June discover that Mandy was June’s long-forgotten aunt, they decide to pursue the mystery. Galvanized by the growing community who doubts the evidence against Duke and is rallying to free him, the two girls start on a path into a world of drugs and violence that will bring them not only to Duke himself but smack into Nickel, a canny, tough-as-nails teenage P.I. attempting to keep his own life together. They make a good team, but Nickel is on his own mission of revenge, and the web of lies surrounding Mandy’s murder is growing ever thicker.

The closer they get to the truth, the less clear the path becomes. Will they survive the fight to bring Mandy’s killer to justice?

Award-winning author Aric Davis brings back his captivating anti-hero, Nickel, in Tunnel Vision, a work of edgy noir about unlikely friendship and long-overdue justice.

While I didn't get really into the until about chapter 3, the rest of the book was very good. Having said that, if you read the book, give it some time before you dismiss it as boring. Davis has an interesting way of changing perspective each chapter which forces you to really pay attention to the details of what is happening in the story.

The plot of the book is about a Private Investigator named Nickel, who is investigating a murder of a prostitute. Two high school girl best friends join in as the twists of the book bring them together. This book has all of the classic murder mystery traits including plot twists, fake leads, etc. Davis uses a high level of imagery that makes you feel like you're in the book with the characters.

There is a lot of talk about prostitutes and their life (no explicit sex details) just to warn people that might be offended by crude language. The book has an exciting ending (sometimes mysteries are really cheesy/lame) that made it worth it to read the book. I would recommend this book to a friend.

Please feel free to leave any questions/comments and I will reply as soon as I can.

Aric Davis tells the story of "Tunnel Vision" through several disparate points of view, each of which begin with their own narrow focus. Two of the characters narrate from a gritty, street crime, urban wasteland world. The third and actually the main focus of the story are two teenage girls -- Betty and June-- who, in between texting each other and talking about boys, decide to solve a mystery -- whether the man in prison for murdering one of the girl's aunts is the right one. Their stories all intersect in a well-written tale that works although it is difficult to know how to characterize it. Is it a gritty urban crime story or a teenage modern day Nancy Drew tale? Or is a bit of both? Whatever it is, it is a compelling read.

Nickel is the most interesting character, having busted out of juvie hall with a bloody apocalypse behind him. The book opens with Nickel saying how he has never been so angry in his life. He's "traveling south on a bus, with a trail of blood smeared behind me, bodies in my wake, and flashes of violence whenever I close my eyes." "Rage is why I'm alive and it's carrying me south just as this bus does," he explains. He has some advice for you: "Watch your six, stay worried, and get ready to run. That's how you stay safe. Leave the pistol work for the cowboys and the boys in blue."

Mandy's diary entries are another gritty voice -- that of a junkie whore who descended into the depths of the urban gutter, doing whatever it took to feed her habit and that of her boyfriend's habit too. Her boyfriend was Duke and he has spent fifteen years in prison for brutally murdering her. Mandy says that heroin is the perfect high.

Betty and June's foray into the world of Mandy's death is surprising, considering what typical teenage girls they are, modern ones, one with divorced parents and one with two moms. Betty is grounded and is caught sexting a boy.

You wouldn't think all these disconnected elements would work, but they do and this is a story worth reading although I really don't know how to tag it.