Relentless: A Novel
by Dean Koontz
List Price:
Our Price: $1.34
You Save: $25.66 (95%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Dean KoontzEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-06-09
ISBN: 0553807145
Number of pages: 368
Publisher: Bantam
Book Reviews of Relentless: A Novel
Book Review: This novel will leave you out of breath and exhausted!
Summary: 5 Stars
Over the last forty years, I've read a lot of novels in which a writer (and his or her family) is the central character. Until two days ago, none had scared me as much as Stephen King's Misery, which dealt with an author's number one crazed fan and what that person was capable of doing when angered. Now, there's Relentless by Dean Koontz, which may step out of the realm of believability just a little in certain parts of the book, but nevertheless delivers an antagonist who can't seem to be stopped and is determined to wreak havoc and violent destruction upon those who inadvertently capture his attention. What Misery gives the reader in terms of a scenario that could actually happen under the right circumstances, Relentless offers a rollercoaster ride of dark intensity, gleeful anticipation, and, well, utter relentlessness. After the first thirty-five pages, this book sets up a breakneck pace that doesn't let up till the ending. In other words, I was totally exhausted by the time I finished this novel and needed to take a vacation.
Cullen Greenwich lives in sunny Southern California and has six bestsellers to his name, plus a gorgeous and talented wife, Penny, who writes children books. Speaking of children, they have a six-year-old son, Milo, who's probably the smartest person on the face of this planet and could run rings around any scientist or mathematician or theorist. This kid is a genius with an I.Q. so high that it can't be measured. That particular quality will come in handy by the end of the story. Anyway, when Cullen's (a.k.a. Cubby) newest novel is published, it receives a scathing review in a national newspaper. Though Cullen has received bad reviews before on previous books, this one gets to him in the worse way and he decides to meet the book's critic, Shearman Waxx, face to face.
When Cullen discovers that Shearman lives in the same general area that he does and eats at the same restaurant on almost a daily basis, he quickly decides to ignore his wife's protests and to take his son, Milo, with him to the place for lunch and a quick look at the man who considers him a hack. One thing swiftly leads to another at the restaurant and Cullen finally meets Shearman Waxx in the restroom while helping his little boy to pee in a urinal. Shearman immediately recognizes the author and says only one word to him as he walks out the door in a state of agitation--"Doom."
From the moment Cullen Greenwich hears the word doom in the restroom, he instinctively knows that something bad is going to happen. What's going to happen is the big question? There's no way Cullen can anticipate the massive destruction and unbelievable tragedy that will befall him and his family due to the wrath of Shearman Wazz. You see, Shearman Waxx is not only a book critic, but also a serial killer who loves to humiliate and torture and murder the authors of the novels he has hated and trashed in his poisonous reviews. He doesn't just kill the writers. No, no, no. He gets off on torturing their families in the most cruel and painful ways, forcing the author to watch and then beg for his own merciful death after the death of his loved ones.
Once Cullen's home is blown up, he and his family are going to be running for their lives, not knowing that their pursuer has the uncanny ability to find them within hours, no matter where they go to hide. And, there's no way to stop Shearman Waxx, except by killing him. The Greenwich family is going to face the fight of a lifetime, understanding that in order to survive, they'll have to become as vicious and deadly as the predator hunting them.
Except for the last twenty-five pages of the book, I have nothing but high praise for Relentless. This novel is so intense that I thought I was going to have a heart attack while reading it. Not only that, but people kept telling me that I was talking aloud to myself while deeply engrossed in the novel while at lunch or on the bus, saying things like--"No, don't do that!" or "Watch out!" or "Kill the [...]!"
In this novel, Dean Koontz has created his most evil villain of all time in the form of Shearman Waxx, a book critic who wears a bow tie and writes ponderous prose, and who loves peeling the skin from the body of his victims. What's even worse is Zazu, Shearman's mother, who seems to have been her son's personal teacher in the art of torturing and killing. Zazu, however, is introduced near the end of the book, offering the reader only a brief glimpse of how motherly love can mean different things to different parents. I wanted to learn more about her and her past and maybe to actually see her in action, but that wasn't to be. The ending of this book is tied up just a little too quickly and easily for me, especially after the tremendous buildup for 330 pages. I felt the need for at least thirty more pages in order to give the book the really explosive ending that it deserved, but this is simply nitpicking on my part, and it shouldn't take away from the overall quality of the novel and the satisfaction it offers.
Dean Koontz has written what is certainly one of his most fast-paced books with a sharp, in your face, edge-of-your-seat intensity that propels you onward like a Roman catapult shooting you into the air. Because information is conveyed at the end of the novel that concerns a large, 12,000-member organization where each person is just as ruthless and evil as Shearman Waxx, I suspect Mr. Koontz may eventually want to explore that in more depth, bringing back the Greenwich family for another life-and-death adventure. Anyway, will my nitpicking about the ending stop me from recommending this novel to millions of anxious fans? No way! The excitement and thrills that Relentless offers the reader is definitely a journey that most will want to take during this long hot summer.
Summary of Relentless: A Novel
#1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense Dean Koontz delivers a mesmerizing new thriller that explores the razor-thin line between the best and worst of human nature?and the anarchy simmering just beneath society?s surface?as a likeable, successful family man is drawn into a confrontation with a foe of unimaginable malice?.Bestselling novelist Cullen ?Cubby? Greenwich is a lucky man and he knows it. He makes a handsome living doing what he enjoys. His wife, Penny, a children?s book author and illustrator, is the love of his life. Together they have a brilliant six-year-old, Milo, affectionately dubbed ?Spooky,? and a non-collie named Lassie, who?s all but part of the family.
So Cubby knows he shouldn?t let one bad review of his otherwise triumphant new book get to him?even if it does appear in the nation?s premier newspaper and is penned by the much-feared, seldom-seen critic, Shearman Waxx. Cubby knows the best thing to do is ignore the gratuitously vicious, insulting, and inaccurate comments. Penny knows it, even little Milo knows it. If Lassie could talk, she?d tell Cubby to ignore them, too.
Ignore Shearman Waxx and his poison pen is just what Cubby intends to do. Until he happens to learn where the great man is taking his lunch. Cubby just wants to get a look at the mysterious recluse whose mere opinion can make or break a career?or a life.
But Shearman Waxx isn?t what Cubby expects; and neither is the escalating terror that follows what seemed to be an innocent encounter. For Waxx gives criticism; he doesn?t take it. He has ways of dealing with those who cross him that Cubby is only beginning to fathom. Soon Cubby finds himself in a desperate struggle with a relentless sociopath, facing an inexorable assault on far more than his life.
Fearless, funny, utterly compelling, Relentless is Dean Koontz at his riveting best, an unforgettable tale of the fragile bonds that hold together all that we most cherish?and of those who would tear those bonds asunder.
Literature & Fiction Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Literature & Fiction Books
Little Womenby Louisa May Alcott
Scribner; Published: 1986-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops:
The Killing Groundby JACK HIGGINS
HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS LTD; Published: 2007; Hardcover; Book
Saving Fish from Drowningby Amy Tan
4th Estate; Published: 2005; Paperback; Book
Life Expectancyby Dean Koontz
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2005-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Constant Princessby Philippa Gregory
Touchstone/Simon & Schuster; Published: 2005; Hardcover; Book
Wolf of the Plains (Conqueror, Book 1)by Conn Iggulden
Harper; Published: 2007; Paperback; Book
Saharaby Clive Cussler
Harper Collins Pb; Published: 2005-03-21; Paperback; Book
Perelandra (Cosmic Trilogy)by C. S. Lewis
Voyager; Published: 2005-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.92
Price in other shops:
The Lord Of The Rings: Part 2 The Two Towersby J. R. R. Tolkien
Harper Collins Publishers; Published: 2001; Paperback; Book
Red Marsby Kim Stanley Robinson
Trafalgar Square; Published: 2001-06; Paperback; Book
Similar Books and other products
From the Corner of His Eyeby Dean Koontz
Bantam; Published: 2000-12-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.42
Price in other shops:
The Husbandby Dean Koontz
Bantam; Published: 2006-05-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $0.98
Price in other shops:
Odd Hoursby Dean Koontz
Bantam; Published: 2008-05-20; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.49
Price in other shops:
The Darkest Evening of the Yearby Dean Koontz
Bantam; Published: 2007-11-27; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $0.90
Price in other shops:
Sole Survivorby Dean Koontz
Knopf; Published: 1997-01-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.89
Price in other shops:
Your Heart Belongs to Meby Dean Koontz
Bantam; Published: 2008-11-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
Frankenstein: Lost Soulsby Dean Koontz
Bantam; Published: 2010-06-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.90
Price in other shops:
Breathlessby Dean Koontz
Bantam; Published: 2009-11-24; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $0.99
Price in other shops:
What the Night Knows: A Novelby Dean Koontz
Bantam; Published: 2010-12-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
77 Shadow Streetby Dean Koontz
Bantam; Published: 2011-12-27; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.42
Price in other shops: