Ticktock, Ticktock..... (Dragon Tears - Dean Koontz)

Name: Boonoiy

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Product:	Dragon Tears - Dean Koontz
Date:	23/01/02 (352 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fast moving plot, Very scary at times (important for a horror book

Disadvantages: None

I have to admit that this is the only Dean Koontz book that I have read, expect no comparisons along the "In Koontz's inimitable style....." lines as I'm afraid I've none to make. This book is an old one and really stands out as a great in my mind, I was given it back in my teens as an antidote to the masses of Stephen King that I was reading back then, it really is brilliant and worth a read. Unfortunately, very few of the Koontz readers I've spoken to have heard of it, let alone read it.

This must change! If you like horror and the supernatural, you'll love this book.

Plot:
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Without going too deeply into things here:

Harry Lyon and Connie Gulliver are cops in the Special Project Department of Laguna Niguel, California. Following a shoot-out on their lunch break they run into a kid who seems enchanted by the sight of the bodies and the blood. Harry goes mad and sends the kid on his way - but there's something very special about Brian, something that no amount of training and firearms practice can prepare them for.

All of a sudden the world is a terrifying place to be in, a huge hobo has arrived in Harry's life and threatened to kill him and everybody he loves by dawn - this is the battle he has to fight. The hobo is no normal man, he's somewhat supernatural and seems to be able to stop time and metamophosise at will. With 16 hours to save his life and that of the people he loves Harry is somewhat stuck!

We get a lot of info about the hobo, the people that he torments and the effects he has on the world, Brian - the kid from the crime scene - is his master, and the hobo is a golem, almost unstoppable.

Throughout the book there's a theme of order fighting chaos, Connie is all for chaos while Harry is on the side of order, this makes for a great comparison between the two main characters and gets very engaging for the reader - will the monster b
e bested, or will it feed? Chaos or order - which will rule this night?

Characters:
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Harry - Tough but sensitive cop, lives for order and the maintenance of this. Joined the police to preserve order and slowly comes apart at the seams through the book's events.

Connie - Even tougher then Harry but totally distrustful of order, her own life has been so disorganised and unpredictable that she believes that there's nothing ordered about the world at all. Again changes throughout the events that transpire - see a more caring side develop and find out that she's got lots more to her than we believed at first.

Brian - The God becoming, a spoilt brat of a kid, independently wealthy with a lot of time to kill, he's vindictive, mean, jealous and just plain bad.

Brian's mother - The haggard old thing, hospitalised through a bad labour, which beget Brian, blind, old before her time and a very sorry character.

Janet - Homeless woman, her and her son have been living in their car since the violent events of her marriage, over 2 years ago. Tormented by the hobo and living in constant terror of authority. Eventually comes to her senses and finds the only 2 cops that would understand.

Sammy - Another street person. Ex-advertising executive who came down to a sorry end through a love of cocaine. Also lives in terror of the hobo.

Woofer - The dog! A great character, we get a lot of his thoughts and the reasons he's doing things in the book (apparently Koontz does this a lot...?). He's a Labrador cross, living with Janet and the boy and very attached to them.

Lots of great characters in the book, all are well developed and very interesting.

Overall:
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As I said, this is the only Dean Koontz book I've read, it is a brilliant story with a lot of twists and turns and (if I haven't spoilt it by now) you'll be shocke
d with the way it all turns out.

The characters are great, the feeling of panic and worry and love and hatred are very well defined and the book takes you along at breakneck speed.

The plot is clever, even amusing at times (mainly Woofer's parts) and often touching.

I loved this book; I'd recommend it to fans of horror or any other horror writer, as this is one of those rare events - a book which you cannot put down.

Summary: