Velocity by Dean Koontz (2005)
Unconvincing
Book cover blurb
Velocity is an astonishing, fast-moving story of an innocent man forced by a serial killer to choose who will be murdered next.
On the windscreen of his SUV, Billy finds the first note:
"lf you don’t take this note to the police and get them involved, I will kill a lovely blonde schoolteacher somewhere in Napa County If you do take this note to the police, I will instead kill an elderly woman active in charity work. You have six hours to decide. The choice is yours.”
Billy takes the note to an acquaintance, Lanny Olson, who is a policeman - he thinks the note is a prank. The schoolteacher dies. The next note reverses the scenario. Billy takes the note to the police, a mother of two young children will die. If he doesn't, an unmarried man who won't be much missed will die. Lanny Olson has to take this note seriously but the deadline runs out before he can decide what to do. Billy doesn't hear from him again because Lanny himself, unmarried, who will not be much missed, has become the next victim.
More communications from the killer follow, more hideous choices, with ever tighter decision times, and with each choice Billy is drawn deeper into an accelerating nightmare, which steadily becomes more personal, more confrontational, until he is isolated, with no one to turn to and no one to rely on but himself. Finally he must risk everything to save the intended victims…
My Review
I'm a huge fan of Dean Koontz, or at least I used to be.
In my twenties, he was pretty much all I read, and I loved everything!
But it's been a lot of years since I last read one of his books, and since I recently got back into reading after far too many years away, I had to get back to my Koontz days and grab one of his books I never got around to reading. There are only a couple on my shelves I have never read and Velocity grabbed my attention the most. I thought such a great premise couldn't fail in the hands of a writer like Koontz.
Maybe it's just because I'm older now, maybe my tastes have changed or I'm more honest with myself these days, but I have to admit I found this book somewhat lacking. I genuinely feel guilty saying that. Dean Koontz books are like my oldest and dearest friends and I hate to betray their memory, but the truth is, the ride wasn't as engulfing as I remember his books being.
Don't get me wrong, I still love his writing style, his injection of humour and the great characters, all that is still present in Velocity. It was a great book to read, but I wasn't really convinced. A large chunk of the book felt too much like filler to me, with Billy, the main character, running around doing things I really didn't think that character, or anyone for that matter, would actually do.
This is a decent book, maybe I'm just a little spoiled by the quality of all the other books I remember so fondly, but I have to admit this one didn't exactly make me giddy with excitement during my time with it.
I need to revisit some of my old favourites and convince myself they were as good as I remember. But, please bear in mind, this is simply my take on this book and you may have a completely different opinion.
My copy of this novel
Harper Collins hardback edition.
Published in 2005
397 pages
ISBN 9780007196968