Relentless

by Dean Koontz

You all know I am a big Dean Koontz fan. I pre-ordered this book from amazon.com and told my husband so he wouldn't pick it up at Wal-Mart. He did anyway. We kept the receipt so we could return it. When the one I ordered didn't show up I checked on amazon. Lo, and behold, I didn't actually order it because it was still in the cart. So I threw away the receipt and lent the book to my daughter. A few days later, Relentless showed up in the mail from amazon! So I got back on the computer and sure enough I had pre-ordered it, but I had also put it in the cart sometime later to pre-order it again. Cheezzzz!
So we ended up with 2 of the same books - a whoopsabooksy!

The daughter who is reading Relentless has a hard time getting into a book so I suggested this one and told her it would grab her by page three. Was I ever wrong on that point. Relentless starts off at a slow-let's-get-to-know-everyone pace. (I didn't start to read the 2nd copy until Kristi was already on page 30.) Luckily, she's been really busy and hasn't had time to read any further. Somewhere around page 50 the intensity begins to build and as I read further into the book I realized this story is going to keep her up at night. She tends to worry and I knew that the idea of a seemingly omniscient character being in the bedroom while the main character and his wife are sleeping, as well as what he plans to do to them was not the best thing for her to ponder.

I thought this book was relentless at times. There were sections of the book that were slow, but overall, I liked it. Luckily, I don't get creeped-out or have nightmares. One of the things I like about Koontz books is the portrayal of good and evil. There are times in his book when you feel like the evil is too great, not just in the book but in real life, but by the end of each book I feel a sense of hope. There are things that we can do to combat the evil and darkness, there is a reason to fight a good fight and there are reasons to hope.

I marked several passages with book-darts, but I'll just share two:

"It's just that he made so many mistakes. And his sytax is so bad. I could really eviscerate him."
"Dear, the man can't be eviscerated because he has no viscea. He's a walking colon. If you cut him open, you only end up covered in crap."

Among other things, my past had taught me that the very fact of my existence is a cause for amazement and wonder, that we must seize life because we never know how much of it remains for us, that faith is the antidote to despair and that laughter is the music of faith.