Tick Tock (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: little monster thing, radiant green eyes, phoenix palms, Mother Phan, Chip Nguyen, Quy Trang Dai (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Dean Koontz is not just a master of our darkest dreams, but also a literary juggler."
-- The Times (London)

Don't miss the latest thriller by Dean Koontz
False Memory

"Viscerally exciting...An extended, tense tour de force...An expertly crafted, ornate suspenser...Koontz fans will love it."
-- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

And his other Bantam bestsellers:
Seize The Night
Fear Nothing
Sole Survivor
Intensity
Dark Riversof The Heart
Icebound
Winter Moon -- Review

Review

"Dean Koontz is not just a master of our darkest dreams, but also a literary juggler."—The Times, London

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (October 3, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553582925
• ISBN-13: 978-0553582925
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (224 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #62,330 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tick Tock = One of Koontz's best, July 21, 2004

By	Freddy Jones (Orlando, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The story centers around a Vietnamese author named Tommy Phan who writes detective novels. One night, Tommy receives a strange package on his porch. When he opens it, Tommy discovers that it is a rag doll. Unfortunately, things start to become deadly serious rather quickly. There is an evil demon inside the doll that breaks out and is obsessed with killing Tommy. Not only is the demon a deadly one, but it is also highly intelligent as well. It managed to leave Tommy a note on his computer that comprised of "The deadline is dawn. Tick tock... Tick tock". Now Tommy not only has to survive the night without being killed, but he also has to solve the mystery of who sent the demon to him and why they want him dead.

Over the years I have read most of Koontz's books. However, Tick Tock was always a book that I put off reading. The premise sounded like a rip off of the film "Child's Play", and I had heard some bad feedback on the book from certain people who had read the book. I finally decided to put my skepticism aside, and give Tick Tock a chance. I am so glad that I did, because it is seriously one of the best books that I have read in awhile, and that is just not limiting the criteria to Dean Koontz novels either. I am talking overall, and I read a lot of books. The book manages to hook you in from the first page and keeps you there until the very end. The suspense that this book brings is so intense, that it is almost unreal.

However, although the demon may be scary and the suspense is almost overwhelming at times, the book's real appeal comes from Koontz's character development. Tommy Phan is one of my favorite Koontz characters. Koontz portrays Tommy as a man who is constantly fighting against his heritage to become more American, and it is his battle against those beliefs that makes his war with the demon harder. Koontz also manages to create one of the best female leads he has ever written as well. Along the way, Tommy meets and eventually falls for a woman named Deliverance Payne who joins him in the fight against the demon no questions asked. Del's different philosophies on life, her twisted sense of humor, and her wild past make Del an extremely interesting and likeable character. The relationship that develops between Del and Tommy is one of Koontz's more enjoyable ones. It truly brings a new meaning to the phrase "opposites attract".

Overall, Tick Tock is now one of my favorite Koontz books. This book showcases Koontz's character development at its best, and supplies a perfect mixture of horror, suspense, humor, and romance.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is one of the few books that actually made me LOL, April 27, 2000

By	DogsDeserveCompassion (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Ticktock (Audio Cassette)

Tommy Phan has just about everything he ever dreamed of: a successful career as a novelist, a brand new Corvette, and all the trappings that money can buy. His life would be perfect if only his Mother would stop making him feel guilty for forgetting his Vietnamese roots.

When Tommy returns home one night, after a particularly bad nagging phone call from Mom, he finds an innocent rag doll lying on his doorstep and brings it in for a closer inspection. This is when things start getting really weird. In no time at all Tommy, an eccentric woman who saves his butt, and her chocolate lab whose favorite toy is a farting hot-dog, are running for their lives from the devil's spawn. They have until dawn to outrun the demon.

I really have to read the unabridged version of this book. I hate knowing I missed even one hilarious word. Unlike Koontz's most recent releases that were sometimes painfully dark, twisted and so intense I couldn't read them alone TICK TOCK is a more of a screwball comedy that reminded me of some of my favorite campy B horror flicks. I had visions of PUPPETMASTER & NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD while reading and was reminded of my favorite kind of B movie demon: The beast that wouldn't die. This is not a criticism! There is nothing like a good campy B horror movie!

Koontz creates the most likable off the wall characters: the guilt ridden down to earth Tommy Phan (I don't know anyone who hasn't experienced the "guilt" phone call), Deliverance Payne who continually surprised me with her strangeness, Scootie the face licker, and Tommy's Mom who has some of the most hilarious lines in the book. Which brings me to the dialogue - some of the funniest I've ever read. Too often humor can seem forced or stilted but never in this book. The characters were so kooky the wild dialogue flowed naturally. Some of my favorite scenes weren't the suspenseful chases or the gore filled shoot-outs but the bantering and bickering between the characters. TICK TOCK has a little bit of several of my favorite genres: horror, comedy, suspense, and a good old fashioned romance.

I found there were a few unexplained plot points in the abridged version I read and I'm hoping they will be cleared up when I read the full version or maybe I'll just hope for a sequel.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A horror story morphs into a screwball comedy, August 28, 2007

By	Henry W. Wagner (Rockaway, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Tommy Phan is a Vietnamese-American who, much to the dismay of his very traditional family, likes to stress the American. Instead of going into the family business, Tommy earns his living as a novelist. His series character, Chip Nguyen (star of such memorable epics as Murder is Bad Habit), has become very popular, allowing Tommy to afford some of the finer things in life, like the aqua Corvette he purchases as the story opens. Tommy, who has lusted for such a car since the day he arrived in America, knows he should be ecstatic, but can't shake the feeling of foreboding that descends on him at the auto dealership.

Almost immediately upon his return home, the doorbell rings. Tommy answers the door, and finds a rag doll lying on his doorstep. At first, he is concerned the doll may be some kind of warning from a local gang, angry with him for writing a series of unfavorable articles a few months earlier. That concern is short lived, however, as something (Tommy later dubs it the "doll snake rat-quick little monster thing") starts to emerge from the doll and attacks him.

Tommy fends off the creature and abandons his home, but not before two mysterious messages abruptly appear on his computer screen--THE DEADLINE IS DAWN and TICK TOCK. Driving away, he concludes he is safe, but then the Corvette shudders, and he realizes the creature is in his car. He crashes, and flees on foot, pursued by the monster, who is growing at an alarming rate. He flags down a ride, and, in weird coincidence, is picked up by the aptly named Deliverance Payne, a flirtatious waitress he met earlier that day.

Here, the novel takes a humorous turn. By introducing Del, Koontz adds a decidedly comic element to this previously grim story. Level headed and witty, Del pokes fun at Tommy's foibles even while they fight for their lives--she calmly accepts his bizarre story and offers her help. Taking the mysterious messages at face value, they seek to outwit the monster until dawn. Together, they fend off several more attacks, eventually discerning the monster's incredible (and funny) secret.

Tick Tock reminds me of Quentin Tarantino and Roberto Rodriguez's cinematic collaboration From Dusk 'til Dawn. There, a crime drama morphs into a horror movie. In Tick Tock, a horror story becomes a screwball comedy. This approach, which ruined the movie, works very well in the novel. Although Koontz appears to abruptly switch gears, he carefully seeds the initial portion of the book with humor, setting the stage for the enjoyable farce it becomes.

Koontz, succeeding in his stated goal to write something "lighter," doesn't cheat long time fans. The first third of the book is reminiscent of Richard Matheson's short stories "Prey" and "Duel," but thereafter becomes an altogether different book, reminiscent of Thorne Smith's work, as it's solid, stolid hero is swept off his feet by a larger than life heroine. Koontz deftly handles both aspects, interweaving them to great advantage. Part of this book's magic is that the monster remains a credible menace throughout, even when the humorous elements kick into overdrive. Koontz keeps tensions high, in spite of the odd goings on and increasingly humorous dialogue.