Like Stephen King’s The Dead Zone, the protagonist of Deathly Visions has flashes of precognition and tries to help others avoid disaster and death. But Terry R. King (no relation to Stephen) ponders a twist: Instead of the man being universally doubted, suppose two individuals believed in his new powers and wanted to access them for their own uses?

King’s story launches as an NYC workplace shooting sends one bullet through Dean Malcolm’s chest and another through his head, leaving him with a strange gift: the ability to foresee “unfolding tragedy.” During recovery, he escapes to the Outer Banks to recalibrate and deal with his new reality. The visions only occur when he’s physically close to those endangered, and although there’s just enough time for Malcolm to warn them, almost no one listens.

Eventually, he meets two individuals who do: Doctor Ascott, a psychiatrist seeking to submit Malcolm to a battery of tests to glean information about his psychic abilities, and Alberto Black, who claims he’s launching a company employing individuals with paranormal powers to help law enforcement and federal agencies solve crimes. The Ascott/Black subplots introduce the story’s thread of menace.

King’s first three chapters captivate with details of his new life, flashbacks to the shooting and initial episodes of his deadly visions, and his efforts to save lives. But then, the strong, confident prose takes an abrupt turn.

The narrative’s tone, sentence structure, and language become simplistic, as if written by someone else. With the introduction of Malcolm’s love interest, constant repetition of the same phrases and words (“beautiful,” “amazing,” “great”) begin derailing the story. Tense changes, random capitalizations, awkward dialogue and unbelievable character reactions undermine the author’s narrative credibility.

Additionally, inconsistent details distract, such as first referring to Malcolm’s “marketing job,” and then, eight pages later, calling him an “Investment Broker [sic].”

The situations, characters, and underlying story are vivid and memorable, but the book requires revision to attract a wide audience.

Also available as an ebook,