Velocity: Koontz, Dean
Dean Koontz is back, thrilling readers with his new thriller, Velocity.
Jul 21, 2006
A mysterious stranger in a bar, a crotchety old man named Ned and Billy Wiles, the local bartender, set the scene for Velocity. Eavesdropping on their conversation, we learn that Billy is a "live and let live" kind of guy - letting other people worry about their own lives and trying to remain completely uninvolved. This a perfect personality for a bartender, but when the stakes go up to include human lives with Billy holding sway over the outcome, his philosophy on living is thrown out the window.
Faced with the reality of his moral dilemma, Billy turns to his friend - police officer Lanny Olsen. When Billy shows him the notes he's been getting telling him the choice between two lives is his to make, both men think it is someone's idea of a sick joke. Soon, the men find that this is no laughing matter, as the first victim dies right on schedule, chosen by Billy's moral inertia.
As the story progresses, the stakes go up, with each murderous decision decreasing the time frame to Billy's own promised demise at the hands of the mad man. Kept on the edge of your seat, you wonder if Billy can increase the velocity of his moral development before the killer increases the velocity and number of those he murders.
Ticking aloong at a brisk clip, this book is one of Koontz's best in recent years. After a slump during which he wrote several books that were more dreamscape / fantasy than horror / thriller, it's nice to see he's moved back toward the genres in which he shines.
Tags: Dean Koontz Velocity
