I see.....death! (The Vision - Dean Koontz)

Member Name: paulhanton

Product:	The Vision - Dean Koontz
Date:	22/09/09 (126 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great pace, not too long.

Disadvantages: Could have had a bit more suspense.

The Vision

Dean Koontz

2007 edition, originally penned 1977.

I have a bit of a love/hate thing going on with Koontz ever since I read some of his 'Odd' series, which I was not too enamoured with, however, after reading some of his older stuff I have grown quite fond of this thriller/come horror/come supernatural/come sci fi writer and have decided to keep reading....after all....if it works, do more of it.

At 280 pages this is not a mammoth read by any stretch of the imagination, yet seems to pack an awful lot in........


~~~The Plot~~~

We have two central characters, Mary Bergen, a clairvoyant who helps police solve murders and missing persons, and Mary's new husband Max who is an ex bruiser and drinker who used to get into loads of bar fights but now looks out for and after Mary.

We have some bit players such as Mary's brother, Alan, who used to look out for her before Mary and Max's whirlwind romance and wedding....Max comes on the scene, get Mary paid for her efforts by police forces, TV stations, publishers and the like and slowly Alan decides he is surplus to requirements and dips out having made it clear to Max that he does not like him.

Mary has visions and Max 'guides' her through the visions which can often pinpoint vital evidence such as number plates or street names, this can lead to the perpetrators getting caught and/or relatives getting some closure.

Mary is also in long term therapy having been traumatised in childhood (I'll let you discover how), which may or may not have led to the development of her psychic powers.

She starts to have really strong visions and unlike others, theses are not just visual and auditory but she can actually feel the pain of a number of murder victims. She starts to sense that there is real evil at work and knows, just knows that it is close to her, part of her past, present and future. She is in a race against time to stop the killer before the killer gets at her, of that she is sure.........


~~~Opinion~~~

This is Koontz at his best. For a start, the writing, though minimalist in length is rich in description, though not overpoweringly so, it is, well, just right.

We get a nice pace to the story from the very beginning, and though he uses flashbacks and 'visions' as part of the narrative they are not confusing as these uses in stories sometimes are...they illustrate the story and that is all. This pace picks up throughout the book and then he leaves us to calm down for a bit, then picks up pace again, it really is well balanced for this.

There are many a turn along the way and I really did not know who the killer was right until the last few pages, my earlier surety, aided by a few Koontz clues was misplaced, I love that, he tricked me till the end.

I do like that he only used a few central characters too, I have become disillusioned with great complex thrillers that take a week to read and are more sub plots than plot and more red herrings than a Soviet butchers.

All that being said, though the pace is great, I guess a little more tension in some of the final scenes would have been good, you'll see what I mean when you get there. Not a great put off, just trying to be well balanced in my opinion.

This is a good, straightforward, easy to follow, exciting murder mystery with a bit of paranormal thrown in, well done Mr Koontz, you are still in my good books, pun intended.

Summary: Dean koontz and the clairvoyant