The Good Guy by Dean Koontz
|
List Price: Our Price: $1.50 You Save: $6.49 (81%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of The Good Guy
Book Review: MY FAVORITE!
Summary: 5 Stars
THIS IS MY FAVORITE DEAN KOONTZ BOOK EVER! Starts out making you laugh and keeps your attention in the action and mystery after that!Book Review: 5stars and more....
Summary: 5 Stars
This book was great, i could not put it down from the time i got it in the mail. I suggest this book for anyone was loves a ride.Book Review: The Good Guy by Dean Koontz
Summary: 5 Stars
I enjoy the character discriptions, exciting adventure, and helps me to realize that my problems are not so bad.Book Review: An old plot, but well written none the less
Summary: 4 Stars
As anyone who knows me, or even reads my reviews can attest, I'm not a huge fan of the Horror genre, even though it does share a lot in common with one of my previous favourite literature genres - the post apocalyptic setting.
Thus, because of this, I have only read one book by Dean Koontz until now. I recently picked up his novel The Good Guy after reading the back cover and the whole plot, even though it's been done before, caught my interest.
Besides, as is the case, I'm always looking for new authors (or in this case, authors that I've not read before) to start following.
So, before I go any further, let me state my usual disclaimer - I will not reveal any spoilers other than what is printed on the back cover of the novel.
The novel is about a very common theme in novels and movies - being in the wrong place at the right time, or the right place at the wrong time, depending on your point of view.
That is exactly the case with this novel. The main protagonist, a Mason named Tim Carrier is hanging out at his favourite watering hole when a man hands him a package containing a photo and $10,000 in cash.
His instructions are clear. Kill the woman in the photo and get the other half when the job is complete.
Of course Tim ends up encountering the real hit man shortly afterwards and attempts to play the man who's hiring him, to tell him he's changed his mind and to keep the money and walk away.
After the encounter, Tim goes to meet the woman to tell her she's been targeted for termination (sorry, couldn't resist!) and he ends up on the run with her, trying to stay one step ahead of the assassin.
There you have it, the basic plot in a nutshell. Yup, I know I've seen this plot before, dozens of times as a matter of fact, but it was how the plot was set up and written that sets it apart from all the rest.
Now, I can't say that I'm a huge fan of Koontz after reading this book, but I am tempted now to pick up some of his other works and give them a go. He has a very interesting style when it comes to telling a tale... he introduces the characters with very little background information at the start.
This gives him the time to flesh out the characters as he writes the novel. And this was the case with every character in the book. It was clear from the first few chapters that the assassin was very unique. Pure evil, but one hell of a character.
Tim himself, clearly there was more to him that met the eye, as well as his friends and the other characters he interacted with initially.
Take heart in the fact that all the information will eventually be revealed as the book progresses, including the reason why this woman is to be killed and in a brutal fashion.
This type of storytelling took me a little while to get used to, as I am much more used to reading novels where you already know everything about the characters (because I like well established series so much), or you learn about them in the first few chapters.
I'll state this - it's one way to keep a person reading, as they get interested in the characters and they (such as myself) wish to learn more about them as the book progresses.
When all is finally revealed, it was pretty satisfying. Well, with one exception, but I can't really reveal it without giving away about the novel. For those of you who read it, you'll probably agree with me.
Another thing I enjoyed about Mr. Koontz's style is the dialog. It was pretty rapid fire, and often quite witty... It reminded me of the banter that usually takes place between myself and some of my life long friends.
In closing, I can't say it was a perfect novel, and I have to admit that I found that the beginning did drag a little, but it quickly picked up in pace and I found it difficult to put down.
I really wanted to know how Tim and Lynda were going to escape this killer and what would happen to all of them by the end. I also wanted to discover the motivations and the reasons behind the characters.
For the most part, I was, as I stated, satisfied.
4 out of 5.
Book Review: good, but not his best effort
Summary: 4 Stars
Dean Koontz's latest novel, The Good Guy, is a bumpy thriller that can't quite match the speed of previous novels such as Intensity.
Tim Carrier lives a low-key life in Northern California, using his masonry skills to build walls. His life takes an exciting turn when one day, while enjoying a beer in the local tavern, a man with a manila envelope mistakes Tim for a hired killer. When the real killer enters the bar moments after the mysterious man leaves, Tim makes a snap decision to offer the $10,000 as a no-kill fee, and to warn the woman, Linda Parquette, that someone is out to end her life. Tim and Linda have no idea that they are dealing with a tenacious killer who will stop at nothing to rid the world of Linda, Tim, and anyone else who gets in his way. Tim enlists the help of his police-buddy, Pete Santos, who then also becomes a target of the hit man, to find out as much as possible about who the killer is.
While the plot is fast-paced, there are numerous character flaws that Koontz ignores by creating a "mysterious" background for the killer. The readers are never given a name for him, as Santos discovers that he has several false identities, the only continuity of which is the initials RK. Even RK refers to himself with several different names including Rudyard Kipling and Romulus K. Koontz doesn't explain how RK became a hit man, first for the mob, and now for a mysterious organization RK refers to as The Gentleman's Club, a group of support people who help RK maintain his ability to complete his murderous tasks. Koontz paints RK as charming enough to fool most people, but as a person who is ignorant of his own background, being unable to remember anything prior to being 18 years old. RK is a socio/psychopath in the first degree, having no sympathy or empathy for other people including having the desire to kill everyone in the world. He is a homeless man who loves the coziness of a clean home, but has to break into homes every day in order to shower, eat, and enjoy the home life. The reader is teased with getting to the truth of who the killer and the mysterious organization he works for, but Koontz denies the reader a full understanding of RK. While the story is definitely about Tim and why he chooses to sacrifice his own life and family, if necessary, to protect a woman he had never previously met, the reader is left unsatisfied with the explanation of pure evil as exhibited by RK. The character has a quality of paranormal abilities without actually being drawn as a paranormal. It is as if Koontz is trying to write a thriller without supernatural elements, but is not completely successful.
Less of a problem, but still as frustrating, are the characters of Tim's mother, Mary, and of Linda Parquette. Linda lives a solitary writer's life, obsessed with the American depression era. Koontz has a disjointed explanation of her background, how her parents had been wrongly accused of molesting their day-care children, and both died in prison while Linda was sent to her evil great-uncle to live. Her strength of character is supposedly from enduring this terrible childhood, but her acceptance of her fate doesn't jibe with how she has chosen to react through writing her depressing novels. Koontz intimates that Mary's strength of character is inborn, and that is where Tim gets his from, but again, this isn't explored in a satisfactory manner.
As Tim and Linda struggle to keep one step ahead of the killer, Santos discovers the hit on Linda has something to do with The Cream & Sugar murders that happened the previous year. Santos and his Golden Retriever, Zoey, a staple in nearly any Koontz novel, join with Linda and Tim at the penultimate scene in order to defeat the killer and learn who The Club is and why they exist.
The conclusion is a bit too pat, the explanations a bit too thin, and the sometimes disjointed style with which Koontz writes this novel may leave readers unsatisfied.