Just bad

Every so often, I get the idea to read a book by Dean Koontz. I have encountered several enjoyable novels, but there is also a lot of dross. This book is one of those, it is page-turning dross that I hate myself for continuing reading.

A good novel can be written about extraordinary circumstances affecting ordinary people. Or extraordinary people, under ordinary circumstances. Or even ordinary people under ordinary circumstances.

What doesn't work for me is extraordinary circumstances that happen to extraordinary people, when the occurrence is pure chance - i.e. the circumstance has nothing to do with what makes the person extraordinary. Add in the fact that - again, purely by chance - the lead character's wife is also extraordinary in a different way, and their 6-year-old child is a precocious electronics expert who tells them ominously that if they leave him safely with a relative, they won't survive without him (and is taken seriously), and my patience wanes.

What really annoys me is that the basic plot - an incident between an author and a book critic leading to extreme and apparently pre-meditated violence - is quite interesting, and even now I want to know how the book ends.

This is not the first Koontz book that I have had this problem with, and I am determined not to be suckered like this again. Until, probably, the next one.

Title: Relentless

Author: Dean Koontz
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5

If I have kept track correctly, this is
the 25th Dean Koontz book I have
read. I guess that makes it a
landmark read for me.
I enjoy Dean Koontz. Always have.
There are clear distinctions in the
style of his books. His earlier
novels were darker than his recent
works. Not that any of his books
are particularly dark. Compared to
Stephen King, Koontz is outright
inspirational. But some of his older
works had a distinctly darker tone
than his more recent works.
Relentless follows gobs of familiar
Koontz motifs, the most obvious
being the chase, which he revisited
dozens of times. The typical (or
not) family dog, exceptional child,
and near perfect yet eccentric
loving family are all staples of
Koontz novels and feature
prominently here. In this one, a
crazy critic & his homicidal pals
decide to destroy a writer's life
because his writing doesn't fit with
their evil worldview. They have
done this many times before and
gotten away with it. Perhaps they
are connected in high places?
Another familiar Koontz situation is
the protagonist with a secret. It
seems that Koontz gives his
characters a deep dark secret in
every book these days. Luckily this
one differs somewhat from the oft
used A History of Violence-type
secret (by the way, if you haven't
seen that movie, you need to watch
it immediately) employed in recent
Koontz novels such as The Good
Guy.
I mentioned that his recent novels
have been less dark. In truth,
Koontz' more recent works have
been more jokey and lighthearted,
Relentless included, but there are
some macabre scenarios in this
book that somewhat hail back to
the Koontz of old. The deep dark
secret that our author Cubby
carries accounts for some of that,
and the tales of the past victims of
Shearman Waxx (ridiculous name)
provide the rest.
The family goes on the run and are
tracked by the psychopathic
enemies at every step along the
way. The truth about Mr. Waxx's
past victims, most of them dead
with their reputations destroyed,
emerges to the family as they
attempt to avoid a similar fate.
There are some mild supernatural
elements befitting a Koontz book,
but for the most part, this is
another straightforward story of a
scrappy family on the run and
overmatched. I've read this same
story with different names and
places a bunch of times already.
Koontz loves rewriting it,
apparently. That is not to say that I
did not enjoy the book. I did, & I did
not feel like I already knew the
ending. But the family on the run
formula is a little bit played. I
wasn't bored, and that was the
main thing. If someone is new to
Dean Koontz this might be a very
refreshing story. It is preposterous
for sure. But complaining that a
Koontz book is not believable is
just stupid (I read this complaint
from a reviewer online). The
unbelievability factor isn't a
deterrent from reading his books.
I guess I've been reading Dean
Koontz so long that I just enjoy his
voice. It is familiar and pleasant.
For all I know he may have been on
autopilot when he wrote this book.
If he was, then he's got a pretty
entertaining autopilot. It's a good
read. Nice and short. You probably
won't be laughed out of the Dean
Koontz fan club if you miss it, but
Relentless is a solid entry in his
ever growing catalog. Is it as good
as Watchers, From the Corner of
His Eye, or the Taking? Well, no. Is
it an entertaining and enjoyable
read? Absolutely.

A real page-turner. Epic writing as always.

Also loved this one! I felt that the story was similar to "Dark Rivers of the Heart" but with a different twist.

The whole time I was reading this book, I kept asking myself if I had already read it. There was so much that was familiar that I was more interested in figuring out if I'd read it before than engrossed in the plot. Then I realized, I just need to stop reading any more Koontz now, too much recycling for me.