Dean Koontz - Velocity

Normally, I don't read much pop fiction, but every now and then, I'll have a book suggested to me to read. Its not that I don't like authors like John Grisham, Tom Clancy, or Michael Crichton – on the contrary, they tell wonderful stories – but its just that I know that many times, their stories will get turned into movies, and I can catch them on the big screen. However, I have taken a break from my normal reading patterns lately to indulge in some newer, popular books. And this is how I came to pick up a copy of Dean Koontz' thriller, Velocity. I did not know what to expect, but what I got was a gripping page-turner that kept me guessing until very end!

The main character in the story is Billy Wiles, a mild-mannered bartender, who all but gave up on a promising writing career when his fiancee tragically fell into a coma. He lives his life now in a quiet town in northern California, while holding out hope that his beloved will recover. His quiet life, however, is about to take some wild, turbulent turns. As he's leaving work one day, he finds a note on his windshield, which says:

If you don't take this note to the police and get them involved, I will kill a lovely blond schoolteacher somewhere in Napa County. If you do take this note to the police, I will instead kill an elderly woman active in charity work. You have six hours to decide. The choice is yours.

At first, he didn't know what to make of it. He thought it might be a joke played on him by another bartender. He takes it to a friend of his, a deputy sheriff named Lanny, who agrees with him that its probably just a joke. They both blow it off. That is, until the next day, when a schoolteacher is found murdered. Suddenly, Billy finds himself centerstage in a sick, murderous game engineered by some kind of psychopath. As the story goes on, he receives further communications from "the freak" (his name for the killer), with each new choice coming closer and closer to home, until the story comes to a climax in the last few chapters.

A book like this cannot be described in too much detail because it would ruin the suspense that Koontz expertly manages to create. Nearly every chapter ends with a perfectly crafted amount of drama that urges the reader onward. At times, I really had trouble putting the book down, because I kept wondering, "what next?" My only gripe was that I found a certain aspect of the killers' identity to be a bit cheesy, but it was a small complaint in an otherwise superb book. Rarely have I read a book that was so fluid and engaging. Koontz' writing style is plainly worded, while at the same time vividly descriptive. There were certain scenes that gave me the heebie-jeebies, because I could clearly picture some of the more, uh, graphic, situations where Billy found himself.

Overall, this is a great book that I am very glad I read. I would recommend this to just about anyone, even those who do not particularly like suspense novels. This one would be a great start. It is solidly entertaining and doesn't require any real mental exertion to read. Koontz really knows how to turn his readers into passengers on a very exciting ride. Having never read him, I was impressed enough with Koontz' that I may seek out some of his other works in the future. From what I gathered from current Koontz fans that have read this, it is definitely among his best works. For me, I give the book Four and a half stars.