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Eye of the Moon

By: Ivan Obolensky
Publisher: Smith-Obolensky Media
Publication Date: February 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-947780-27-9
Reviewed By: Kathy Stickles
Review Date: June 6, 2023

Eye of the Moon is an absolutely amazing novel set in 1977 in a small town in New York State. This first book by author Ivan Obolensky is full of wonderful and quirky characters, very descriptive writing, and lots of twists and turns. Given that there is so much going on at every moment, it is very impressive that the novel is so perfectly woven together. This is a must-read for anyone out there who loves a great mystery with an exciting and complex plot.

Set mostly in a palatial estate named Rhinebeck, Eye of the Moon is the story of two friends who have been together since they were children. Percy and Johnny met when they were youngsters and have remained close throughout their lives. For that entire time, Percy has been a “member” of Johnny’s family, a family that is very wealthy and very dysfunctional. When the boys were ten, Johnny’s aunt Alice died very mysteriously while immersed in reading the Egyptian Book of the Dead. The boys did not understand what happened and anything regarding the truth about the situation was kept away from them.

Now we go forward twenty years and Johnny and Percy are back at Rhinebeck with the rest of Johnny’s family and a few new friends. Once again they are quickly plunged into the mystery of Alice’s death but, being grown now, they want to dig deeper and truly understand what happened. Enter Stanley the butler who knows almost everything about Alice and her past. Stanley immediately becomes one of the most important characters in the book as he leads Johnny and Percy through Alice’s history and the tasks in front of them that need to be completed so that they can fully understand. It seems that in Eye of the Moon, every character has a secret and most of the things that happen are not what you expect them to be.

I honestly cannot recommend this book enough to anyone who loves a good, classic mystery. The writing is superb, full of description and detail, from the estate to the formal sit-down dinners to the clues and confusion surrounding the mystery of Alice’s death. Everything about the story is perfect. The characters are all very different, but all very real to the reader. Every single one is written in the perfect style for them and it is easy to understand why each has the personality that they do. In addition, for those animal lovers out there, we have Robert the Bruce, a dog with more character than many humans, and a great addition to the story.

Everything we learn about Alice, her past, the pasts of the other characters in the story and how they all in some way connect back to Alice’s story, are wonderful. None of it is overdone but gives more than enough information so that the reader can fully understand how everything is connected and coming full circle.

Eye of the Moon has something for every reader; mystery, romance, adventure, family relationships, tons of suspense, and even a little bit of magic. While it has a great ending, there is plenty of room for a sequel so that the lives of these characters can be explored in even more depth. This is a book that just, honestly, cannot be put down until the final page is finished.

Quill says: All debut novels should be as completely riveting as Eye of the Moon. There is nothing that is not perfect about this novel and Ivan Obolensky has given readers an incredible first tale to show off his talents.

For more information on Eye of the Moon, please visit the website: books2read.com/eyeofthemoon

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