From the Corner of His Eye
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| Author | Dean Koontz |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Suspense, Thriller |
| Publisher | Bantam Publishing |
| Released | 2000 |
| Media Type | Paperback |
| Pages | 768 |
| ISBN | 0553582747 |
| Preceded by | False Memory |
| Followed by | One Door Away from Heaven |
From the Corner of His Eye is a novel by the best-selling author Dean Koontz, released in 2000. It is the story of a boy named Bartholomew Lampion, a ruthless killer named Enoch Cain, and a girl born by the result of a rape.
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[edit] Synopsis
In Bright Beach, California Agnes Lampion was getting ready to go to the hospital to give birth to their child, but was in no rush.
Far away Enoch Cain (a.k.a. Junior) was with his new bride Naomi in the forests of the Oregon hiking. They were climbing a tower, and when they reached the top Junior pushed her off the tower. She first hit the railing, but it didn’t hold and she fell 150 feet down to the ground.
Back in Bright Beach Maria Ganzalez came to Agnes’ and Joey’s house while Agnes was getting ready to go to the hospital. Maria came to Agnes to learn English and so she went to Agnes in the kitchen.
When the police arrived at the scene of the crime they thought that she had been leaning on the rail and fell. All except a detective named Thomas Vanadium. He suspected that Junior had pushed Naomi off the tower for some reason, but he had no proof yet, or the reason Naomi was murdered. Suddenly Junior burst into vomiting and was taken to the hospital.
While Joey was driving Agnes to the hospital a truck smashed into the side of the car. Joey with his last breaths said he wanted the baby to be named Bartholomew. Then he died.
When Junior woke in the hospital the detective Vanadium was there. He said that Junior had been having a nightmare and he yelled the name Bartholomew, but Junior had never heard of the name before. Then vanadium did a special trick with a quarter and flicked it into the air and made it completely disappear without a sound of it hitting anywhere.
When Agnes woke in the hospital the baby had been born and Agnes had almost died. Maria was at the bed with her and feeding her slivers of ice. Agnes told her that she wanted the baby named Bartholomew.
Seraphim White was raped nine months earlier and now pregnant was in the hospital, but the doctors said she wouldn’t survive because she was too small. The baby was born and named Angel. Seraphim’s sister Celestina White adopted the baby.
When Junior got out of the hospital he was given the money his wife had willed to him and he left for San Francisco where he started a new life. When he was still in the hospital he saw a nurse who was very pretty so when he came out of the hospital he went to her house but she rejected him, so he killed her. That same day as he had killed the nurse Vanadium had come to her house for dinner, so Junior attacked him and thought he had killed him, but he hadn’t.
As Barty grew up he learned to read when he was two and had to have his eyes removed when he was three, but that didn’t slow him down any. He kept on doing whatever he did everyday.
Junior searched for Barty to kill him, because hen he was in the hospital and when he left the hospital he had been having strange dreams of this name, but he had no face or thought to the name. He went around town killing people by that name or a similar name.One day he heard that Celestina white had adopted his baby (he had raped Seraphim) and Junior believed this baby to be Bartholomew, when in reality the baby was a she and her name was Angel. Celestina had become an artist and so Junior went to one of her shows to follow her, when she left he followed her and went to her house. He saw her with a man so he got out of his car and shot the man, but didn’t kill him. Then he went to Celestina’s room and fought her, but she managed to fight him off and call the police. As they were arriving junior fled. Later he went to Celestina’s parents house and blew it up, shot her father but her mother was saved.
Celestina met Vanadium who told her that he was tracking Junior. Then Celestina, her mother, Angel, and Vanadium went to Bright Beach and met Agnes and Barty. Vanadium had said Angel was special in a special way and now he had also found Barty who was also special.
Then Celestina’s family, Barty’s family, and Maria’s family all lived together and helped each other out. One day Junior came when nobody but Angel and Barty were home and he got ready to shoot Angel but Barty came and delayed him. Then Vanadium came rushing into the house and Angel somehow pushed Junior into another world like the way Vanadium flicked the quarters.
Years later Angel and Barty wed and have a special daughter. Then Agnes dies of lukemia and the story ends shortly.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Bartholomew Lampion
Bartholomew Lampion (known as Barty by his mother and his friends) was born to Agnes and Joey Lampion, but Joey died in a car accident on the way to the hospital to take Agnes in for labour. Barty was exceptionally smart as a baby. He learned to talk and walk exceptionally early and taught himself to read at the age of two. He also started advanced mathematics a little later. Throughout the book he is known as a "child prodigy." One day when Barty and his mother went to Joey's grave it was raining. Agnes got soaked in the weather, but not a single drop touched Barty. This is shown on page 292-293.
"As the fragrances of wet wool and sodden denim rose from her
sweater and jeans, Agnes switched on the heater and angled the
vanes of the middle vent toward Barty. "Honey, turn that other vent
toward yourself."
"I'm okay."
"You'll catch pneumonia," she warned, reaching across the boy
to flip the passenger's-side vent toward him.
"You need the heat, Mommy. Not me."
And when she finally looked directly at him, blinked at him, her
lashes flicking off a spay of fine droplets, Agnes saw that Barty was
dry. Not a single jewel of rain glimmered in his thick dark hair or on
the baby-smooth planes of his face. His shirt and sweater were as dry
as if they had just been taken off a hanger and from a dresser drawer.
A few drops darkened the boy's khaki pants-but Agnes
realized this was water that had dripped from her arm as she'd
reached across him to adjust the vent.
"I ran where the rain wasn't," he said.
-From the Corner of His Eye- Pages 292, 293.
At the age of three Barty was reading and started to complain about wavy lines in the pages of his book. When his mother took him to the doctor He found out that he had a rare cancer that would spread to his brain if his eyes weren't removed. So they took his eyes out, but later in the book he gets his vision back when he is thirteen. Again he says that he was walking where he wasn't blind.
[edit] Agnes Lampion (The Pie Lady)
Agnes Lampion was Barty's mother and was married to Joey Lampion who died the day Barty was born. Agnes guided Barty through life and helped him when he was blinded. She was also known as the Pie Lady and gave out pies to people as well as other varying acts of kindness around the town.
[edit] Enoch Cain (Junior)
Enoch Cain was a ruthless killer. He killed his wife for monetary gain and many others some for no reason other then to relieve himself of some rage. When he killed his wife he became sick quickly afterwards, suffering from Hematemesis or vomiting blood. He swore from that day on never kill someone. On several points in the novel however, he breaks this vow.
[edit] Thomas Vanadium
Thomas Vanadium was a detective and previously a priest. He had a talent to flick quarters through a hole or gap in dimensions and into another.
[edit] Celestina White
Celestina White was the sister of Seraphim White (Angel's mother) and adopted Angel when her sister died. She was hunted by Junior, but managed to escape.
