The Good Guy by Dean Koontz Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Good Guy
Book Review: A great triller in the tradition of Intensity
Summary: 5 Stars
The Good Guy is a Koontz thriller similar to Intensity in that it involves a "good" person being chased by a madman. It is extremely suspenseful at times and as typical with a Koontz novel, the main characters have wounds from their pasts that are hidden and they are much more complex characters than it first seems. The premise is very interesting and it captures you from the start. I am not a fan of all of Koontz works, but I really enjoyed this one.Book Review: A ridiculous and boring rant with bits of action and suspense and plot thrown in.
Summary: 1 Stars
Beware...impossibly long review ahead. I'm assuming that you're already aware of the basic premise of this book. You are? Then good. Keep reading.
This story is bananas, and not in the way that previous Koontz books tend to be. Oh no, this book is totally normal. If you consider handing ten thousand dollars to random men in bars to kill someone without ever bothering to make sure that man was a contract killer and not just some random guy in a bar normal.
The inconsistencies are everywhere, ranging from silly to downright implausible. Silliest is the dialogue. What kind of person could be cruel enough to inject every single character with the same exact voice that just sounds like a lot of random, fake-intellectual sarcasm? Oh yeah, Dean Koontz. Because apparently he talks nonsense 24/7. His neighbors talk like this too. They're car mechanics by the way, but they're so intellectual! Just ask them what the weather is like and they'll spout some off the wall reference to some obscure 80's band with a jab at the president thrown in, all while changing your oil! It doesn't make sense, but boy does it sound smart!
Speaking of people who talk like Dean Koontz, practically 70% of the book is filled with his ("his", not his characters') neo-hippy ideas that just seems like a lot of angry ranting from a frustrated old man. The main character is a mason in his 30's, but he's always thinking about the excesses of America's materialism and how people only talk about American Idol and bla bla bla, basically stuff we think about in passing but never talk about because its boring. "Nobody wants to hear about the good old days again grandpa!" The book is filled to the brim with this garbage. If Dean Koontz wanted to whine about our crumbling society and the loss of decent human values, then he should have made this nonfiction, cut out the "plot" (there's not much anyway), and published it as is. Voila! He's a pundit.
It would have been somewhat bearable if it was written in decent prose, but alas...basically, every line feels flat, dry, and unnecessary, and its sad because they're actually trying to be imaginative. There's always some deep imagery being presented in every paragraph, but its so overblown, complicated, and boring that it doesn't really get its message across all that well. Its like poetry without meaning. I also "like" how he keeps interrupting the flow of (bad) dialogue by describing the surroundings, which are actually thinly veiled metaphors to enforce the current events of the plot. Yeah sure, you're about to kill the bad guy, so you cut off to a kid flying a dragon kite...get it? Danger? Dragon? Bad guy?! If you don't get this you're dumb. Its annoying and obtrusive, but there's really no better way to communicate what's going on without condescending narrative that actually makes you feel smart and dumb at the same time. Koontz is a genius. All this coupled with the "rants', and you've got the most soulless work of fiction ever.
The characters are also dirt flat. Apart from talking like Dean Koontz, they really don't have any other qualities to make that distinction any less terrifying. The two main characters also have the most anticlimactic "revelations" ever conceived. You'd think after bearing with their boring cynicism and their penchant for responding in questions over and over again for so many pages you'd be rewarded with a s*** storm of character depth...nah. We're all such greedy Americans, we don't deserve a cohesive and exciting ending, right Dean Koontz? The good guy is every bit the title character, nothing more and certainly nothing more. The girl is...was angry about stuff. Biggest downer still is the fact that the reason for the people wanting her dead - obviously the biggest mystery in the whole novel - is about as satisfying as kissing your own skin. It has nothing actually to do with her personally, which actually steals from her character and makes the whole thing dull and pointless. I wont get into that. You can get underwhelmed on your own. And you will, because the story is as short and predictable and formulaic as it can possibly get.
In my opinion, the biggest offender is the villain. He's the real killer, miffed about having his identity borrowed and his hit stolen, he goes to finish the job (or DO the job...whatever). He actually starts off interesting. He's a super germaphobic narcissist who thinks he's a prince superior to mankind and killing is fun (what? you've seen American Psycho too?). He's also homeless and "borrows" other people's homes when they're away (because he's a prince and entitled to it), sniffing their underwear and peeing on things he doesn't like and going through mirrors...okay everything pretty much falls apart after that. Lets not forget that he also doesn't have a past, like literally. Dean Koontz figured he could shave off some hours of work on this thing by conveniently leaving out any useful background on the MAIN VILLAIN that would have given us insight into how he ended up this way in the guise of AMNESIA that is never ever explained. But thats okay, because there are whole chapters (about a thousand) dedicated to him squatting in other people's houses. After every failed murder attempt, he likes to put his feet up and do the laundry and pretend that everything is alright because he's a god who urinate on other people's things and eats their pie. Rinse and repeat all of that for a few dozen more chapters (who needs background right?). He actually becomes boring. While you still know he is whacked out evil (because the fact is pounded into you every two chapters), he becomes nothing more than a passing sneeze by then, for it is easier to be annoyed by him than to actually hate him. You know that he dies too. Like...obviously. Its also not in the way you might expect because its completely without fanfare. There's no reevaluation of beliefs, no powerful revelation, no doubts, regrets, one final line, nothing. He dreams about mirrors for three paragraphs and dies. Pretty much all that focus on his creepy killer nomad lifestyle serves no purpose because he pretty much just gets popped like a bubble, and thats it. Done. One more pointless plotline excised without reason? Check.
Also, for such a top class hitman whose never once lost a target, he sure screws up a lot. Laughably so. Its not just him either, the good guys are also inconsistently stupid. For all their ingenuity, they are dumb enough to pay for a room with a CREDIT CARD. You can trick incompetent super killers to look for you in the wrong room (which happens a lot), but you somehow failed to remember that credit cards can be tracked? Good lord.
Going back to the setup, everything attached to it is also one huge WTF? Supposedly, (SPOILERZ!!!) the killer is in the employ of some shady organization that helps him out with butchering targets. They provide him with locations, vehicles, and even fresh clothes that they just deliver to whatever unoccupied abode that he happens to be residing in, all with a few coded text messages. The whole concept fails because this is also the same exact organization that demands his services...like, huh? They are his clients...but also his associates. Okay...I get the whole idea of having your own sociopathic puppet to kill for you (and I guess helping them out?), but then what the hell is the deal with meeting in the bar? If you can provide assistance, no matter what the time or place, ranging from cleaning up corpses to giving away expensive cars with relative ease (all of which should cost well over 10,000 dollars...), why would you need to meet in a bar with cash upfront if he was already your employee in the first place? In fact, why do you even need to have some bumbling psychopath to take out targets for you in the first place if you already know where everyone is at any given time and able to work in such efficiency? If this was supposed to make any sense, this whole thing would have never happened. And you know what, I really wish the universe could correct itself so easily. But alas, such stains can never be washed out.
This story is an incompetent, generic, whiny mess, and I really expected more from Dean Koontz. Sadly, his mind seems to he going in the way of Sidney Sheldon in his old age in that he's more than content to release half drafts of his books to release every year instead of writing something that's actually worth reading, or at least like the things he wrote before the ego and security kicked in. For someone who moans so much about the lack of productivity and industriousness in the American youth today (yes...he mentions that in this book too...), he sure writes like on of those youths.
Book Review: Amazing Dean Koontz
Summary: 5 Stars
I loved this book! I had gotten away from reading Dean Koontz, because i'm not a fan of the "Odd" books or the Christopher Snow books. However, Velocity, The Husband and now The Good Guy are what i look forward to in a Dean Koontz novel. I thought the relationship between Timothy Carrier and Linda Paquette was beautiful. And the way Mr. Koontz was able to impart a sense of humor in the midst of edge of your seat suspense shows what a masterful story teller he is.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: Awesome Book
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an amazing book. Once I started reading this book I couldn't put it down just like all the other books by Dean Koontz. He keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the whole book. Love the perfect balance between love and action. I love how Tim always made the right decisions and he was a tough guy when he needed to be. This book is definitely a must buy and a must read.