Dean Koontz Reviews

This is one of the most intriguing stories I have ever read! I literally could not put the book down. I did not get much accomplished Dec 7^th because I read the whole book. Believe me when I say that I didn’t read it that fast just so I could post a prompt review. If you liked the writing style of Odd Thomas, you will like this book as well. It is written in the first person, by a character named Jimmy Tock. This book had shades of a lot of Dean Koontz novels, both classic and current. I saw sections that were reminiscent of Lightning, From the Corner of His Eye, and Twilight Eyes-to name a few. I don’t want to give anything away, so I will not go into a character list, but I loved them all! This book is so good that I don’t recommend waiting for paperback. It’s worth the extra few bucks to read it now (plus with Christmas sales, you can find it pretty cheap. Mine was $17.00 at Hastings).

Anyone who has lost a loved one has had a hope that their loved one was not really dead, but lost-perhaps caught up in a conspiracy somewhere. I personally know this to be true, not the conspiracy part, but the hope. This great novel brings that hope to reality in a suspenseful and rewarding series of events. My only regret about this book is that we never get to find out what happens when Stryker confronts Kennebeck. I know I’m talking about it as if it really happened, but that’s what Dean Koontz does to me. This book had a great conspiracy in it that, in the end, had me hating and distrusting China instead of America-which is where the actual conspiracy takes place. This may be because I’m very patriotic (which I am) or that I severely distrust China (which I do). More likely, Dean Koontz shares my sentiments and has a way of intermingling his beliefs so well into his writing that it automatically gets you thinking about whatever he presents. The afterword had me chuckling as usual. I especially love how DK morphed his former pen name into Saddam Hussein!

I read a note from Koontz about this book on his website; he compared it to Odd Thomas and Life Expectancy. I must admit that I liked both of those stories better than this one, but I still loved this book!

It starts with a bartender (Billy) receiving a note stating that a schoolteacher would be killed if Billy didn’t report the note to the police and that an elderly woman involved in charity work would be killed if he did take the note to the police. Billy thinks the note is a prank, but soon finds out otherwise when he is taken through a nightmare of ‘trials’ brought on by a killer.

Billy doesn’t know who he can trust for he must constantly question who this killer is and who has a motive. As Billy tries to solve the murder, he must also face some truths about himself.

Something seemed to be missing from this book, which makes it so that I cannot rank it up there with Life Expectancy and Odd Thomas. The problem is that I don’t know what was missing. The story was intense and it did constantly entice me to read on, but it just did not have my emotions going as much as the aforementioned books did. I DO recommend this book, but don’t expect the same magic that was in Odd Thomas and Life Expectancy.

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