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(More customer reviews)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 and even some of the characters are a tad far-fetched. I so enjoyed his characters, though, that I willed them into the realm of possibly existing in my mind.
If you are a fan of the Koontz thrillers(Lightning, Watchers, Phantoms) you will enjoy this. If you are new to Koontz, I highly recommend those titles I've mentioned. This book has some good suspense(a la Robert Ludlum) and a twist of the unexpected(Stephen King lite). The book does contain several scenes that describe graphic murder scenes which are a bit disturbing. The message of the book, overall, however, is a very positive one(Koontz does get a little heavy-handed with preaching his world view but it does not detract from the overall storyline).
Koontz makes no small show of telling us that we should hang on to our senses of humor, love and moments of grace despite the murder, mayhem and madness of the world and thus we keep the darkness at bay and good wins out over evil.
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