BLINDING FEAR by Bruce Roland is a book about two different things at once. It’s a story in which all of humanity faces annihilation from deep space. However, it’s also a story about how people (and institutions) might react to such an existential threat. It is in this way that the story serves as a meditation on the inevitability of life’s end. Do you try to ignore it or keep that fact a secret? Do you try to fight or escape your fate? Or, do you simply hold those you love close to you, accepting your fate?
The novel features a wide array of characters, at times feeling overcrowded. The most compelling character in the book is the antagonist, known as Mr. Gnash. He’s the typified shadowy government agent who is quick to react to problems with secrecy and lethal force. While his characterization does verge on the “moustache-twirling” trope, Roland gets away with it because he is a character with no doubt in his convictions. He knows that either Earth will escape the threat facing it or it won’t, but what happens is beyond his control and not his responsibility. Instead, he has a mission to keep the threat quiet and the planet-at-large blissfully unaware of its impending doom.
Like other stories with villains who are more compelling than their protagonists, BLINDING FEAR suffers a little because, when we join our protagonists—a rag-tag group of people who are taking to the stars to try to survive the extinction level event—readers may find themselves wondering what Gnash is up to. This is not to say that their story is not interesting. It is, and it is through these characters that the larger themes about facing the inevitability of destruction are explored. It is through Claire, a writer, that much of that comes through to the reader.
During a scene near the end of the book, she discusses with Herc, a test pilot, about the small-but-important moments in life that make it worth living. This is a nice contrast to the larger arc of their plot that is focused on a much more “macro” idea of saving the human species. The examination of issues like these are where sci-fi like this shines, and it helps readers to move past the parts of the story where it’s tougher to suspend disbelief.
BLINDING FEAR is a fun thriller with compelling characters, though the story’s ending feels less like a culmination of the plot and more like the author simply ran out of gas. Nonetheless, the journey to that ending is worthwhile, and Roland creates characters we end up caring about.
~Joshua M. Patton for IndieReader