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: Good Guys Can Win
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a standard Koontz thriller with tension increasing to the point you wonder how the good guys can win. Unlike The Darkest Evening of the Year, there's no miracle to rescue the good guys, it is just plain determination.
You can read a summary in other reviews so I'll just say I enjoyed this book and as with all Koontz books, I'm amazed at how fast I read them compared to other authors.
There's plenty of action and suspense. The main characters are likeable, if mysterious, and the bad guy is just as mysterious in his actions and motives. One thing I like about Koontz is that his bad guys are WEIRD!
If there's one complaint (and it's a minor one) the story has shades of "the unstoppable government conspiracy" that dominated some of Koontz's books for a few years. At least in this one, it looks as if the Tim Carrier, the good guy, takes some action, with some success, toward dismantling it.
Koontz books are a sure bet for a great story and The Good Guy doesn't disappoint.
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Bestseller Koontz (The Husband) delivers a thriller so compelling many readers will race through the book in one sitting. In the Hitchcockian opening, which resembles that of the cult noir film Red Rock West (1992), Timothy Carrier, a quiet stone mason having a beer in a California bar, meets a stranger who mistakes him for a hit man. The stranger slips Tim a manila envelope containing $10,000 in cash and a photo of the intended victim, Linda Paquette, a writer in Laguna Beach, then leaves. A moment later, Krait, the real killer, shows up and assumes Tim is his client. Tim manages to distract Krait from immediately carrying out the hit by saying he's had a change of heart and offering Krait the $10,000 he just received. This ploy gives the stone mason enough time to warn Linda before they begin a frantic flight for their lives. While it may be a stretch that the first man wouldn't do a better job of confirming Tim's identity, the novel's breathless pacing, clever twists and adroit characterizations all add up to superior entertainment.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Book Review: The Good Guy might just be a little too
Summary: 4 Stars
3.5 stars
As a long time fan of Dean Koontz's novels, I was drawn into The Good Guy because of the intriguing premise: a nice guy in a bar gets mistaken for a hired assassin and is shown a picture of a woman that someone wants dead. The opening definitely grabbed my attention, as did the promise of more insight into Tim Carrier, the main protagonist, whose life is a bit of a mystery throughout most of the novel.
While the premise remained interesting, I'm afraid I started to lose interest in the characters. I craved to know more about Tim and Linda, the woman with the target on her back, and to feel some emotion from them. There wasn't enough back story to satisfy me and I just didn't care about them.
The constant witty banter between all the characters made everything seem like a joke or something to be made fun of. I don't see people reacting this way in real life. It took away from the believability of the novel. The most interesting character was the killer, a very sick and twisted man who gives the reader insight into the secret society that has hired him.
While The Good Guy won't be my favorite Koontz novel, it is a decent read. There is enough action and suspense to keep you reading. It doesn't compare, however, to most of Koontz's earlier works, such as Watchers or The Taking. It also misses out on the supernatural element that we usually think of when we think `Dean Koontz'.
He is one of my idols and a writer I greatly respect, so writing a review like this is difficult for me, but I pride myself on being honest. All reviews are personal preference and I give this book 3.5 stars. I am however looking forward to reading more Dean Koontz novels.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys suspense.
Cheryl Kaye Tardif
Author of Divine Intervention
Book Review: One of Koontz's BEST!
Summary: 4 Stars
I completely agree with K. Corn from Indianapolis that this is definitely the best SUSPENSE novel that I've read in a long time...and for me it comes close to topping INTENSITY.
This book frequently propels you to the edge of your seat while you watch the hero and heroine helplessly try to evade a seemingly unstoppable killer who does seem to be psychic. However, in the chapters from the murderer's viewpoint, it's obvious, that he's just adept at anticipating what most people will do--a master of common sense clairvoyance, if you will.
And I think what makes this book awesome is that the killer DOESN'T have any supernatural attributes. The killer, alias, Krait (one of his many names) is a sociopath. He has no conscience and enjoys killing people-often in bizarre ways. Whereupon their flaws - as he sees them, are part of their tortuous deaths. Not a new idea, but what our killer finds offensive is truly unique. Makes ya wonder...what are you doing, Mr. Koontz, when you're not writing? Moonlighting as Krait's partner in crime? (BIG GRIN)...
And the big REVEAL in the end, which I won't spoil for you, of course, as to WHY the killer was hired to kill this beautiful and also fascinating, multi-dimensional woman, is also really interesting and absolutely MAKES YOU THINK about life in America these days...which I'm sure was part of Mr. K's plan. The urban paranoia that has swept our land for decades truly is played out in black and white (print, that is) for us in this book.
A MUST READ FOR KOONTZ fans...take it to the beach, make it your companion in the loo..whichever...but either way...it's a book that will keep you up into the wee hours to see how this ordinary guy and the beautiful artist will or won't survive their evil pursuer.
I would LOVE to see this one as a movie some day...so KUDOS TO MR. KOONTZ again.
Lynne Logan
Author of The Crime Chronicles of Decker Zane
Columbus, OH 43123
Book Review: Good chase thriller
Summary: 4 Stars
Koontz is a popular horror novelist but there is nothing of a supernatural or ghoulish nature in The Good Guy ,which like many other recent Koontz novels such as The Husband,is a thriller-and a good one .The title character is Jim ,a landscape gardener with his own business.He is seated at the bar of his favourite watering hole ,drinking a post work beer when a total stranger hands him $10,000 saying the rest will follow "when she's gone" He has been mistaken for a hired killer and when the real killer turns up Jim finds himself the target of his wrath .Along with the intended victim ,Linda Paquelle ,he goes on the run seeking to evade the killer and hopefully turn the tables on him .It is cleasr that Krait ,the killer ,is being employed by a well resourced organisation and that he is also a stone killing machine .
What follows is a triple pursuit story-Jim/Linda in pursuit of the assassin ,the assassin pursuing them and behind it all and the organisataion keeping an eye on the situation to ensure all goes as smoothly as possible
There are hints of political paranoia ,with a key role being played by a shadowy ,ultra secret Federal organisation but essentially this is good ,old fashioned chasetthriller with shades of Hitchcock's classic movie North by Northwest
The dialogue is sharp and brittle with strong doses of mordaunt wit and humour.While there are some formulaic elements repeated from other recent Koontz novels -the blue collar hero with a past that is not exactly unblemished ,running from a sociopath-the book has pace and power to spare and is a good ,compelling read for lovers of the genre
Book Review: Solid and edgy, Koontz creates a truly believable yarn in "The Good Guy"
Summary: 4 Stars
In "The Good Guy", author Dean Koontz creates some memorable and believable characters who could seem as average as your next door neighbors. That's where any comparison to your normal, average American life will end as a stirring and violent plot shoots off the pages from the very start of the novel.
Unlikely protagionist Timothy Carrier was just enjoying a beer after a long day on the job when he is approached by a suspicious character who gives Carrier a bundle of money and a picture of a women he wants killed. Before Carrier can sort all of this out, he is soon approached by the real hitman, a sociopath by the name of Krait, who confuses the situation even more. Carrier nows finds himself caught in the web between contractor and killer and takes it upon himself to save the real victim, author Linda Paquette.
As Carrier and Paquette flee from Krait, Koontz slowly develops each character to the point where the reader has no choice but to be drawn into the bizarre plot just as deeply as the characters are. Krait truly is the epitome of evil and ranks with the Lecters of the literary world. As with many non-supernatural Koontz novels, humor and violence are wonderfully mixed in measured doses to the point where the book is nearly impossible to put down.
Reders of the recent Koontz book, "The Husband" will find this novel just as satisfying and fast-moving. Creepy, suspenseful, and well-crafted, the legion of Dean Koontz fans will find "The Good Guy" singularly entertaining and worthy to be recognized as one of his better recent novels.