Like every Dean Koontz book, The Good Guy (2007, Bantam Books, 447 pages) provides an entertaining, sometimes thrilling, read. Even so, it can't rival his best novels.
The prolific Koontz consistently crafts realistic page-turners. This time his hero, Tim Carrier, the good guy in the title, is a modest construction worker intent on minding his own business. But one night at the Lamplighter Tavern, he's trapped in a case of mistaken identity. A stranger hands him a money-filled envelope and a photo of Linda Paquette, a woman to be killed. “Ten thousand now,” the man says. “You get the rest when she's gone.
“Although he had just finished a beer, Tim's mouth was salt-dry and lemon-sour. His heart beat slowly but unusually hard, booming in his ears.”
Should Tim walk away and forget the incident, or intervene to help the damsel in distress? “Maybe the money wasn't greasy, but that was how it felt.”
Before Tim leaves the bar, the real assassin arrives. With considerable savvy, the hero bluffs through another unsettling encounter.
The author's flair for descriptive detail carries his readers into every scene. Initially, everyone enjoys unwinding at the Lamplighter.
“The air smelled of stale beer and fresh beer, of spilled brine from the big sausage jar, of bar wax and shuffleboard powder…. The warm bath of agreeable scents, the illuminated Budweiser clock and the soft shadows in which he sat, the murmurs of the couples in the booths behind him and the immortal voice of Patsy Cline on the jukebox were so familiar that by comparison his own home would seem to be foreign territory.”
Ultimately, The Good Guy turns into little more than a prolonged chase. Tim alerts Linda, and together they flee with the killer, a talented and treacherous man of many aliases, never far behind.
“Krait felt brilliantly alive, full of a gratifying fire, as a forge is filled with fire but not consumed by it. Dealing death did that for him.”
Tim and Linda's options look limited. “Currently, the world was nothing but box canyons.” There are plenty of evil intentions, gunshots and brushes with death.
Luckily, a few humorous moments emerge too. Tim's friend Pete, who tries to help, owns a dog named Zoey. “His mom was a bad cook. She was a worse baker. The brownies tasted all right, but they were hard enough to break teeth.... Zoey squirmed into the knee space under the desk and slept on his feet. She didn't beg for any of the brownies. A wise dog.”
A huge question lingers, hanging like a chilly mist. Did Tim choose wisely, or will being “the good guy” get him killed?
Surprisingly, Tim shows powerful survival skills. But by hiding details about the hero's violent past, Koontz sends his readers off with a leading man they don't know or understand. There's also a problem of huge loose ends knotted together too neatly, maybe unrealistically, within the final few pages.
Originally from Pennsylvania, Koontz has penned dozens of great books, like The Husband, Forever Odd, By the Light of the Moon, Mr Murder, Cold Fire, The Bad Place, Shattered, Dark Rivers of the Heart and Demon Seed. He lives in California.
Although not the author's best story, The Good Guy flexes enough word-brawn that book-buyers will continue to reach for Koontz novels.
Approval rating: 73 per cent.
For more information: www.bantamdell.com or www.deankoontz.com
(September 11, 2008)
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