Relentless

In spite of the edge of your seat terror, the family depicted are adorable. Well worth reading.

Bestselling novelist Cullen "Cubby" Greenwich has just gotten a scathing rotten review of his latest book ONE O'CLOCK JUMP" from critic Sherman Waxx. Waxx is an important critic and though the other reviews of his book have been good, this one sticks in Cubby's craw. His wife tells him to forget it, to just let it be, but Cubby can't. When he finds out where Waxx is having lunch one day he takes his son with him to the restaurant to check out Waxx. Big mistake. Cubby and son decide that Waxx looks creepy and decide to leave, but encounter him in the restroom, where Waxx looks at Cubby and says one word, "Doom". And so it starts for Cubby, his family and their dog. Waxx rains terror down on them and before long they're running for their lives. Waxx is relentless, the suspense builds, the tension mounts. As usual Koontz grabs you by your innards right from the start and tightens his grip on you as you roll through the pages. He's relentless that way. He just keeps piling it on, sucking you into the story with his believable and frightened characters and his terrifying bad guys and Sherman Waxx is about as terrifying as they come.

Once again, I've come face to face, or nose to page as the case may be, with "the master." An entire year of reading other authors' books has deprived me of this thrill, this high, this bow-down-to-the-best-writer-on-earth sensation. I've missed it. Frankly, it's been so long, I didn't even remember how much I missed it! This week, I had the intense pleasure of reading Relentless by Dean Koontz. Blazed through it in two sittings. Glued to the pages, mesmerized by the story and the writing, I whipped through the chapters with eyes wide open and heart pounding. As fast as I read, I also stopped to savor every witty conversation. I lusted after each poetic passage. I marveled at his ability to keep me hanging off the cliff for the whole damned story. And of course, I underlined a hundred passages. Reading this type of book is how I learned to write, how I continue to hunger for his level of craftsmanship, how I push myself harder and harder. Damn, he's good. "The lead-gray sky of the previous afternoon, which had looked as flat and uniform as a freshly painted surface, was deteriorating. Curls of clouds peeled back, revealing darker masses, and beards of mist hung like tattered cobwebs from a crumbling ceiling." "Curls of clouds?" I LOVE that. "Beards of mist?" Divine. How many times have I described the sky or mist in my books? Dozens upon dozens. But my brain never came up with "curls of clouds." Here's another genius passage, once again describing the sky. "High in the steadily blackening sky, a silent convulsion broke the string in an infinite necklace, and fat pearls fell through the day, bouncing on the slate patio, dimpling the water in the harbor, rattling the gulls off the seawall to sheltered roosts." Sigh. See what I mean? "Fat pearls fell through the day." "Rattling the gulls off the seawall." Magic. Genius. Sheer beauty. Of course, Koontz's rising and plummeting, rocking and rolling, constant fast heartbeat action is renowned. Even more so here, with shocking, luscious secrets unveiled partway through the story about a writer who gets a really bad review by a reviewer-turned-psycho. It escalates so fast from there, my head spun for the rest of the thrill ride. Koontz is also a master at dialog. He's just about the best I've ever read, and I particularly love his page long passages of dialog that contain not one tag or beat. Just quotes. Clear. Concise. Never a doubt who's talking. That's Koontz. Of course, his sense of humor slays me. Check out this description of a very huge man. "As usual, he wore a vibrant Hawaiian shirt, khaki pants, and sneakers. The shirt presented an acre of lush palm trees silhouetted against a sunset; and one of his shoes could have carried the baby Moses down the river more safely than an ark full of bulrushes." More than once I laughed out loud, waking up my poor wife who was trying to sleep. (Sorry, hon! Don't blame me. Blame Dean Koontz!) As writers, we need this kind of literary shaking up a

Finally, finally, finally. This book was really good. Really suspensful, yet beautifully written. Excellent vocabulary. I really liked the character development, and I loved how it was in 1st person. I have been a fan of Dean Koontz for years and I felt really sad about his last few books, I thought he had gone off the deep end and was through with writing, they were so terrible. But then he writes something like this. I read this book in three sittings, and as I was leaving the coffee shop after I finished it, I found myself rereading the last few paragraphs, just to relish the feeling, since it had been so long since I felt this good after finishing a book. It was 'spooky', violent at times, and completely unpredictable. I will definitely add this to my list of must read Koontz recommendations.

Koontz is the only author I've read that can write a suspenseful, terror filled book that can make you laugh out loud! I loved this book! Koontz always manages to endear us readers to his protagonists, blending horror and humor, love and fear, loyalty and danger, adding a big dose of compassion and common sense. In short, his characters are not only the people we want to meet and befriend, but also they're the kind of people we'd like to be. (Cubby and Penny, that is.... not Shearman, unless you're sort of the sociopathic, cuckoo type. Then I guess that old Shearman would be your hero,huh?) The lightheartedness and humor that Cubby and Penny fill their lives with comes shining through in this story. Filled with fascinating, eccentric, lovable characters, Relentless is aptly named. The Greenwich's dogged determination to keep their family safe, loved and happy contrasts with Shearman Waxx's relentless intention to destroy them. And we readers are taken for a thrilling and "relentless" ride.

Koontz's newest book reminds me of his early stuff. After the last few books, I was feeling really tepid toward Koontz. His writing used to be predictable- always a thriller with a twist and great characterization. His more recent work has tasted a bit flat to me- almost as if he was trying to be contemplative and instead coming off sophomoric. Earlier books were very entertaining and always interesting, not necessarily fantastic literature but very adroit at entertaining the reader and hard to put down. When I first started reading "Relentless", I thought, "Here we go again." We are introduced to the sweet but goofy Cubby who, coincidentally, is a writer. His wife, Penny, is the tough and capable daughter of survivalists and author of children's books featuring a rabbit with big ears. They, of course, have a child who is, at the tender age of six, a genius of the highest degree and currently working on a project he is unable to even begin to explain to his dad. They have a very lovable dog who also seems to be very special. Cubby and family are plunged into a nightmare when the infamous Shearman Waxx, reclusive book critic, reviews Cubby's recently released book and skewers it. Despite Penny's warnings to "let it go", Cubby just can't. When he finds out that the reviewer frequents a restaurant where he and his family dine, he goes to lunch hoping to check the guy out. A brief encounter in the restaurant bathroom soon has Cubby wishing he'd followed his wife's advice. Catastrophe ensues and Cubby and his litttle family are soon on the run from absolute evil of mythical proportions that seems to have practically supernatural resources. Waxx makes for quite the sinister boogeyman and despite my initial misgivings, Cubby, his wife and kid and the group of eccentric family and friends that aid their flight and search for answers in a race to save their lives, turn out to be quite endearing. They have no idea what's coming for them and they must keep on the move and their wits about them to avoid, not just death- but a terrible one. Koontz injects a hefty dose of what appears to be his light-up-the-darkness philosophy into the book. Cubby, despite his goofiness and mechanical ineptitude, has a dark secret in his past that makes his comedic and wonder-filled contribution to the literary world all the more amazing given what he has overcome. An easy read- the time will fly by(read this straight through). Once past the initial chapters, the thriller aspect grabbed me and held me. Koontz likes to leave his reader hanging at the end of the chapter- something major just happened but nope, you're not going to find out until you readd the next chapter. So, if you aren't going to read it straight through, I imagine it would be fun to jump back into it with a new chapter. Koontz does a good job developing his characters which is ultimately very necessary to suspend disbelief because some very unbelievable things take place in this book