Book Review: The Eighth Day

New to the writing scene is author Tom Avitabile, a Senior Creative Director at a New York advertising firm that has dabbled in engineering, computers and has a few film and television credits in his back pocket. In his debut novel “The Eighth Day,” Avitabile explores the use of mind control and supposed terrorist attacks to prevent advances in technology.

The story follows a variety of different characters, mainly focusing on “Wild Bill” Hiccock, science advisor to the President. After a series of bizarre attacks on technology institutions by ordinary citizens, Hiccock is assigned to create a task force and track down the mastermind(s) behind the attacks. A part of his team is his ex-wife, Janice Tyler, a leading behavioral psychologist, an ex-Admiral who had speculated 30 years prior that these very incidents might occur and a hotshot computer hacker named Kronos. Together they follow leads and speculations to track down and prevent further attacks on advancing technology.

“Common” is the best way to describe the book. Amidst a shaky and improbable plot are a multitude of characters thrown at the reader on almost every page. Aside from the four to six “main” characters, it’s hard to keep track of who’s who and what their importance is to the storyline. The first five chapters remind me of any John Grisham novel with about 10-20 characters that have little importance to the plot that are introduced and are never seen again. Then there is the lack of depth to the main characters. All we know about Hiccock is that he was once a great football star, but gave it all up for his love of science (now there’s a dichotomy that’s screaming obvious). Everyone in the novel is two-dimensional; they lack the depth that authors such as Elizabeth Haydon or Thomas Harris give their characters with ease.

The storyline is mediocre at best and very slow to start out. A hundred pages in, I was still waiting for the plot to take off. I’ll give Avitabile some credit; it is his first novel, but I wouldn’t put it in my top 50 books of the year. This is a book to be read once, and only once. If you feel the need to read it, go to the nearest library and check a copy out. Be prepared though, you won’t be wowed or blown away — just lulled into a doze. I give the book 2 stars out of 5.