Face blindness may affect up to 2.5% of the population and I am not good at recognizing unfamiliar faces or meeting people out of context. The title of this novel attracted me, so I downloaded a copy.
This novel has three central characters, Ethan a security guard, London a college professor who has face blindness and his wife Jane. The story is set in California during 2008. Character development is okay and I develop an empathy with London because of his face blindness. Readers without face blindness may not have empathy for London and view him as a poor husband who is only interested in his work. His wife Jane comes across as quite loose and Ethan is a sad loser.
All three characters do their best to deal with life as this novel rumbles along. It is not an exciting read and is easy to put down. The plot is unrealistic and you wonder if people in real life would really bother to get involved like this. Face blindness is only addressed three times during the story and it is not the focus of this novel. It is more about relationships and cultural identity. The back story to each character is very good but how they perform in 2008 is a let down. The story starts off good but steadily goes downhill all the way to the end. The ending is whimsical but leaves you with a feeling of loss.
Face Blind is a disappointing read that offers little pleasure for the reader with only tiny bits of humour thrown in. I got to the end and thought it was not worth my time reading it. I took very little away from this novel and think it is a poor read that I can only vote 2 stars. Rory has failed to entertain or enlighten me with his novel that lacks a punch.
Face Blind is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2014.
