Doorways to the Deadeye by Eric J. Guignard

Doorways to the Deadeye Reviews

• 
  Michael Hicks

  My review of
  DOORWAYS TO THE DEADEYE can be found at
  High Fever Books.
  
  Eric J. Guignard presents a stunning work of magical realism and American folklore in Doorways to the Deadeye, revolving around the growing legend of train-hopping hobo Lucas Thatcher.
  
  Luke has a special skill, you see. He can read the hobo code with surprising ease, including those glowing mystical symbols nobody else can see, those symbols that plot a course to Athanasia, a world inhabited by the dead that exists alongside our own, where these living ghosts are kept alive by the social consciousness of the living world. To be forgotten is to be condemned to death. We remember, and we give power, to those once-living legends of American past, like Ben Franklin, Wyatt Earp and his brothers, John Dillinger, and Pretty Boy Floyd. Trouble is brewing on both sides of reality, though, and Luke is a wanted man. There are those in Athanasia who want Luke to be forgotten, and those in our reality who want him dead, like Smith McCain, a ruthless railroad bull who is not content to simply roust hobos off the train, but seeks to murder any and all he finds, including Luke, the one who got away.
  
  I have to admit, Doorways to Deadeye is a bit outside my comfort zone, but I’m glad I hopped aboard it. Guignard can write, man, and this particular book has a welcome dash of literary style to it with prose that shines. He does a great job building up his cast of characters and he explores the nature of storytelling with skill and a whole lot of panache. The book itself is a marvelous ode to storytelling and the ways in which it enriches our lives, for both the storyteller and the consumer of those stories.
  
  “The stories a person tells are lives in themselves,” Guignard writes. “Like lives, some are short and some are long; some are dull and some fill you with wonder. In the end, how much…was truth or lies or dream or lore doesn’t really matter.”
  
  This one’s a dense and meaty narrative, and one that’s deliberately paced. At times it moves with the purposeful slowness of a long freight train steadily chugging along, and at other times it rockets along like a high speed rail. It never feels imbalanced or unsteady, though. Rather, there’s a thoughtfulness to the narrative and Guignard opens up a number of varied vistas for readers to explore and admire, letting you linger on some precious sights, like Luke’s burgeoning relationship with Daisy, and at other times working to scare the hell out of you. While Doorways to Deadeye has a Neil Gaiman-esque quality to it, Guignard proves as adept as some of the best horror authors in setting a scene, like the Luke and Lizbeth chapter, which sees Luke entering a strange house. Right off the bat, Guignard establishes an eerie atmosphere and a creeping sense of dread that continually builds toward a shocking and gruesome discovery that positively startled me.
  
  In fact, I was wowed by several scenes here and also delighted by Guignard’s use of familiar faces from American history, some of whom he has cast in unexpected lights and given them roles in Luke’s story that run contrary to the historical record, all the while making those adjustments narratively logical and consistent. Fact or fiction matters not, here, and seeing Dillinger square off against Western lawdogs in the streets of Boston is an awfully good time. What’s most important here, though, is the story, and this one’s worth its weight in gold.
  
  [Note: I received a copy of this title from the author for review.]
• 
  Eva

  ** Review copy received from the author for review consideration **
  
  I’ve been long-impressed by Eric J. Guignard’s tremendous output both as an editor and an an author, and Doorways to the Deadeye is a stunningly original, well-executed project. We start off with Luke Thacker, the protagonist, in 1955. He’s on a train going to Charleston, and has a reputation as “Crossbuck Luke,” something of a cult figure part of the hobo community. The first chapter ends on one of the most suspenseful notes I have seen, and made the rest of the book compelling reading for me. I had to know what happened next, and how it all unfolded.
  
  We flash forward to the present with Daniel Greenberg. He writes about Crossbuck Luke Thacker and has been collecting stories of the man that he compiled through King Shaw in the mid-1980s. Daniel used to be a reporter once even nominated for a Pulitzer. Now, he has Stage 4 cancer and thinks he has just a few months left to live so it’s incumbent upon him to get the entire clear picture on Luke and how he did some of the feats King Shaw attributed to him. I enjoyed the method of alternating timelines between the past and present, and think Guignard pulled it off masterfully.
  
  Luke has gone through some terrible formative experiences that explain how he came into the life of a hobo. He came off as charming but wounded, which made him more sympathetic for me. I wasn’t sure what to expect or if I would like the eras depicted, but this novel reminded me of the great classic
  Western films. I couldn’t stop turning the pages, and found the story quite engaging.
  
  Among the distinguished historical figures Luke encounters are John Dillinger and Harriet Tubman with Lizzie Borden and Paul Revere thrown in for good measure. If you like characters from the pages
  of history, you will really enjoy this novel. Wyatt Earp is also featured in the book. As I was reading, I couldn’t help but think that it would make a wonderful television adaptation.
  
  If you prefer more magical realism and books that have the vibe of Water for Elephants, or The Night Circus, you will fall in love with Doorways to the Deadeye. It’s charming, full of action and adventure, heartbreak, betrayal, interesting mysteries, and so much more. I would consider it more fantastical fare mixed with crime mixed with Western. I can’t quantify why, but the fusion just naturally works.
  
  Luke’s adventures are well-told and animated. They jump off the page, lending this book an incredibly cinematic quality. The framing ‘story within a story’ narrative device works very well in this compelling read from Stoker award-winning author and editor Eric J. Guignard, who simply gets better with each new publication. He is strikingly talented, and this book deserves to be in contention for major awards next year.
• 
  Dave

  Doorways to the Deadeye is a uniquely creative fantasy riff on the concept of storytelling. And, storytelling is approached from several angles. To begin with, the story is told through the voice of a modern-day reporter who is telling of his meetings with King, an aging hobo, who at times tells parts of his own story, but more to the point tells the reporter about the Prince of Hobos, Luke Thacker, who has the ability to read the secret hobo signs, to travel back and forth to the purgatory where the dead dwell as long as they are remembered, and to live out a hobo’s fantasies of calling trains whenever needed, and literally riding the rails like no one has ever done before.
  
  The special purgatory, Athanasia, houses people who are remembered as legends. And, Luke, new to purgatory, becomes the getaway driver for John Dillinger, is hunter by Wyatt Earp and his brothers, is almost given forty whacks by Lizzie Borden, exchanges secrets with Pocahontas, and hides in the underground with Harriet Tubman. To his shock and surprise, the longest lasting people in this ghostly realm are those whose legends have grown over time.
  
  And, sometimes those legends are built up and distorted and sometimes people are forgotten and not remembered and they fade away. How do you save those who are but ordinary people and are only remembered by a few? Such as Daisy, Luke’s lifelong love who met such a bitter end. How do you prevent others from distorting history (and poor Ben Franklin does not fare well in this story)?
  
  This is a story told in layers and that slowly reveals itself. Although the surface story is about the hobos of the 1930’s riding the rails and getting thrown off the trains by yard bulls, particularly one who became a legend greater than Paul Bunyan, the magic of the story is how it dips back and forth into worlds of fantasy and history.
• 
  Gloria

  If a reader imagines that they are not particularly keen on the horror genre, this could be one of those gateway books that eases the way. This is actually quite philosophical and thus surprising.
  
  Filled with famous people such as John Dillinger, Harriet Tubman, Wyatt Earp, Paul Revere and even Pocahontas, stories intertwine as one character searches for answers about life and death and love.
  
  Some take-aways include:
  
  *Every person on earth writes their own history.
  *People have a history only as long as another person remembers them; make your life be worth remembering.
  *Politicians can look smart and caring on the outside and be real rapscallions in reality.
  *You have the answers already inside you.
  
  Story featured good solid writing, but was not exactly enthralling though you will never view Benjamin Franklin the same way again. Appreciated that it is not overly violent or gruesome. Good yarn.
  
• 
  Ellie Mitchell

  Today, I’m reviewing Doorways to the deadeye, by Eric J Guignard, the tale of a courageous young hobo, Luke Thacker. Set mainly in the 1920s and 30s, young Luke hops the American rail-lines, following mysterious signs known only as The Hobo Code.
  
  But, who has been leaving these signs for Luke to find?
  
  
  
  
  ~Story~
  
  
  In 2019, a journalist named Daniel Greenberg is interviewing a man nicknamed King, who once knew Luke Thacker. This modern part of the narrative is used as a framing device for the main story, set in the 20s and 30s.
  
  As the story progresses, Luke (our main protagonist) comes across another dimension known as Athanasia (this is actually a Greek name meaning Immortal), where the memories of spirits past still dwell, until eventually forgotten.
  
  
  Describing Athanasia- ‘It’s there, mirroring our life and what’s remembered.’
  
  The story revolves around themes of love, life, and loss, as well as how we come to remember those who have departed for the other side.
  
  
  
  ~Characters~
  
  
  The characters that most stood out to me were Luke, Daisy, and Zeke. Although there were various other intriguing characters throughout the book, these were the three that captured my heart. All had their own tragic backstories, explaining how they’d ended up homeless, illegally travelling on the rails for free.
  
  
  Zeke, a well-built hobo that rides the rail with Luke for a while is protective of those close to him, but at first glance, appears mean and sly. However, he and Luke fast become friends. With Zeke, appearances certainly were deceiving at first.
  
  
  Daisy, Luke’s one love was a strong, spirited, and courageous young woman who was unlucky to have lost her parents at a young age. She seemed ever the optimist and gave Luke the determination to continue with life.
  
  
  Finally, the protagonist Luke was humble and highly intuitive, with a love of learning new things. Although he suffers much abuse and loss throughout the story, he soldiers on, a hero to the end.
  
  
  ‘Loss and hardship brought all three together, and mutual affection kept them united.’
  
  
  
  
  Read my full review here:
  
  http://www.bookishbeyond.com/index.ph...
• 
  Deborah Davitt

  I read this book as a review copy, as it's on the preliminary ballot for the Stokers this year, and MAN, am I glad I did.
  
  I used to read and enjoy a webscomic called A Girl and Her Fed. This book has some of what I used to enjoy in that comic--a sense of how people of the past are remembered, strengthens their ghosts and gives them power.
  
  I also *love* Tim Powers' books. That I handed "Last Call" to a friend the night before our master's exams at Penn State, and she cussed me out the next day because she hadn't slept for reading it. :)
  
  "Doorways into the Deadeye" has echoes of what I love most in Powers' work, though with a unique and powerful voice that asks how stories are transmitted, and how what we know--or what we think we know--shapes the stories of our existence.
  
  Read it. It's awesome.
• 
  Will Blosser

  In Doorways to the Deadeye, Eric J. Guignard tells the tall tales of Crossbuck Luke Thacker, a rail-riding hobo in Depression-era America. The stories are told within the framework of a reporter recording tales told by a fellow ‘bo who knew Luke firsthand. These tales are somewhat episodic, telling of various important moments in Luke’s life, but with an overarching storyline. Luke lives his life on the rails following the Hobo Code, a series of symbols that help guide wayward vagrants like himself. One day, the Code leads him through a hidden doorway to a realm where the dead live on as memories. Here he meets famous people from history, cavorting with everyone from Harriet Tubman to John Dillinger.
  
  Guignard has created a fun and unique concept with the Deadeye, or Athanasia, as it’s citizens call it. Athanasia is something of a shadow world, existing right alongside the world of the living. The more widely known and remembered a person was in their life, the stronger they are in the Deadeye, and the longer they will persist. But once a person fades from the collective human memory, they fade from Athanasia as well. Guignard uses Athanasia to explore the concepts of life and death, of creating a personal legacy, and of how we are shaped by the way we are remembered.
  
  Doorways to the Deadeye was selected as a finalist for the 2019 Horror Writers Association Bram Stoker Awards® for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. I have some mixed feelings about this nomination. I absolutely loved this book, but I’m not entirely sure how squarely it falls into the category of horror. There are a few dark concepts, and a bit of violence. I don’t think I would classify it as horror myself though. That being said, Doorways to the Deadeye is a phenomenal novel that certainly deserves recognition. Luke’s tall tales are whimsical and fantastic. The worlds that Guignard builds are wondrous and immersive and full of magic. This one really defies being put into a genre box, with elements of fantasy and adventure and historical fiction, with a little darkness mixed in as well.
  
  My absolute favorite aspect of Guignard’s work is the overall tone. As I mentioned, all of the stories found within the novel are being relayed by King Shaw, a homeless man on his deathbed, to a reporter in 1985. As he spins his yarns, Shaw talks to Daniel about the importance of storytelling and how to captivate an audience. The tone is reminiscent of stories told around a campfire, colorful and lighthearted. Guignard truly captures the spirit of the American tall tale, and that is the real draw of Doorways to the Deadeye.
  
  This is a book that I believe will stick with me for a long time. The love poured into this work is evident. Though not strictly or classically horror, I still strongly recommend reading Doorways to the Deadeye. It is a novel that will make you think and feel, and that is perhaps one of the more important metrics of a good piece of writing. I don’t often reread books, but I get the feeling that this will make another appearance on my nightstand down the line.
• 
  John Lynch

  Doorways to the Deadeye, the Novel debut by Eric J. Guignard is a story about the power of stories. It’s a fantastical novel that’s well written, and a testament to the authors skill.
  
  The story follows Luke Thacker, a hobo living in America during the depression. It’s actually told as a story within a story, and this device works well for what Guignard is doing. This is a tough one to talk about without spoilers, but I liked how Guignard set the story up set that Thacker is able to interact with all of these legendary characters that we’ve heard about throughout our own lives. Guignards prose is wonderful here, and although the book did feel a little long to me, it didn’t really take any of my enjoyment away, in fact, I read the book in about a day or so. The time simply flew by.
  
  Eric Guignard has written a wonderful book. A book that sets out to examine the power in storytelling, and in turn, becomes a powerful one itself. Guignard shows that he excels in mingling history and fantasy, providing the reader with an excellent debut novel.
• 
  Aiden Merchant

  3/5
  
  Two-time Stoker winner, Eric J. Guignard, has built his name around writing horror and dark fiction. However, his debut novel is pretty far from horror and closer to fantasy.
  
  The concept behind Doorways to the Deadeye is a great one and therefore lures you in with ease. The early stages of this story build you up for something exciting and interesting, but unfortunately, a lot of it doesn’t pan out. There are several reasons for this, like the historic figures he uses as characters (their manner of speech is not authentic feeling in most cases, and reads oddly as a result), the pacing (there’s a lot of back and forth, and scenes that seem a bit like unnecessary padding), and the faltering conclusion (the final 50-100 pages suddenly read rushed in more ways than one).
  
  Despite its strong start – I was actually quite excited by the synopsis, and loved the idea of learning more about life on the rails – Doorways to the Deadeye does peter out from time to time, and especially at the end. If the dialogue was reworked and the story streamlined, I feel like this book could have been outstanding. In fact, I think it either needed a novella’s length or a grand epic’s length. Trying to write it for the average novel speed left it feeling imbalanced.
  
  I don’t want this to sound like a rant of complaints, so let me point out some of the positives. The idea behind the novel is wonderful, inventive, and unique. There’s a grand love story fueling the whole thing. And there’s a lot of magic for you lovers of fantasy and the supernatural. For example, I especially enjoyed the idea of Luke Thatcher being able to call upon trains like he’s a character from NOS4A2 using a knife to quickly reach new destinations. That was a great nod (if done consciously).
  
  It’s just that Guignard may have had some hardships trimming the novel in its editing process (he notes in the back that this was originally a larger story). It seems like the end got rushed, while scenes building to that finale felt dragged on and a bit muddy. Like I said before, I think this story should have either gone lightly or largely; cutting it down the middle wasn’t in the best interest of doing the concept justice.
  
  Nevertheless, I think there is enough to like here to warrant a recommendation, and to note that Athanasia is a place I would like to see Guignard revisit at another time with a different cast.
• 
  Lisa Lee

  Doorways to the Deadeye by Eric J Guignard is dark speculative fiction with strong elements of cosmic horror, alternate history and the supernatural. In short, it refuses to conform to the strictures of genre and subgenre. Much like its characters.
  
  Guignard’s characters are rich and vivid, weaving their own tales within the larger tale of Americana folklore where the tale and the telling is everything.
  
  Doorways to the Deadeye has all the characteristics of a modern classic but is much more interesting and entertaining than many classics are wont to be. If the Stephen King of 20+ years ago wrote a The Wizard of Oz story, it would be almost this good. This engrossing story wraps around your mind, plays your thoughts and feelings like a fiddle, then pulls you into the Deadeye. And it takes days to get your head back out of there.
  
  Doorways to the Deadeye is full of action, suspense, folklore, and dark speculation. The cosmic/supernatural element is both brilliant and terrifying in its mirroring of the modern-day conundrum: Are you remembering that right? And does it matter?
• 
  T.C. Bennett

  (Doorways To The Deadeye), blew me away. The cryptic world of Luke along the way with his beloved friends and evil enemies, transformed into an EPIC world of tragedy, loss, love, heroism, determination, and the greatest history lesson ever, by the worst pupil.
  
  Eric J. Guignard held his characters tight, and many there are...he believed in them, as you will too...he butchered his soul for this novel, and the central star shines very bright and moves with the chronology effortlessly because of this-he captures 'the trail of tears' of the rail hopping hobos in the depression era and onward.
  
  A literary touchstone for the ages... a true master of horror. Get this book NOW.
• 
  Michael Flores

  Loved this book. It’s an epic fantasy of alternate history and stories wrapped within stories, mixing together a lot of genres and styles, such as action, horror, hope, the works, which works as ultimately it’s all an allegory about the power of storytelling, of keeping memories alive, and what happens when memories or those stories are changed. It was a lot to unpack, and the ending blew me away, that everything had been built together from the beginning and all led to the unexpected final scenes.
• 
  Ian Welke

  An American Odyssey. Doorways to the Deadeye is beautifully written, I love the setting, the use of the hobo code and then the parallel overlapped world inhabited by America’s memories. Great world building.
  
  Often my first impulse with a book I really like is the desire to convert it to a roleplaying game, so I can spend more time in that world. With Doorways to the Deadeye I felt like it would make a brilliant setting or sourcebook for Atlas Games Unknown Armies.
• 
  Anita Patel

  **More review to come, but first thoughts are that what an beautiful and unique book this is! Thrilling, gorgeous prose, filled with vivid characters and scenes.
• 
  Erica Robyn Metcalf

  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.
  
  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:
  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:
  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!
• 
  David Agranoff

  As an editor and publisher, the Bram Stoker award-winning author Eric Guignard has really done wonderful work highlighting overlooked authors with his excellent "Exploring Dark Fiction" series. His collection That Which Grows Wild was excellent and showed great range. I was excited to give Guignard's first novel a shot. According to what we can glean from the acknowledgments the author fell into one of the many pitfalls typical to first-time novelists. Apparently, an earlier draft was much longer. Wisely Guignard trimmed the novel to about the right length.
  
  In 1973 Lee Marvin starred in a movie about depression-era Hobos that director Guillermo Del Toro once said was one of his favorite films. Last year I watched this movie to see why GDT loved it so much. This is a strange film that is about the cat and mouse game between the conductor and the bo's who hop his trains. I can't say I loved the film but I did have a thought that a horror novel set in this world might be really cool. I didn't think I was the person because I thought it would take years of research I didn't really pursue the idea.
  
  A couple months later I got really excited when I learned that Eric Guignard had actually done it. Doorways to The Deadeye is as much a novel about magic realism as it is action and horror. The Deadeye concept has a fantastical Clive Barker feel but the setting is more of a sentimental Stephen King tone. The story has a Talisman-like adventure, the Deadeye is a place where the dead survive as memories based on how people remembered them. This reminded me of the territories in the Talisman but the whole novel has that wonderful sentimental tone of The Green Mile. The tone and the setting are the absolute strength of this novel. I could totally see more stories in this world.
  
  This novel is the story of Luke Thacker a depression-era Hobo who is riding the rails and living a free life when he learns about the land of the Deadeye. Using Hobo signal codes that are mapped out early in the book, he ends up in this magical realm. Hunted by the man protecting the railroad Smith McCain and looking for his lost Daisey the line between the living and the dead becomes blurred. The novel is about the power of storytelling and myth so it makes sense that it is told in flashbacks from the far future of 1985. This framing device works very well.
  
  The theme of the power of memory and storytelling creating narrative ghosts is super cool, the idea that the Hobo code written on walls around the country leading Luke to this other world is actually under-used. I kinda wish he didn't discover this world as early in the story. Perhaps a novel where he is following a mystery of a lost love only alive in memory but always one clue away was more what I was looking for. I loved 2/3 of this novel to me the thing I couldn't hang with was how much political and historical figures became a part of the novel. The existence of Ben Franklyn and Paul Revere made sense in the story but it didn't work for me. I found most of their scenes corny and it took me personally out of the world.
  
  I understand why they are there, and how this could work for some. I think readers into Historical fantasy would enjoy this aspect of Doorways to Deadeye. I think the way the novel explores the Myths that make the foundations of America makes sense, and in many ways bold. It just didn't connect with me. I loved the idea of the Deadeye but I wanted that world to feel more dangerous and not so easy to slip into. I wanted less sentimental ghee-whiz and more scary what is in the darkness feel. I thought the roadmap of symbols was a nice touch but I wanted more of them visually through-out the book.
  
  Guignard is a hell of a writer, and this is an extremely bold concept. I applaud him for swinging for the fences. I think this is a really good novel, worth reading even if I didn't connect with it. As a reviewer, I try to understand the difference between what is objectively good work and what I subjectively didn't connect with. If you like historical dark fantasy I think you will dig this book. More importantly, I hope you check it out because it is a great example of a book that is unique to the small press. NYC publishers don't find work like this. No matter how much value they have.
• 
  T.L. Bodine

  A multi-layered narrative, Doorways to the Deadeye is about the magic of story and the recursive shape of memory. Its story-within-a-story framework is dense and chewy, which might be off-putting for some readers, but it serves as the perfect vehicle for the book's wider themes and tropes.
  
  It's a hard book to classify. Is it horror? Fantasy? Alternate history? Perhaps a mix of all the above, and other things besides. The world-building is the truly imaginative part; Guignard crafts an afterlife where ghosts (of a sort) are sustained by the stories told about them -- an arrangement that means that their very existence can shift and shimmer and change with the whims of public opinion.
  
  It's a love-story to small-time mythos that would fit perfectly on the shelf next to the works of Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker and Daniel Kraus.
  
  One word of warning: There is a rape scene that occurs very early. It's not graphically detailed by any means, but it is unexpected and relayed very frankly in a way that some readers might find off-putting or upsetting. It's best to brace yourself for that so as to avoid any nasty surprises.
• 
  Jonathan Stewart

  I really enjoyed this story! The characters are compelling and engaging. The world is told from point of view of hobos back in the earlier part of the century, and the descriptions of environment and narrative are visceral and fascinating. Cool world in this book! There’s magical realism, and epic travel, wrapped in the framing of an interview process of a dying homeless man, who is “the last person alive who knew the protagonist” (although NOT the last person who has died!). Built around a realm of memories, where heroes and villains fight to be “remembered” strongest. Doorways to the Deadeye by Eric J. Guignard is a really great book all around.
• 
  Joseph Maddrey

  I came to this debut novel as a fan of Guignard’s short story collection THAT WHICH GROWS WILD. What impressed me about the collection was the variety of stories and the author’s commitment to idea-driven storytelling. On that note, I was happy to find that DOORWAYS TO THE DEADEYE is unique and philosophical. It reminds me a bit of Stephen King in fantasy mode, particularly THE TALISMAN, crossed with Joe R. Lansdale’s BUBBA HO-TEP. Guignard’s commitment to the “reality” of good storytelling, even within the genre of fantasy, also reminds me of writers like Philip K. Dick and Whitley Strieber.
  
  Having said all of that, DEADEYE felt a bit schizophrenic to me. The story unfolds in nonlinear fashion, as a series of stories within a story. The central layer of the onion is a conversation between journalist Daniel Greenberg and an old-timer named King Shaw, who articulates the novel’s theme that the power of storytelling lies in belief—both the belief of the storyteller and the belief of the readers.
  
  Shaw spins a fantastic yarn about a Depression-era hobo named Luke Thacker, who experiences an alternate reality known as Athanasia, a kind of ghost-world American Memory project where the spirits of pre-WWII myths and legends thrive on the perpetuation of such myths and legends by living storytellers. (This made me think of the land of the dead in COCO.) In Guignard’s Jungian “state of collective memory,” American legends fight for survival and only the famous survive; everyone else gets eaten by the Langolier-like “red blobs” that kill ghosts.
  
  In Shaw’s story, Lucas is a populist hero in a caste war between America’s downtrodden outcasts (tramps, gangsters, pirates, indigenous people and ethnic minorities) and its crooked lawmen, slavers and politicians (led by Benjamin Franklin and the Revolutionary “Sons of Liberty”). Guignard writes: “Everyone has a different tale to tell, everyone has unique difficulties and that’s what the policymakers need to appreciate.” His chosen supervillain, the “Great Fraud” Benjamin Franklin retorts, “You who come from nothing, you who have nothing, you appear here to relieve our nation of me, its greatest figurehead?”
  
  I suspect that casual readers will either love it for its comical audacity or hate it for its overwrought liberalism. I was not put off by the subtext but by the choppiness of the narrative, which is constantly jumping around between different characters and time periods. Guignard anticipates such criticism and addresses it directly in the text of his book, explaining, “You arrange the events of a story in a way that’s meaningful, not just based on some timeline.” Fair enough, but I wish his narrative of events would slow down and dial a bit deeper into the lives of the characters rather than constantly darting around in pursuit of “meaning.”
  
  Any book that features John Dillinger, Wyatt Earp, Lizzie Borden, Robert Johnson, Blackbeard, Pocahontas etc. etc. as characters is a potential goldmine of quirky character moments. I think this book could have benefitted from a bit less Jungian philosophy and a bit more Freudian indulgence. The author relies too heavily on the reader’s knowledge of the fame or infamy of his legendary characters and, as a result, many of the characters get drowned in the book’s overriding theme about America’s desire to “print the legend.”
  
  To be fair, Guignard probably could not have addressed this issue without turning DOORWAYS TO THE DEADEYE a multi-volume epic saga. In the afterward to his book, he mentions that his first draft of the novel was 150,000 words long. I think he was wise to trim the text for a debut novel. At the same time, I am curious to know what a deeper dive into the author’s world would look like. I look forward to his next book.
• 
  Edward J.M.J.

  -->I received a free copy of this in exchange for an honest review.<--
  
  This is the tale of Luke Thacker and many others. He's a hobo who finds the code has special meaning for some, and this leads him to Athanasia, a place of memories...
  
  This covers the life of the hobos in the beginning. It's both romanticized and shown bluntly. Even as it shows them free to roam and riding the rails as they wish it also touches on dark subjects often, the hunger, fear, loneliness, and other dangers that they face, such as violence and rape. It captures this time perfectly and is just as enjoyable by itself as it is with the later fantasy elements.
  
  After Luke learns he can read the special code, he discovers Athanasia. There the dead live a second life of sorts, just as they are remembered in life. However people speak of you is how you remain, so some stay stuck in thievery or murderous ways just because that's how their story goes. However, most are quickly forgotten, and something called the pox descends on them and devours them. It does this to all things, even inanimate objects as they are forgotten by the real world.
  
  So as you can imagine, those that are remembered most are the celebrities, world leaders, and other important types in history. Luke has a run-in with quite a few, and I won't spoil which as I found it rather fun having them pop up. They continue to do what they were most known for in life, and some are very concerned about keeping their legend alive and possibly growing it. One such person takes this to an extreme, becoming quite tyrannical in their attempt, which sets up the main conflict in the book. With his ability to freely cross back and forth from Athanasia, and others that are later expanded on, he begins a slow battle against this person to stop them...
  
  This book varies in tone greatly, sometimes it is funny, and sometimes sad, other times it has scenes that would feel right at home in a full-blown horror novel. The characters, and there are many, are all done so well and enjoyable. The story itself has so many layers, and stories within stories. It's actually being told by Daniel Greenberg, who was told by King Shaw, a hobo who knew Luke. He interviewed him for a piece on helping the homeless population and becomes caught up in these tales himself. It jumps around constantly between characters, and years, the real world, and Athanasia. It's hard to bring up everyone and everything, there are so many moving pieces, and it's great.
  
  I found the book to be well-paced and written. I loved all the characters, and the mix of action, drama, and horror. The look at hobos was so interesting, as they were hardly what I would have considered worth reading about, at least before this book. The fantasy elements had so much wonder and terror in them and they were also incredibly interesting. All the historical figures that appeared were often given different takes that you wouldn't expect, which was fun to see and think about. This was definitely worth the read.
• 
  Tracy Robinson

  This book just isn’t working for me right now. I will return to it at some point.
• 
  C.J. Weiss

  Solid novel with a well-executed unique concept. This is a story within a story within a story. The threads get tackled with the right amount of depth to keep any potential confusion from setting in. It gets pretty folksy in a neat manner. I loved the overarching villain and generally appreciated the use of famous historical figures. The main theme of the book (one's legacy) is well-captured and thought-provoking.
  
  There are a couple slow points in the book where the "story within the story within the story" turns mundane. The modern part of the story also didn't land for me, or really the ending. Don't get me the wrong - the ending is totally fine. It just made some earlier plot points feel not worth my time. I can see it hitting home for others though.
  
  I also wouldn't classify this as horror. That didn't bother me, but it's worth pointing out since it's the leading tag at the time of this review. I do think it's a perfect read for anyone that's into folklore...or really, just a unique concept with a reasonable page count.
• 
  Liliyana Shadowlyn

  This was such an odd-cross section of historical fiction and horror and the paranormal, but it works so well. The grim realities of life as a hobo, and riding the rails around America, combined with ghosts who don't always have the best of intentions. Guignard did an excellent job of bringing both setting and characters to life while weaving an unforgettable story that will have chills running down your spine in the hottest weather. The writing style was unique, and although the plot doesn't move along at a smooth pace, it seems to feel right for this story. Overall, an intriguing read that has me wanting to read more from this author.
• 
  Vivian Metzger

  I liked this book a lot as I have read other work by the author and enjoy his style of writing. Writes with adventure and horror and fantasy and sweetness. A hobo rides trains into alternate dimension where memories live and changes lives. No spoiler, but there are lots of good charaxcters of ghosts and reminds me of Ray Bradbury story.
• 
  Rachel

  This was certainly an epic tale. There's a multitude of historical characters in the book, and I really enjoyed them. John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Paul Revere, Harriet Tubman, Wyatt Earp & Company, Pocahantas.... and the rules of The Deadeye allow them all to exist at the same time. The biggest problem was that I had a hard time feeling any connection to the main character, Luke. And, ultimately, this is a story about a journalist collecting info from a man telling stories about another man learning to tell stories... and the events aren't necessarily chronological. As King Shaw - the journalists interviewee - points out, you arrange the events of a story in a way that's meaningful not just according to a timeline. Nevertheless, I didn't care for the way the story was broken up.
  I will say, the final showdown is EPIC. It was by far my favorite part of the story. If the whole book had been written that way, it would have been a bigger hit with me.
  Content wise, there's a pretty significant amount of language, including quite a few f-words. The thing that bothered me the most was the description of a rape within the early chapters of the book. It was not graphically described, but for some reason the description that was given bothered me a lot. It just grated on my brain like sandpaper, and I couldn't forget about it. One of those things I wasn't expecting, and felt angry after reading it that I'm stuck with it.
  Overall, a pretty tall-tale kind of adventure story about the power of the spoken word and the capacity to provide life through legacy to those we care about.