I doubt I will never not read a Koontz book, but I have quit buying them simply because the last few have disappointed me. With the exception of the Odd Thomas series.

I picked up Relentless from the library because the book cover revealed a plot that seemed just as bad as the previous books. Color me pleasantly surprised! And completely creeped out.

Relentless follows author Cubby and his wife Penny and brilliant son Milo as they try to avoid a homicidal, psychopathic killer who happens to be a book critic. As in the Koontz fashion, the book starts out with enough realism that the reader does get a little creeped out. Even the receptionist in the doctors office noticed me shudder and decided to get the book (free advertising for you, Koontz!). Koontz always seems to inject enough reality into his stories that you believe some part of them could really happen. Evil is out there and that's undeniable. Why can't evil be a book critic?

As always with Koontz, a little bit of supernatural makes it way into the novel which brings the plausibility down some but still makes it a true Koontz novel.

The ending was something that I expected and I was a little disappointed but not shocked. A good read though and score one for Koontz again!

Odd. Not awesome, but not lame either. I always enjoy Koontz's wacky family characters. I thought the in-laws in this one were pretty entertaining.

it was alright -- not a favorite, though

Loved this book like I love all of Koontz's books. The suspense is nail biting, as usual, and the dialogue is tight. Koontz always finds a way to make his characters laugh in the face of seriously harrowing circumstances. I especially enjoyed the gifted child character, Milo. The whole family is special, both individually and as a unit. These are charcters that stick with you long after you've closed up the back cover. I also enjoyed how Koontz used the secret society angle in this book. He always manages to make me question what I'm reading and how far I'm willing to hang my own reality out the window and join the ride. And, of course, I always do go for the ride. It's just so damn entertaining. If I have one negative criticism about this book it's that it ended too abruptly (although, I must admit, I wanted the bad guys to get their comeuppance). Perhaps, Koontz will revisit this unique family and this secret society in another future book. I'd look forward to that very much.

Typical Dean Koontz. It's got a dog that is super intelligent, a family that is being terrorized for no apparent reason, and bad guys that will stop at nothing to get the good guys.

It may sound silly, but the thing that bothered me most about "Relentless" is the scene where the family was sitting down to dinner with the babysitter. He (Koontz) described the pot of soup simmering on the stove, but later when they are eating someone (Milo?) says something and they all stop eating with their forks halfway to their mouths. Ok, either tell me what else they may have been eating or give them spoons!

This book was completely awful, the premise of an author finding a critic was intriguing, but the characters are so thin that you don't care about either one of them and the whole idea soon becomes ludicrous.

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!