Review: The City by Dean Koontz

First, thanks to Random House/Bantam Dell and Netgalley for allowing me to read an e-galley of this title.  Dean Koontz will always be one of my all time favorite authors.  And while a couple books ago I was a bit disappointed, that changed with the last one, Innocence, and now this one, The City, has totally won me back over.

I loved this story.  It was such a good story, and it moved along at the perfect pace.  There was plenty of suspense, and it was good to see things didn't happen quite the way expected, but in a way that was just as, if not more, satisfying.  There were still some of the major losses that you would expect with a Koontz story, people you loved, and hated to have to see disappear.  But then there were others that stuck around, even when you just knew, based on all the foreshadowing, that something horrible must be able to befall them. 

The main character is Jonah Kirk, or you might like his given name from his dead beat father, Jonah Ellington Basie Hines Eldridge Wilson Hampton Armstrong Kirk.  All names of famous musical artists, ones that Jonah's grandpa on his mom's side would be a big fan of.  His father did this to try to get in good with his wife's parents.  Didn't quite work, as Grandpa Teddy kind of saw it for what it was.  Fortunately for Jonah, he had the possibility of living up to that name with his own musical talent.  But at first his father didn't seem to want him to, or at least his father was afraid that his grandfather would turn Jonah against him.  Jonah's dad soon left, but then would come back.  Until one time that his mom caught him visiting the woman who lived in the apartment above them.  Then his mother knew it was time to be done with the man.  Now Jonah had some magical types of things that happened to him, as in all good Dean Koontz stories you would expect.  He was given a little charm by a cab driver that seemed to have good luck.  He had this woman he named Miss Pearl that would come up to him on very rare occasions and talk to him.  She might help him out, as she did the first time, helping him to find a piano at the community center that he could finally begin to learn to play on.  But other times she came when he was dreaming, and the dreams she gave names to the people in them, and told him whether they were dreams of things to come, or things that had already happened.  The people in these dreams would become a part of his life soon, but not in good ways.  One, the bad man that he saw the things from the past from, he wouldn't really come into contact directly much until the end of all this.  The other, the woman, he would come into close contact, and she was pretty scary. This story took place during all the Civil Rights unrest in the US.  And Jonah is a young, black boy.  He makes friends with a Japanese man that lives in the same apartment complex. Although he does go about it in a kind of self serving way.  He wants to enlist the man in his keeping track of this evil woman.  In the end they become really good friends, Mr. Yoshioka almost a bit of a father figure, definitely someone Jonah knew and loved as much as a family member. 

The group of characters in this book were all colorful and so easily loved or hated.  While there was no animal really in this story, somewhat unusual for a Koontz story, overall it still was a great cast of people to build a story around.  I think that the amount of background spent on most of the characters and storylines was perfect.  Maybe a bit more time spent on one side character, but what was learned through that branch definitely added to the story.  I can once again go out and announce to the world that Dean Koontz is one of my favorite, as well as one of the best authors out there.

Innocence by Dean Koontz

First of all thanks to Bantam Publishing and Edelweiss for allowing me to read an e-galley of this.  I must admit I'm a bit behind on my Dean Koontz books, well at least the Odd Thomas ones.  But when I saw a chance to get to read a Dean Koontz book early through Edelweiss I jumped at the chance!  You see I'd probably rank Dean Koontz as one of the authors I most want to meet, but one that I rarely see any opportunities to meet.  And you know from following my blog that I try to meet every author I get the chance to.  This was a good story, much quicker and easier to read than the last one that I did struggle through a bit, 77 Shadow Street.
Our main character is a man named Addison Goodheart.  Addison has lived a hard life.  When he was born, there was something so horrific about him that the midwife and her assistant wanted to kill him.  His mother didn't let them, and sent them away.  But even she had trouble having him around and looking at him.  Once he reached a certain age, she made him live outside the house, in the forest, often he would sleep in the garage.  Once in awhile she would call him up to talk with her and she'd tell him things about her past.  But then one day she called him up to tell him she couldn't live with him even that close anymore, and she told him to leave.  He did, because he loved his mother, and knew she loved him in her own way.  On the way, he heard a gunshot, and knew that she had killed herself.  Whether it was something she'd planned, or if she just couldn't bear having to send her son away, he didn't know.  As he traveled, he came upon people that would hurt him.  One time he saw a man that had been beat almost to death, and he tried to comfort him.  But when this man looked into his eyes, he began to try to attack Addison, even though he was dying himself.  Also along the journey, there were some dogs, and while Addison had never had any trouble with the wild animals in the forest, he assumed that since dogs were tamed and the most like humans, that they, like humans would be repulsed and try to hurt him.  But that wasn't the case, as with all Dean Koontz books, the dogs are the good guys.  The dogs liked him and wanted to play with him, and maybe even would have traveled with him.  But when Addison heard a hunter's voice, he told the dogs to go back, and he ran as fast as he could to get away.  He hopped onto the back of a truck, and just stayed on it until it stopped.  Which was in a city.  In the city he ran into a man that was like him.  This man kind of adopted him, and became his father.
We join the actual story after Addison's father has died, and all these things we've learned through flashbacks.  Addison meets Gwyneth on one of  his late night forays into the city.  His father was given a key to the food bank, and also a good will for clothes.  And he also taught Addison how to get around the city at night without being seen.  Including visits to the library, so that they can find books to read.  As they must live underground, in a long forgotten room.  This night he is in the library when he sees a girl run past.  He hides, as he doesn't want anyone to see him, as that is dangerous for him.  And he soon hears a man that is chasing her.  The girl is able to give the guy the slip, and she ends up hiding in a secret room in the library.  Addison knows the room, and goes to knock on the door, and tell the girl that if she wants to talk to him, he will be in a specific area waiting for her.  Once they meet, he stays back, telling her that he doesn't want to be seen.  This works well as she also has a social type of phobia in that she doesn't want to be touched.  Both agree to do as the other has asked, and a sort of friendship begins.  One that also leads them both into more trouble, and to the main storyline of the book I guess.  I won't go much more into the story, just to say that what we are told may not be what really is, even based on what the characters themselves think not being true.  There are secrets to find, even in the tragedies that have occurred.  And in the end, could it be that Addison and Gwyneth's "shortcomings" could be what will save the world?
I like how we are given hints of what is actually happening through brief scenes of what is showing on the tv, or on a newspaper's headlines.  As I said before, as I was reading, I just remember how much I love the way Dean Koontz always makes the dogs good guys.  I love dogs, when I see one, I just want to pet it and hug it.  I own two dogs now, and can't imagine life without them, even in the midst of housebreaking one of them.  Truly, there is only one issue I had with the book, and it is the use of a term, that I did look up, but I'm not sure why it was needed.  The term is "groin-vaulted" ceiling.  Yes, it is a real term, and I looked up the pictures on line.  But not sure it really added to the story?  Was a kind of distraction to see that and picture in my mind what that might be before I actually looked it up.  But that is not the story, and as I said, the story was really good.  If you are a long-time Dean Koontz fan, I believe this is one you will really enjoy, as it hearkens back to his earlier books.