Also loved this one! I felt that the story was similar to "Dark Rivers of the Heart" but with a different twist.

The whole time I was reading this book, I kept asking myself if I had already read it. There was so much that was familiar that I was more interested in figuring out if I'd read it before than engrossed in the plot. Then I realized, I just need to stop reading any more Koontz now, too much recycling for me.

I enjoyed the journey, but the end was actually terrible. Do not recommend.

This was the worst Dean Kootz book ever. It was so boring for the first 60 pages I wanted to quit-- than it got a little interesting, then it went completely to hell. I was suspended not in disbelief, but in awe that I could read 30 pages of unfathomable nonsense. All this driving around in borrowed cars, a 6 year old genius and black market parts, transporting dog, and a unrealistic antagonist. I have liked the concept of his other books like the Good Guy and The Husband- even Velocity. The dialogue and characters are a little thin and it seems like you go one forever in meaningless dialogue and at the very end of the book it is a two page ending with too many loose threads.
I don't recommend this one- it is a subpar effort.

I'd be banging my fist on the table right now, if I were sitting at one. To be perfectly honest, this book was (and will remain) an enigma to me, in the same way that Shearman Waxx was said to be an enigma: It was strange, confusing, violent, and, above all else, unfavorable. It was okay at the beginning... no, I take it back. It was more than okay. It was great. I really enjoyed how the story opened upon Cubby Greenwich and his happy little family; I fell in love with his wife and marveled at his son's intelligence. I even reveled in the suspense created when Waxx figuratively tore Cubby apart in one of his trademark scathing reviews (much like the review this one is about to become) and was depicted as an eccentric nobody with a very odd personality. But then, here comes trouble. Koontz completely loses the thread of the story. "Doom. Hack. Scribbler." Corny to the max. About a third of the way through, my strength was beginning to falter. The action sequences that came next were okay, and I managed to hold onto my faith in the possibility of this book's becoming a memorable read (in a good way)... and then I noticed three things in quick succession that entirely bungled the novel's success as a whole. Firstly, the Boom family elders. What on earth was that about? No one- repeat, NO ONE- could ever believe that two sane human beings would expend so much wealth and energy in the process of creating such a fortress as Grimbald and Clotilda's. Secondly, Milo's INHUMAN intelligence, and the RIDICULOUS subplot with Lassie and the "salt shakers". Wait, are we living in a fantasy world? I thought this was a real-life thriller! You can't introduce time travel and teleportation three-quarters of the way through and hope that the reader will just go along with it! Thirdly, and most importantly, the characterization of the members of the Greenwich-Boom family. YOU DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, TALK ABOUT A KILLER FORCING PEOPLE TO EAT ONE ANOTHER'S HEARTS IN FRONT OF YOUR SIX-YEAR-OLD SON, REGARDLESS OF HIS I.Q. LEVEL. And Cubby and Penny are just SO DETACHED. You'd think they'd spent their entire lives floating in a pool of brutality and perversion, for all the emotional stability they display in the face of such unbelievable terror. Never once do Cubby or Penny show ANY TRACE OF FEAR, not even when someone is SHOOTING AT THEIR SON THROUGH THE LIVING ROOM WINDOW. Whatever Koontz was going for, he was way off the mark. The characters were mindless, the scares were horribly executed, and the ending was the worst deus ex machina I have ever read. Thank God I borrowed this book from the library instead of buying it. I will not so much as glance at it again, if I can help it.

I have been enjoying reading Koontz. Relentless was my 4th of his novels. Unfortunately I had to go with a 3 star on this one because for me it fell apart at the end. I had been enjoying the suspense, character development, and writing style all the way through, but was left dissatisfied. The conclusion left me feeling that the author was rushed, or passed it off to someone else to finish, or forgot where he was headed. I don't know, but it didn't all fall into place for me at all.

This won't stop me from reading many more of his offerings.

This book was a return to form for me. I loved Koontz's earlier works. (Lightning and Watchers being my favorite.) I know the world has been enthralled with the Odd Thomas series, which I just could not love as much as I did the previously mentioned two. I wish Koontz would have written more Christopher Snow books. Tangent aside, I really enjoyed Relentless. The dialogue and characterization got me hooked just like they did in my favorite Koontz stories.


DOOM!

Sometimes I read the reviews of others and I wonder if they read the same book I did. This is one of those that I've seen a few really awful reviews for and I just can't help but think they must have read a different book than me. Everything Koontz writes has charm. You can't help but fall in love with his characters. Personally, I often find myself wishing they were real people so that I could befriend them. Perhaps it helps that this story plays on a somewhat similar fear of mine that I would somehow draw the attention someday of the wrong person that would just get it in their heart or mind to make my life miserable.

I have to compliment the narration for this audiobook - the narrator, when acting as the narrator, had an average Joe sort of voice, yet he managed to impart distinction to each of the characters in turn, and not to irritate me in the process, which is something that male narrators can do at times when portraying a female voice, Percival's Planet being a good recent example of that. Odd that I was reading two books at the same time that featured a child genius as a character, but the similarities ended there! Koontz is one of my go-to authors for light entertainment in between things I have to think harder about, and I did enjoy this. There was a curious mixture of the lightheartedness of the central family and their bemused approach to their son's experimentation and the dog who kept turning up in odd places and the absolute unprovoked graphic violence that was visited upon the various victims. Cubby's back story was interesting and unanticipated. I would have to say though that actual explanation of the purpose behind the violence was weak - the weakest part of the story, but still and all, a nice diversion.