Most Helpful Customer Reviews
69 of 79 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Koontz just gets better and better, June 10, 2007
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 HusbandBrother Odd (Odd Thomas Novels)
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great concept - but Koontz doesn't quite deliver, August 8, 2007
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.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
38 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Thriller Clinic, June 6, 2007
"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.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192250339_.gif){kind=small}
