The Good Guy by Dean Koontz

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I haven’t read too much by Mr. Koontz, but keep getting recommendations to read his work. This one wasn’t specifically recommended but it was available as an e-audiobook through the library and that’s what I wanted. So I thought I’d give it a try.

I really liked the plot. It’s gripping.

I can’t really get my head around what to say about the characters and the dialogue. Linda is interested in culture from the 1930’s and that seems to color her personality. When she speaks, the cadence and word choice seem to be not of this time – maybe even not of this world. It seemed to me that Koontz was using this to make her remind the reader of another time whenever she spoke. Sometimes, though, it pulled me right out of the story and made me wonder about the setting.

When Linda speaks to Tim, he responds in appropriate ways. Which is to say that his dialogue seems out of time as well, though not to the extent of Linda’s. But even when he’s not speaking to her his dialogue is off. Every character has something about their dialogue that prevents me from believing it. It’s almost as if it were written for a film from another era. It has a cinematic sort of a feel to it.

So while the dialogue is unbelievable, it seems to fit in this fantastical world where all these strange things keep happening.

The book reminds me of an older crime/action movie. Of course the action and dialogue is unrealistic – realism isn’t the point. The point is to take you on a good ride. And Koontz does that.

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