Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Three short, simply worded sentences in I found myself thinking, I can deal with murder, mayhem, and treachery but please don't kill off the dog. Whether or not Harley would make it to the end was enough suspense to keep me turning the pages. And this isn't a story about the dog. The real suspense involves a "feral" boy of 12, Crispin, who lives in the wilds of a large city and guided by the dog is attempting to outrun his mother and stepfather and the memories that make the deviltry in "Rosemary's Baby," seem almost benign. No kid should be exposed to what Crispin witnessed three years earlier involving his younger sister Mirabell and brother (also named) Harley. Now he's running for his life, in flight from the supernatural and living by his wits and daring. This is the first I've read from Koontz in several years and I remember now how he manages tells a story simply and builds suspense incrementally slipping easily into a world at once as ghostly as it is real. At times you feel as if you're reading a fairy tale. "Yet life is good. Oh, it is grand. The children eat only what they like. They go to bed only when they wish. Each rises to his or her own clock." The story accelerates as the suspense builds and Koontz delivers, as usual, an ending that is powerful, cathartic and noisy. Crispin is living in a world out of harmony with itself and his determination to uncover the nature of truth and reality is as strong as his will to survive. As for the fate of the dog? You'll need to find that out on your own.