Those Empty Eyes by Charlie Donlea
👀 Those Empty Eyes by Charlie Donlea — Eyes Wide Open, Brain Slightly Overloaded
⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3 out of 5)
Genre: Thriller / Legal Drama / Amateur Sleuth Meets Revenge Mission
Warning: 🚨 Major spoilers ahead! You’ve been warned, detective.
📚 Quick Summary (Hold Onto Your Sanity)
Those Empty Eyes is the definition of "started strong, got unnecessarily tangled, then sprinted to the finish." Charlie Donlea gives us a page-turning murder mystery... and then hands us a corkboard full of red strings and mystery characters like we’ve just joined a true crime podcast team against our will.
🩸 Triple Murder & a Girl on the Run
Our story kicks off with a triple homicide—Alexandra Quinlan’s parents and brother are murdered in their home. Alexandra survives but gets labeled “Empty Eyes” by a sleazy interrogator who basically tries to turn her into a teen girl version of Ted Bundy. Charming.
Thankfully, Garrett Lancaster, a high-profile defense attorney with a knack for sticking it to the system, swoops in like a legal Batman. He not only clears her name, but wins a defamation lawsuit so big it could fund a small nation. Or at least a lifetime supply of therapy, which honestly, Alex deserves.
✈️ New Identity, New City, Same Obsession
Two years later, Alexandra’s rebranded herself as Alex Armstrong and moved to London to start fresh. New name, new school, new accent? Maybe. But surprise surprise, she’s still obsessed with finding the real killer. (Who wouldn’t be?!)
She’s tracked down one major clue—Swiss bank statements linked to a mystery account. Unfortunately, Swiss banks are basically Fort Knox with croissants, so no dice on getting a name. That is, until some sleazeball banker named Drew Estes and his equally shady girlfriend Verne recognize her and try to blackmail her.
Pro tip: Don’t blackmail someone whose entire family was murdered. It usually doesn’t go well.
💥 Enter Leo: Bodyguard with a Silencer and a Backstory
When things start to go sideways, a man named Leo literally comes out of nowhere and rescues Alex like it’s the third act of a Bourne movie. Turns out, Garrett (her lawyer) had Leo watching over her the entire time. Look, it’s not not creepy, but we’ll allow it.
After this showdown, Drew and Verne (somehow still alive?) are forced to hand over the account details. And lo and behold—the account belongs to Roland Glazer, a billionaire creep and high-level sex trafficker who belongs in prison with a neon “CANCEL ME” sign around his neck.
🧩 Plot: Intensifies. Characters: Multiply. Clarity: Declines.
This is where things start getting messy. Alex stops going to school and becomes a full-time investigator for Garrett. We’re introduced to a bunch of seemingly random characters, all involved in shady stuff—dead girls, missing witnesses, murder cover-ups, you name it.
The kicker? It all connects. Eventually. Kind of.
The mastermind turns out to be… drumroll… Jacqueline Jordan, Garrett’s business partner at the law firm. Plot twist: She’s a serial killer. And not your standard thrill-seeking sociopath—she’s targeting people involved in child sex trafficking. She sees herself as judge, jury, and very efficient executioner.
🔫 The Final Blow
Jacqueline admits she murdered Alex’s family—not because they were bad parents (although maybe?)—but because they helped manage Roland Glazer’s finances, making them complicit in his trafficking empire. Her brother? Killed for being a witness. Brutal.
Jacqueline also hints that Garrett might be in on it too, because apparently everyone’s a killer now.
Alex doesn’t hesitate. She shoots Jacqueline, killing her and (probably) ending the twisted game of vigilante justice. The book ends with a bang—literally—but you’ll be left with a few dozen question marks in the margin.
🎯 Final Verdict: Thriller With Promise… and a Lot of Side Quests
There’s a solid revenge mystery buried in here, but the overcomplication of plotlines and parade of characters waters it down. Those Empty Eyes is intense, no doubt, but it gets a little too tangled for its own good.
If Charlie Donlea had trimmed the character roster, this could’ve easily been a 4-star banger. But instead, we’re left flipping back 100 pages trying to remember who someone is. Still, it’s got great pacing, a few shocking twists, and that signature Donlea tension.
📌 TL;DR
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✅ Alexandra survives a family murder
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✅ Cleared of charges, wins big lawsuit
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✅ Becomes a vigilante-in-training
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✅ Uncovers links to a sex trafficking ring
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✅ Surprise! Her lawyer’s partner is a killer
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✅ Even bigger surprise! Her lawyer might be too
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✅ Alexandra pulls the trigger, ends it her way
🛒 Buy This Book
👉 Buy Those Empty Eyes on Amazon (affiliate link)
📚 If You Liked This, You Might Also Like…
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The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave — Secrets, lies, and family dysfunction
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Don’t Believe It by Charlie Donlea — A gripping cold case with an ending that hits hard
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Girl A by Abigail Dean — A woman with a traumatic past uncovers long-buried truths
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Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson — How well do you really know your neighbors?
💬 What Did You Think?
Did the killer twist shock you? Did the character count melt your brain a little? Let’s chat in the comments.
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