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Testimonials on The Mind’s Eye

I could not put this book down! Twists and turns from the start! Extraordinary insight into the world of psychoanalysis.

—Allie Zlotucha, Travel Consultant

A fresh, new look at a suspense thriller featuring a talented analyst dealing with his own demons.  This tale explores relations, deception, loss, and hidden motives.  Prepare to stay up into the wee hours reading in anticipation.

—Tricia Johnson, M.A., Speech Pathologist

The Mind’s Eye allows the reader, even if unfamiliar with psychoanalysis to see how an analyst works and thinks in the challenging humanistic effort to relieve psychic torment through understanding. It is a powerful experience you will not soon forget. I strongly recommend it to all students of the human condition. It has the initial appearance of a compelling mystery story, but as the story develops, the reader discovers that it is really about deep universal human issues which are at the heart of all enduring literature. It is about the lives and passions of several psychoanalysts, their families and their patients, in a Midwest college town. I eagerly await his next novel.

—Marvin Margolis M.D., Ph.D. (Past President of the American Psychoanalytic Association)

– This is a gripping blend of mystery and emotion. Alan Krohn takes readers deep into Dr. Ivan Weiss’s unraveling world as he faces trauma, loss, and the limits of the human mind. The story is intense yet deeply human, combining suspense with real psychological insight. A haunting, unforgettable read.  

— Joseph Madison, Posted on Goodreads

What a pleasure to have a rollicking good thriller that also is internally consistent about character and motivation. The Mind’s Eye touches all the bases.

—Kerry Kelly Novick, Psychoanalyst

The Mind’s Eye, a beautifully crafted and fast-paced thriller by author Alan Krohn, takes its reader on a suspenseful probe inside the minds of its characters.  We watch with rapt attention as the story’s protagonist turns to his finally-honed skills as a psychoanalyst to uncover the identity of the deranged man who is a danger to his family.  A great read.  You’ll have trouble putting it down.

— Margaret Fuchs Singer, author of Legacy of a False Promise: a Daughter’s Reckoning

An intriguing look at the relationship between an psychoanalyst and patient combined with a riveting mystery story.

—Thomas Hiller, Probation Officer

Alan Krohn has written a unique contribution to the thriller genre. All of the requisite tropes that make thrillers so appealing are present: a good story, complex and well drawn  characters ,plot twists, and a particularly nasty and compelling villain. The stakes are life and death.

What makes The Mind’s Eye so unusual and compelling is that it is embedded in the world of psychoanalysis. Krohn is a practicing psychoanalyst as well as a writer so brings these insights into the novel. The main character, Dr. Ivan Weiss, is also a psychoanalyst. It is through his insightful eyes that we meet the rest of the characters.  This provides an unusually rich understanding of not only the motivations of the characters but  also a complex explanation of the developmental histories that lead them to behave the way they do. This approach stirs in the reader an understanding and empathy for the characters and their demons. This even applies to the stories sadistic, deeply troubled antagonist.

The story unfolds  with many surprises along the way and culminates with a plot twist and “edge of your seat” ending.

The book can also offer lessons relevant to the turbulent health and political climate of today. With its focus on deep and complex understanding and explanations of human thought and behavior, it offers a contrast to the simplistic and shallow good/bad, right wrong dichotomies issued by those who want to offer simple explanations to complex problems.   Perhaps this is especially rampant today as people yearn for , as the book proposes,  a “simple moral order”. But this leads to dangerous  divisiveness. Krohn’s book does not traffic in simplicities.

—Richard Fish, Psychoanalyst

There is plenty of suspense to make The Mind’s Eye a page-turner, but this detective novel’s deep dive into the life of the mind adds an equally compelling set of mysteries to be solved, as only a gifted psychoanalyst could tell it.

—Janis Richter, MSW, Social Worker

As a psychoanalyst, a former resident of Ann Arbor, and a fan of character-driven fiction, I thoroughly enjoyed The Mind’s Eye.  Krohn’s novel instructs even as it entertains.   As protagonist Ivan Weiss discusses a puzzling, new patient with his friend and colleague, Jake, we hear how expert clinicians may bring different — and sometimes complementary — strengths to a shared task, and how close friendship may mingle with fierce competition.   As Weiss races to solve a mystery that is both clinical and deeply personal, we see how secrets from the past may shape the present, creating distance and strife in even the most intimate of relationships.   And as Weiss and those most important to him – his wife and daughter – uncover truths long buried, we experience along with them the relief that understanding and forgiveness may bring.   All of Krohn’s characters – including Ann Arbor and Detroit (for this is the sort of novel in which setting figures as character ) — are multidimensional, nuanced, and real.   For students of psychoanalysis, Krohn’s book offers a primer – or a refresher course – on how analysts think.   For any reader, keen characterization and a well-paced plot make this novel an engaging read.   

—Jennifer Stuart, Ph.D., Psychoanalyst

Dr. Krohn shares with the reader a bold portrait of a criminal mind, its early origins and then, the inevitable outcomes in adult relationships.  Amazing!  All of this is a bonus to an otherwise chilling, spellbinding mystery.

—Jane Warren, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist

THE MIND’S EYE is a superbly crafted psychological thriller that keeps you turning the pages, one after the other, from cover to cover. The author, Alan Krohn, himself an eminent practitioner/psychoanalyst, is a master storyteller. In language that is profoundly elegant and eloquent, he evokes images that seem almost tangible. He brings his characters to life in a way that gets ones heart pumping, making us turn each page at warp speed, in eager anticipation of wanting to ascertain what happens next. And yet we tread softly and cautiously from one scene to the next.

The protagonist is Ivan Weiss, a gifted but troubled psychoanalyst. As his life begins to disintegrate right in front of our eyes, we are transported from his consulting room in Ann Arbor, across Michigan, to the south of France, and even to a police chase in downtown Detroit. The author lures us into the mind’s eye, delivering an oddly satisfying uneasiness about what’s to come.

Alan Krohn breathes new life into this psychological spin, by setting the novel in a modern era. The various key players narrate their parts in this atmospheric maelstrom with an expert sense of pacing which takes the reader deeper and deeper into what seems like some twisted yet surprisingly comprehendible philosophy.

The darkness that lurks behind that perfectly coiffed setting in Dr. Weiss’ consulting room and life is gripping and thrilling – a compassionate multidimensional look at an epidemic (so to speak) that could easily surround us all, even as we get on with our privileged ‘normal’ lives.

This relaunch of Alan Krohn’s THE MIND’S EYE will surely be a standout thriller in these strange Covid19 times of the mid 2020’s.

Don’t switch off the lights!

—Dushy Parakrama, Educationist, Colombo, Sri Lanka

In the first few chapters, Dr. Krohn sketches the outlines of an increasingly exciting and compelling story of betrayal, loss, loyalty, abuse, sorrow and tender affections. The telling of the tale combines his skill and experience as a well-respected psychoanalyst with the acumen of a polished writer. The prose is evocative and as riveting as the suspense of the mystery itself. There are the requisite McGuffins early on which pique the reader’s interest and should satisfy the genre’s aficionados with the pleasure of small mis-directions. We get two great rewards for this effortless read – one is, of course, a very compelling mystery and the other is an accurate window into how a psychoanalyst who loves his craft works and struggles in what Freud called “the impossible profession”. Sleuth and shrink combine here in a book I would highly recommend to any reader. Should the story ever become a screenplay (which it should!) my hope is that Hollywood would not flatten the deep dimensions of the protagonist, Dr. Ivan Weiss.

—Marc Rosen, Ph.D., Psychoanalyst

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