Customer Reviews

The Good Guy (Random House Large Print)

5 star:		(109)
4 star:		(61)
3 star:		(36)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

First off, there is nothing supernatural in this book. That deserves to said up front, as some people prefer Koontz when he is writing in a different vein.
This was one of the most riveting suspense novels I've read lately. The basic dilemna? A guy walks into a bar and is mistaken for a hired killer. He tries to pay off the REAL killer and, for a time, it seems as if this will work. But the killer catches on and the chase is on, as "the good guy" tries to save a beautiful woman from death.
To add to the intrigue, she has no idea why anyone would want her killed. Neither does he, of course. So they have to keep running from a guy who seems to be almost psychic, a man with connections that run deeper than could ever be expected.
I loved the way each character practically jumped off the page, the interaction between them and more. The subtle details Koontz adds are what separates him from other, less skilled writers. His writing is also tight, tense and neither stereotypical or too dense. Take this one with you this summer or have it on hand for times when you want a good read. You won't be disappointed!
Other Koontz books worth checking out:

The Husband

Brother Odd (Odd Thomas Novels)

Koontz has become very adept at giving his readers a suspense novel that features a unique, high concept idea. The opening chapter of The Good Guy sets up yet another intriguing concept. A man in a bar is mistaken for a hired killer and given $10,000 and information on a woman he is to murder. Before our hero realizes what has happened, the man is gone. Moments later the real killer sits beside him and Tim (our hero) passes the killer the money but tells him he has changed his mind and no longer wants the woman killed. It doesn't take the killer long to realize that a mistake was made and soon he is after the woman and Tim who is determined to save her life.

It's a clever concept, but Koontz doesn't do enough with it. The bulk of the novel is a straightforward series of chance scenes. Koontz builds suspense effectively enough, but there are few significant twists and turns in the plot, and those that are provided are not entirely satisfying. The mystery, as to why this woman has been targeted for murder, is unlikely and wafer thin.

The most nagging irritant for me is that the opening sequence in the bar, which serves as the foundation of the novel, makes no sense when we learn more about the killer. The killer works for people he communicates with whenever he needs information, fresh clothes, or some collateral damage cleaned up, yet the original contact is made in person in a bar. This is completely inconsistent with everything else we know about the killer and the people who hired him. The obvious reason for this is that Dean needed an in-person exchange to occur so that Tim could get mixed up in the action.

The bottom line: If you can excuse the flawed premise to the novel and are willing to accept a highly improbable (and somewhat anticlimactic) resolution, The Good Guy is an unexceptional but solid suspense novel.

But it could have been so much better. Dean had a great concept for this novel but (while he comes close) he doesn't quite deliver with The Good Guy.

"Good Guy" Tim Carrier, a mason by trade with a body (and head) like John Wayne, finds his low-key lifestyle interrupted by a bizarre barroom encounter, during which he's handed an envelope full of money and kill instructions intended for a contract killer. Forced to make the first of what will be many quick life-or-death decisions, Tim removes the target's photograph and address from the envelope and attempts to call off the kill minutes later, when the real assassin arrives at the bar, by posing as the buyer and offering up the $10,000 as a no-kill fee in consideration for his change of heart. As Tim suspects, however, this ruse buys him only limited time, which he uses to alert the intended victim, the physically lovely but psychologically fractured Linda Paquette, of the murder plot. In short, an opening hook that I found every bit as irresistable as the one that kicked off last year's "The Husband."

What ensues is a classic cat-and-mouse thriller, in which Tim and Linda must draw upon all of their physical and mental reserves to stay a step ahead of an assassin for whom the term psychopath doesn't begin to do justice. What's worse, he seems to almost magically anticipate Tim and Linda's every move, giving the impression that he's acting under the direction of a group with law enforcement connections and daunting technological capabilities. As always, Dean Koontz finds clever ways to build suspense, telling the story from several points of view and propelling the story line forward in bite-sized chapters that could easily be visualized as scenes in a blockbuster movie.

Koontz uses another interesting technique to build suspense that I found particularly effective. While we gradually learn, through Tim's incredible skill in evading the killer and his unflappable grace under pressure, that he must harbor a past profession in which he cut things other than stone, Koontz withholds this secret from the reader until the final pages of the book. He does the same with Linda and her past, contributing not only to the suspense but also to the extended first-date-type-thrill of romance that blossoms amidst the carnage.

Other than one creaky floorboard in the plot structure (the explanation behind the contract on Linda's life), "The Good Guy" is, cover to cover, one of the finest thrillers I've ever read. Some professional critics have faulted the ending, something that Koontz has struggled with in some of his books, but I thought he nailed this one perfectly. In Tim Carrier, he also has created a humble hero for our times, and perhaps kept the door open for a sequel.

Tim Carrier is just a nice guy with a big head. When he enters a bar, no one notices. When he saddles up to the counter and orders a drink, only his friend the bartender really pays attention to him. Well, the bartender, and the nervous man who followed Tim into the bar--the guy who thinks Tim is a contract killer.

Confused, Tim watches as the man leaves...only to be replaced, minutes later, by the REAL hitman. This guy is cool, collected, with dark eyes that convey all manners of evil. It won't be long before this man realizes Tim is not his employer; and soon Tim and the target, a beautiful woman named Linda, will be running for their lives from the ultimate human evil.

"The Good Guy" starts out like Koontz's last few novels; i.e., rivetting and suspenseful, but not entirely unique (Koontz has created a new genre: the too-good-to-be-true hero with a mysterious past, running from a sociopathic human evil). However, "The Good Guy" soon branches into territory Koontz hasn't explored since the eighties, and is a wonderful return to a darker suspense form. It's a shame Koontz has been branded a horror novelist (ironically enough, the sole novel that earned him that monicker was in fact a science fiction tale), because he is truly a master of suspense. Nobody writes like he does; his imagery is breathtaking, his knack for banter un-paralleled. True, I'd like to see more grit in his writing (starting in the late nineties, with the exception of "Odd Thomas," his novels have been almost happy-go-lucky), but when it comes to analyzing happiness and love and everything that makes us human, few do it better than Koontz.

Life is short - read something else...

Interesting premise, protagonists are well drawn and engaging, a couple of decent hooks and a series of frying pan/fire episodes... what's not to like?

The villains - cardboard cutouts of the hyperefficient assasin and an ultra secret organization... oh and "deus ex machina" -- no need to fret about the conspiracy... a new bad guy will magically show up at the end to explain everything to the hero so that their evil plan can be stymied in the last chapter.

An organization so brutal as to order the murders of a dozen people (including sadistic torture) feels the sudden urge to "play nice" at the end of the book... Geez!

Books - forget about a refund on the purchase price -- how can I get a refund on the time invested in reading the dreadful thing.

Could make a person wonder - was there an editor anywhere who reviewed this or is the author of sufficient stature that everything falling from his word processor is gold?

Almost every Koontz book that you pick up will have a few saving graces. Primarily for myself, I enjoy the first half of just about every one of his books. I have been thinking for a while that it would be nice to take his stories, rip out the last half of all of them, and end up with a collection of entertaining 'Twilight Zone' style stories. The reason I say this is because Koontz really knows how to start a story in a manner that grabs the reader and brings them into a world that is startlingly fresh and interesting concept wise. However he always, and I mean always wraps his stories up in exactly the same fashion. His bad guy is foiled by the good guy who gets the girl that he probably has found during whatever book it is you picked up.

With that aside, the reason 'The Good Guy' rates a whole lot lower on my Koontz scale than most of his stories is that this time he pretty much races into what is normally the middle of most of his novels. The plot races towards Koontz usual cat and mouse play within the first twenty or so pages and you miss out on the enjoyable build up. So what you are left with is a long drawn out chase scene and a mushy ending.

I suppose that most of you will not agree with me. Alas, I wish that this were a better book. The writing is at times perhaps the very most contrived that I have ever come across in Koontz's books. for example...

"Is there something I should know? Have you been in trouble sometime?"

She blinked "Not me. Im as straight as a new nail that never met a hammer."

"Why does that sound to me like there was a hammer, maybe a lot of hammers, but you didn't bend?"

"I dont know. I dont know why it sounds that way to you. Maybe you're always inferring hidden meaning when none is implied."

"Im just a bricklayer."

Ah... at times it is painfully bad. I wish Koontz would write a true 'horror' book and not have the quality of his writing end up creating most of the terror.

Stone mason, bachelor Tim Carrier is sitting in a pal's bar having a beer when a man approaches him and gives him an envelope. Tim looks inside, finds ten grand and a photo. Not an idiot Tim, he figures out he's been mistaken for a hit man. That's bad enough, but shortly after the real hit man arrives. Tim, wanting to do the right thing, to be the good guy, takes out the intended victim's info, pretends to be the first guy, gives the bad guy the ten large and tells him the deal's off.

Of course, Kraut, the bad guy, doesn't buy it and now Tim, continuing to be the good guy, seeks out Laguna Beach writer Linda Paquette, the intended victim. After all, it's a good guy's job to save the beautiful girl from the bad guy. But saving her isn't going to be a piece of cake, because now the bad guy is hot on their trail.

There you have it, the setup for this book. It's not a horror story, but it's stuffed full of suspense, twists and turns and I liked it a lot. The characters were great, though I gotta admit I liked the bad guy the best. Dean Koontz just keeps churning out fast-paced, well thought out tales of suspense.

Tim Carrier sits down in his favorite bar to relax and enjoy the familiarity. A stranger sits down beside him, strikes up a weird conversation, and hands him an envelope. As the the stranger is leaving he says, "Half of it's there. Ten thousand. The rest when she's gone." Curiously, Tim opens the envelope and finds a picture of a woman he has never seen before. Suddenly, it dawns on Tim that he has been mistaken for a hit man. Tim is now faced with a difficult choice. He can forget he was ever there and go about his normal routine life. Or he can choose to help this woman he knows nothing about. Tim knows the real killer will show up soon for the scheduled meet and he may be the only one who can stop him.

I didn't expect too much from Koontz this time around. I figured it would be good. I mean come on....this is Dean Koontz we are talking about. But for some reason this story idea didn't demand my attention. In my mind I felt like we were getting just another version of The Husband or Velocity. Good ole' Dean was going to once again prove how he can take a man in normal circumstances and turn his world upside down in the first 4 pages. While I admit that my observations were mostly correct, I must say that this one was a pleasant surprise for me. Indeed, this story is very much like The Husband and Velocity but I actually enjoyed it more.

Koontz consistently hooks his readers with effortless prose, crisp dialogue, and memorable characters. Here the Good Guy himself steals the show with his relentless commitment to doing the right thing no matter what. Tim Carrier is the kind of character we love to root for and even want to be like. Krait, the real hit man, is also a great addition to the story and may just be one of the creepiest Koontz villains yet. Koontz takes us so deeply into his world that we can't wait to get out.

Usually Koontz gives us solid background for each character as the narrative unfolds, but not so here. It's not until the end that we truly begin to see who these characters are and what drives them. This is a clever story device that separates The Good Guy from other Koontz suspense titles and makes this novel that much more interesting and enjoyable. Another great read from the Master.

This is really a good story with quite a few unexpected twists, typical of Koontz and just as well done. The characters and symbolism are rich. It brings the antagonist to life, no matter how unrealistic the account.

The ending, however - I never would have suspected something like that. A good ending, but something else would have been better.

Mason Timothy Carrier is a simple man, a guy who just wants to do his job, do it well and maybe enjoy a quiet beer after work. One day while having that beer in his friend's bar someone talks to him for a bit, then leaves him an envelope stuffed with money and a picture of a woman. It doesn't take Tim long to figure out that he's been mistaken for a hit man. Then the real hit man comes into the bar. Tim tries to tell him that he's the guy who hired him and that the deal's off. Tim is trying to be the good guy.

However, as I'm sure you've guessed, the real hit man doesn't go for the story and it's not long before Tim and the woman he'd tried to save are on the run. This is a thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat as you rapidly pour through the pages. I couldn't put it down and I don't think you will be able to either.