A Real Tale of Cat & Mouse. (The Good Guy - Dean Koontz)

Member Name: wendybull

Product:	The Good Guy - Dean Koontz
Date:	07/04/08 (102 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Thoroughly absorbing with charcters you care about.

Disadvantages: Nothing

Tim Carrier lives a peaceful life. By day he is a stone mason and a good one at that, by night he sits quietly on the end bar stool in his friend's tavern, having a couple of beers and remaining anonymous. He likes it this way. He tells himself he is not lonely and does not need anyone else in his life. The fact that he is a huge, monster of a man, although a gentle giant, doesn't help his cause.

So when a strange man comes into the bar and gives him an envelope full of cash saying "you get the rest when she's dead", Tim just doesn't react quickly enough to relay to the other man that he is not who he thinks he is. Matters are worsened a few minutes later when the real killer arrives and thinks Tim is the "hirer". Desperately trying to stop the potential killing of this woman, Tim offers the man the money "not" to kill her.

He just doesn't realise that Krait, the killer, is persistent and actually takes pride in his work. A game of cat and mouse is on as Tim tries to save Linda Paquette, the mark, and Krait ruthlessly chases them down.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story of pursuit. It was non-stop and everything I read in each chapter was thrilling and interesting. I never once read a chapter or even a paragraph that I thought was mamby pamby, as Koontz can sometimes draw out in me. There were no long winded descriptions of how the sun rose over the mountains or any other pretty scene setting like this. It was cold hard thriller writing and kept me absorbed from start to finish.

I loved the character of Tim. He made me feel exceptionally safe when reading about him and I was grateful that Linda was with him and Tim had decided to try and save her from Krait. He is a massive man and in a lot of ways in the physical description we get and for physical similarities only he kept reminding me of Blaze or John Coffey (the huge characters from Stephen King's books) but he was certainly not slow in the brain area like Blaze or Coffey, and was brilliantly clever in his actions to get away from Krait. It was hard to accept that he wasn't simple in the beginning as it is such a stereotype in the books I read, but after a few chapters I settled in with Tim's character and found my feet.

Krait on the other hand was easy to accept right from the start. A total nutter! He really is shown to be a cold calculated and very capable killer. We are shown through chapters dedicated to Krait, things that have happened in the past with his victims. These are revealed through Krait's thoughts and as he is a total megalomaniac he is constantly thinking back to past "victories" and ideas he might like to try out on new targets before he finishes them off. Some of these are pretty nasty and although I am not easily offended or shocked, his torture methods will upset some people. Krait is brutal, no two ways about it and absolutely relentless in his pursuit of Linda and Tim. The more you read the more you actually hate him and love the others. It is not often I feel that way about a character in a book, but Krait really did have me wanting to pop a shot off, from a safe distance, and get rid of him.

I loved the way the chapters were split between Carrier & Linda and then the killer - Krait. It really helped separate the pursuer and the pursued and I found myself looking forward to each chapter in turn so I could learn the next step in both their plans. It wasn't always totally in turn and sometimes you get a couple of chapters on Linda and Tim, then back to the killer, but when they are in the chase it is definitely separation by chapters that brings this story alive. Coupled with the fact that each chapter was not too long in length, it never dwelled for too long on one instance and kept the pace up the whole time.

I think this book would make an excellent film. I could just imagine the whole relentless efforts of all three main characters shown through an action packed film. Something to think about???

Anyway - if you like Koontz or any pursuit type books this is a highly recommended read.

Summary: RECOMMENDED xx