Raymond Keller is an Eye - that is, he is a man fitted with recording equipment that records everything he sees, and everything he hears. An Eye is supposed to be just a viewer, detached form the event he records and presenting them in an unbiased straightforward manner.

This is the ultimate way for Keller to escape his soldier past and to put aside all the memories of what he did.

In this world there exist Oneiroliths, extraterrestrial jewels that enable the user to experience remarkable dreams, dreams that bring back memories and enable the remembering of events long lost.

Teresa is an artist. She is also addicted to the dreaming jewels. And intends to venture into the area of South America where the Oneiroliths are found, and area where outsiders are forbidden due to the government of Brazil being determined to maintain control of this resource.

But for a woman like Teresa, who has a dark past, and a man trying to escape his would finding such a gem be a great benefit and the worst imaginable curse.

This is an sf thriller, it is very fast paced and full of action, intrigue and murder. It's a book that explores how a man who feels he has nothing to live for finds himself. It also makes use of a familiar exotic device - the dreaming jewels, the Oneiroliths – in a manner that will seem familiar to anyone who has read other Robert Charles Wilson books. But for me it differs from the other Robert Charles Wilson books in one respect, and it's an important one.

I didn't like it. I have read a number of this author's novels and enjoyed them all – until now. And I'm not totally sure why. As I mentioned above, the jewels used here are typical of the devices used by Wilson in his books, the plot is a good one and the pace is quick enough to prevent bordeom.

The problem for me was the characters. In most of Wilson's books I like and empathise with the folks that populate his worlds, but the main three in this book do not make me feel anything. Well okay the character of Teresa is good and there are elements I enjoyed but it somehow wasn't enough.

Wilson can be a great author – read Darwinia, Chronoliths, Mysterium or Blind Lake to find this out. But this seems to be an off-day for him. It will not put me off reading other books by him though, he is still a great writer – and no one should be written off for one below par.