VISION by Lisa Amowitz blog tour: review and giveaway @RockstarBkTours @lisa_amowitz @SpencerHillP

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Good morning! We have a suspenseful book featured today. Welcome to our stop on the Vision blog tour. Hosted by Rock Star Tours, this is the first week on this tour and we have our review and there's a tour-wide giveaway to enter. Have a wonderful day!

Title: VISION

Author: Lisa Amowitz

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Pub. Date: September 9, 2014

Find it: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes& Noble

The light is darker than you think…

High school student Bobby Pendell already has his hands full—he works almost every night to support his disabled-vet father and gifted little brother. Then he meets the beautiful new girl in town, who just happens to be his boss’s daughter. Bobby has rules about that kind of thing. Nothing matters more than keeping his job.

When Bobby starts to get blinding migraines that come with scary, violent hallucinations, his livelihood is on the line. Soon, he must face the stunning possibility that the visions of murder are actually real. With his world going dark, Bobby is set on the trail of the serial killer terrorizing his small town. With everyone else convinced he’s the prime suspect, Bobby realizes that he, or the girl he loves, might be killer's next victim.

About Lisa:

Lisa Amowitz was born in Queens and raised in the wilds of Long Island, New York where she climbed trees, thought small creatures lived under rocks and studied ant hills. And drew. A lot.

Lisa has been a professor of graphic design at  Bronx Community College where she has been tormenting and cajoling students for nearly eighteen years. She started writing eight years ago because she wanted something to illustrate, but somehow, instead ended up writing YA. Probably because her mind is too dark and twisted for small children.

BREAKING GLASS which was released July 9, 2013 from Spencer Hill Press, is her first published work. VISION, the first of the Finder series will be released in 2014 along with an unnamed sequel in the following year. LIFE AND BETH will also be released in the near future. So stay tuned because Lisa is very hyper and has to create stuff to stay alive.

To contact Lisa try:  
Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  | Pinterest | Goodreads

Whoa. Just whoa. Vision by Lisa Amowitz is one of those types of books which gets under your skin. Know what I mean? The author takes an everyday kind of teen guy and bam! He's living his life and then something happens and then something else and the reader gets wrapped up in everything and forgets that this is a story. Sneaky, yes, but I have to say I was riveted by the suspense, intrigued by the storyline, and I loved the writing.

As a resident of the Hudson Valley, I'm always stoked when books are set in New York. Just knowing that main character Bobby Pendell was fishing at a lake with the Catskills mountains as a backdrop made me smile and then, bam! Something weird happens to Bobby while he's fishing on his boat. The opening scene alone made me stay up late that night, watchful of moving shadows across the walls. His weird new 'visons' and the way his eyes change until he is practically blind resonated with me. As these 'attacks' continue and the serial killer continues his/her spree, Bobby gets sucked in more and more (and so did I).

 Vision is simply great storytelling. The cast, from Bobby, a realistic young man living along the poverty level with his Iraq veteran and wheelchair-bound father and adorable younger brother, Aaron, to the cute and outspoken new girl, Gabe Friendly (gotta love these names), was stellar. It was refreshing to read a YA thriller/horror from a guy's pov. Bobby is not some fortunate, spoiled kid. His mom gave up on them and left, leaving her oldest son to take her place as caregiver to his dad and brother as well as working to make a buck, going to school, and surviving. 

And did I mention the serial killer? Yep, that kept me awake longer than it should have. What was very cool were the twists in the story. When I thought the story would go one way, nope, it went another. Kudos to Ms. Amowitz for keeping even experienced mystery solvers at bay. I will also give the author more kudos for sharing Bobby with us. Gosh, I became this guy's champion. From the gentle way he approached his songwriting to the way he fought his body's reactions to seeing Gabe the first time, and definitely the way he berates himself when his dad is being mean, this kid reminded me of people I know. Bobby (and his brother) are sympathetic but they don't want the reader to feel that way. Pride will do that to a person. The relationships, the friendships, the emotions, the mystery, and yes, the twist and reveals in Vision kept me reading late into the night. I even forgot I was reading. 

Thank you, Lisa Amowitz, for making readers everywhere stay up to read your latest novel. Vision is a definite keeper, an unforgettable story by a talented author. I'm thrilled that this is the first book in the Finder series. Next time I think I'll begin reading earlier in the day!

Rating: 5

Cover comment:

Very eerie and cool. The image doesn't give anything away, only heightens an already intense book.

Book source:

I received a promotional copy in return for my honest review.

Giveaway:

2 Signed copies of Vision and swag for 2 winners US ONLY.

a Rafflecopter giveaway