[Book Review] Doorways to the Deadeye by Eric J. Guignard

Doorways to the Deadeye by Eric J. Guignard is a captivating tale about the importance of stories and memories. A wonderful mix of magical realism and American folklore, this is a book that will stick with you!

Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my review in any way.

Let’s dive in!

My Thoughts on Doorways to the Deadeye by Eric J. Guignard

You know books like this… You start reading it and you’re immediately totally immersed in the tale. Before you know it, you’ve reached the end!

This quote from the book sums the main storyline up very nicely:

The stories a person tells are lives in themselves. Even if you’ve heard the same old tale from the same old man, it’s told a littler differently each time. Maybe a gal’s dress was blue as the sea or maybe it was her eyes. Maybe she wore a blouse with a button popped off, so with a quick glimpse you could catch a view of heaven. Like lives, some stories are short and some are long; some are dull and some fill you with wonder.

My gosh… this tale certainly fills you with wonder!

The story begins with a man named Daniel Greenberg explaining how he shared a bottle of Jim Beam with a man named King Shaw over the course of four days. Shaw was dying, but before his time came, he wanted to make sure this tale was told so it could be passed on.

Over the course of the book, we get little glimpses back into the narrators life and his meetings with Shaw. We also get a great number of stories about various characters that all played a role in the overall plot.

This is a book that you really need to experience for yourself, so I will keep my notes a bit light.

The idea behind the plot was so interesting! I really enjoyed learning more about how everything worked in the memory world as well as how the “real” world affected the memory world.

The characters were all so perfectly developed! I absolutely adored many of them, but of course, the bad guys got under my skin and made me angry! Seeing each character come into play with the plot was interesting as well, and I loved how they all kept crossing paths. Seeing their relationships develop with one another was also lovely.

I thought that the American folklore that played a part of the overall storyline was super fun and interesting! We got to see characters like John Dillinger, Harriet Tubman, Pocahontas, Paul Revere, Lizzie Borden, Benjamin Franklin, Sam Adams, John Hancock, Blackbeard, and more! The way that the author included each of these characters was so great. I think Lizzie Borden may have been my favorite, but they were all amazing!

There was one element that really stood out to me as a horror-feature. This element was the “pox,” or the regulators. These little things were absolutely terrifying. Just the thought of little creatures that “eat” memories, completely wiping someone out of the memory world is wicked intense!

My Favorite Passages from Doorways to the Deadeye

Of course, King was just one of many lost souls I met in 1985 in soup kitchens and shelters and alleys so dark they caused the shadows to invert their gloom shining like slashes of ebony light.

The stories a person tells are lives in themselves. Even if you’ve heard the same old tale from the same old man, it’s told a littler differently each time. Maybe a gal’s dress was blue as the sea or maybe it was her eyes. Maybe she wore a blouse with a button popped off, so with a quick glimpse you could catch a view of heaven. Like lives, some stories are short and some are long; some are dull and some fill you with wonder.

Luke quickly learned that the times he was most happy were when he was moving, feeling the rocking beneath him back-and-forth like an iron cradle, and listening to the chug-a-chug sound of wheels moving, soothing as a lullaby.

Everyone needs time to relax once in a while. Even God took vacation that seventh day.

Like’s heart thudded so hard he thought it might be mistaken for a herd of stampeding cattle. But the voices faded and passed, and he remained underground for what seemed half a lifetime.
The trapdoor lifted slightly, and the old woman put her head out, listening. The other half of life seemed to follow until she said, “Okay, let’s come up.”

Her face was all frown, more carved than expressed, with a countenance so stern it seemed ready to rake the devil over his own coals any day ending in “y.”

A thousand maybes and not a single surety. But ain’t that all of life?

He found a rusted nail and used it to carve a symbol in the trunk of a twisted oak that spread its canopy over her tomb. The symbol was some squiggly lines with an arrow through them, a pair of almond-shaped eyes, a cross and crown and set of dots, and all of it surrounded by a heart that, combined, no one else would understand if seen, not know to give veneration to the resting place for a princess of the wind.

He was barreling down a route not found on any map, and all he had to do was focus.

The path to knowledge is never direct.

And what stays true for us all is this: As we’re molded in life by the perceptions of others, we’re molded in death by their reminiscence.

My Final Thoughts on Doorways to the Deadeye

This tale was such an enjoyable read. It was interesting and it certainly made you think! The story was filled with action and intensity, but also had various elements of love; friendships, chosen families, and romance. The pacing slowed where it was needed, but went along at a pretty quick pace overall.

The entire novel was wonderfully written, which I’m sure you can assume based on how many passages I pulled out in my favorites section!

I highly recommend this book to fans of adventure with a dash of creepiness! This is a story that I know is going to stick with me for a very long time because of how unique and interesting it was!

One last note: I would LOVE to see this on a screen, whether as a film or series! It’s just screaming for an adaptation!

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