The good, the bad, and the girl in between…

The Good Guy
Author: Dean Koontz
Publisher: Bantam
First released: 2007
Genre: Suspense/Crime
Format: Fiction/Hardcover
ISBN: 0553804812


----- Story Overview -----

Tim Carrier is one of those guys that just slips through life in the background, both by chance and by choice. He doesn’t like the limelight and prefers to sit on a stool in his favorite pub and simply reflect on life and matters both weighty and inconsequential. On this altogether average weeknight Tim is sitting on the end stool when a rather nervous looking man slips through the front door and into the dining room. Eyes darting around the room, his gaze finally locks onto Tim who is staring curiously in his direction. Making a beeline for the stool next to Tim, he sits down and makes nervous conversation for a few minutes. Finally getting to the point the stranger asks; “Are you him?” Currently in a good-natured mood and seeing no harm in playing along, Tim replies, “Who else would I be?” “You look so… ordinary.” The stranger replies. After a few moments of silence the stranger picks up his drink, chugs half the glass then pulls a manila envelope from his pocket and slides it down the polished wooden surface in Tim’s direction. Getting up to leave, the stranger calmly intones the words which will change Tim’s life as he knows it. “Half of it’s there. Ten thousand. The rest when she’s gone.”

Astonishment and then fear invoke a paralysis which makes speech or movement impossible for a few long moments. Just long enough that by the time he rushes to the door and looks both directions the stranger has vanished into the night. Returning to his stool Tim opens the envelope and gingerly removes its contents. As promised, a thick wad of hundred dollar bills slides out first. The only other object inside is a 5x7 photograph of an attractive woman who appears to be in her late 20s. On the back of the photo was a few lines of text that made the package finally seem real. Linda Paquette. That was her name and someone wanted her dead. An address was below the name. Her name was Linda. Actually it still is Linda… he was already referring to her in the past tense. A sudden feeling of dread overcame Tim as he realized what he’d just witnessed. He slid the photo into his pocket as he gazed at the slightly bulging envelope.

Thanks to his above average peripheral vision Tim finally registered that a new customer had just sat down on the stool recently vacated by the stranger with a death wish. The man turned slightly towards Tim with a icy smile and said, “You’re early.” The lock had turned, the door stood open, there was no going back now. Tim calmly replied, “I’m no longer sure I want to hire you.” Making direct contact with Tim’s eyes, the killer replies; “You don’t stop wanting this after you’ve gone this far.” Picking up the envelope the man turned and walked out the door. Realizing he still had the photo in his possession Tim raced to the door and arrived in time to see a car door slam across the street and lights. All thoughts of going to the police evaporated as he watched the car pull away. It was a white Chevrolet with government hubcaps and spotlights above the mirrors. As the killer accelerated away from the curb the rooftop rotator began to flash in a pattern familiar to crooks and citizens alike… the killer was a cop.

----- The OTHER Dean Koontz -----

Readers familiar with the more supernatural side of Koontz (Seize the Night, Lightning, The Taking, From the Corner of His Eye, The Door to December) might wonder what’s up with the true-crime style stories that have been flowing with relative frequency from the former master of suspense-thrillers. My answer is that Dean has just found a new way to exercise his writing talent and there’s no doubt it works. Intensity and Velocity were both excellent novels focused only on the fight between good and evil inside the human heart, nary a spirit or specter was found in either book. The Husband wasn’t quite as good although it did have its moments, however The Good Guy rises to the top as my favorite Koontz crime novel. It takes another everyman hero with internal demons (much like Chris Snow from Seize the Night) and depicts his choice to rise to the challenge at hand instead of taking the easy road and just getting by.

The main reason I like Dean K’s books is that he not only entwines the reader in the story world and creates intense nail-biting moments, he also inspires in a way few secular fiction authors can. The bad guy opposing The Good Guy (sorry, I couldn’t resist) is a sociopath plain and simple, in fact I would suggest his relation to the benevolent hitman Roy Mira from Dark Rivers of the Heart. Throughout this book Koontz time and again shows how in a situation both overwhelming and unbelievable at the same time, through faith and the power of love (not the lusty passionate kind, think love for your own family) an ordinary man can become the guy most men wish they could be. The Good Guy…

----- Bottom Line -----

There’s a bit of whimsical Camelot hiding in this book, even though it takes place in modern California. Most men I know would secretly jump at the chance to risk life and limb to save a beautiful young woman from death, whether they admit it or not. Thanks to the technological and societal advances of the modern world the closest most men will get to saving a damsel in distress is in the World of Warcraft role-playing universe. The fact there’s no love scenes or passionate interludes thrown in to pacify the publisher leaves this book as exactly what it should be. A story about two people brought together through a bizarre case of mistaken identity, whatever develops after that is for the reader to envision. That’s not to say the ending is an abrupt drop-off, I’d actually say Koontz gave the perfect closure without over-explaining things.

I highly recommend this book to all fans of Koontz and anyone looking for a genuine stand-up-and-cheer hero. The story is straightforward and you’ll have plenty of action to keep you tied to your chair. The dialog between characters isn’t overdone and wordy yet also not truncated for the sake of the action scenes. The Good Guy achieves a seldom found literary balance in pacing and theme that Dean Koontz has no trouble repeating, hence his long-lasting career and many fans. Currently only available in hardcover, it’s still worth the purchase price… sometimes Good Guys do finish first.


Related book links:

•Carsten Stroud: Black Water Transit
•Carsten Stroud: Cuba Straight

•Ted Dekker, Frank Peretti: House
•Ted Dekker: Black
•Ted Dekker: Red
•Ted Dekker: Three
•Ted Dekker: Blessed Child
•Ted Dekker: A Man Called Blessed

•Matthew Reilly: Scarecrow
•Matthew Reilly: Contest
•Matthew Reilly: Area 7
•Matthew Reilly: Ice Station

•Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child: Still Life With Crows
•Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child: Cabinet of Curiosities
•Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child: Brimstone
•Douglas Preston: Tyrannosaur Canyon
•Lincoln Child: Utopia

•Dean Koontz: The Taking
•Dean Koontz: Dragon Tears

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment!

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