The Good Guy | Dean Koontz | LOOK OUT! HE'S BACK AND MAD AS HELL!

The Good Guy | Dean Koontz | An old plot, but well written none the less

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The Good Guy

	The Good Guy Dean Koontz Bantam, 2008 - 496 pages average customer review:based on 162 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Timothy Carrier, having a beer after work at his friend?s tavern, enjoys drawing eccentric customers into amusing conversations. But the jittery man who sits next to him tonight has mistaken Tim for someone very different?and passes to him a manila envelope full of cash.

?Ten thousand now. You get the rest when she?s gone.?

The stranger walks out, leaving a photo of the pretty woman marked for death, and her address. But things are about to get worse. In minutes another stranger sits next to Tim. This one is a cold-blooded killer who believes Tim is the man who has hired him.

Thinking fast, Tim says, ?I?ve had a change of heart. You get ten thousand?for doing nothing. Call it a no-kill fee.? He keeps the photo and gives the money to the hired killer. And when Tim secretly follows the man out of the tavern, he gets a further shock: the hired killer is a cop.

Suddenly, Tim Carrier, an ordinary guy, is at the center of a mystery of extraordinary proportions, the one man who can save an innocent life and stop a killer far more powerful than any cop?and as relentless as evil incarnate. But first Tim must discover within himself the capacity for selflessness, endurance, and courage that can turn even an ordinary man into a hero, inner resources that will transform his idea of who he is and what it takes to be The Good Guy.

From the Hardcover edition.

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LOOK OUT! HE'S BACK AND MAD AS HELL!

Everyone including me has been waiting for Dean to get back to what he does best: thrillers that are long chase scenes. Well, he's back in form, amen!
I don't think he has hit the bull's eye since Intensity with this kind of suspense and a sadistic killer that shocks you with every chapter, and were we get deep into his sick twisted brain.
But most of all, MR.KOONTZ thanks for going back to the Screw Ball Comedy.
You nailed it in TICK TOCK and once again here. I just wish once you could make the male lead more of a sophisticated Cary Grant type, rather than your typical take on the everyman: mason, cook, gardener, and painter who is caught up in the chase and running to save the girl.
You even threw in the classic Hitchcock happenstance mistaken identity gambit,wonderful. Why couldn't he be an ad man or a prof or a salesman for a change.
Loved the heroine,too. And the garage as part of the kitchen was the icing on the cake. You tell us up front. LOOK OUT screw ball insanity abounds.
If you like Dean's work you have to read this one!

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An old plot, but well written none the less

As anyone who knows me, or even reads my reviews can attest, I'm not a huge fan of the Horror genre, even though it does share a lot in common with one of my previous favourite literature genres - the post apocalyptic setting.

Thus, because of this, I have only read one book by Dean Koontz until now. I recently picked up his novel The Good Guy after reading the back cover and the whole plot, even though it's been done before, caught my interest.

Besides, as is the case, I'm always looking for new authors (or in this case, authors that I've not read before) to start following.

So, before I go any further, let me state my usual disclaimer - I will not reveal any spoilers other than what is printed on the back cover of the novel.

The novel is about a very common theme in novels and movies - being in the wrong place at the right time, or the right place at the wrong time, depending on your point of view.

That is exactly the case with this novel. The main protagonist, a Mason named Tim Carrier is hanging out at his favourite watering hole when a man hands him a package containing a photo and $10,000 in cash.

His instructions are clear. Kill the woman in the photo and get the other half when the job is complete.

Of course Tim ends up encountering the real hit man shortly afterwards and attempts to play the man who's hiring him, to tell him he's changed his mind and to keep the money and walk away.

After the encounter, Tim goes to meet the woman to tell her she's been targeted for termination (sorry, couldn't resist!) and he ends up on the run with her, trying to stay one step ahead of the assassin.

There you have it, the basic plot in a nutshell. Yup, I know I've seen this plot before, dozens of times as a matter of fact, but it was how the plot was set up and written that sets it apart from all the rest.

Now, I can't say that I'm a huge fan of Koontz after reading this book, but I am tempted now to pick up some of his other works and give them a go. He has a very interesting style when it comes to telling a tale... he introduces the characters with very little background information at the start.

This gives him the time to flesh out the characters as he writes the novel. And this was the case with every character in the book. It was clear from the first few chapters that the assassin was very unique. Pure evil, but one hell of a character.

Tim himself, clearly there was more to him that met the eye, as well as his friends and the other characters he interacted with initially.

Take heart in the fact that all the information will eventually be revealed as the book progresses, including the reason why this woman is to be killed and in a brutal fashion.

This type of storytelling took me a little while to get used to, as I am much more used to reading novels where you already know everything about the characters (because I like well established series so much), or you learn about them in the first few chapters.

I'll state this - it's one way to keep a person reading, as they get interested in the characters and they (such as myself) wish to learn more about them as the book progresses.

When all is finally revealed, it was pretty satisfying. Well, with one exception, but I can't really reveal it without giving away about the novel. For those of you who read it, you'll probably agree with me.

Another thing I enjoyed about Mr. Koontz's style is the dialog. It was pretty rapid fire, and often quite witty... It reminded me of the banter that usually takes place between myself and some of my life long friends.

In closing, I can't say it was a perfect novel, and I have to admit that I found that the beginning did drag a little, but it quickly picked up in pace and I found it difficult to put down.

I really wanted to know how Tim and Lynda were going to escape this killer and what would happen to all of them by the end. I also wanted to discover the motivations and the reasons behind the characters.

For the most part, I was, as I stated, satisfied.

4 out of 5.

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Good guy, average book

What's nice about Dean Koontz is also his greatest fault: he's reliable. When you pick up a Koontz book, you know what you're going to get: a decently written page-turner. It's nice because Koontz rarely writes a bad book, even with around fifty books written. On the other hand, his success is based on a consistent formula that after a while can seem repetitive. Case in point: The Good Guy.

The Good Guy starts with easygoing Timothy Carrier drinking alone at a bar. He is mistaken for a hit man hired to kill Linda Paquette and given money and information about her before he can correct the employer. The killer comes in shortly thereafter and mistakes Tim for the employer, and though Tim tries to cancel the job, the killer - named Krait - refuses to back off.

Because Tim is a good guy, he tracks down Linda and convinces her of the danger she is in. Krait, however, is not far behind, leading to a cat-and-mouse game with Krait just behind the two of them. By now, Krait realizes what mistakes occurred at the bar and knows who Tim is too; he is unaware, however, how resourceful his prey really is.

For those familiar with Koontz, this book offers nothing that hasn't been seen in a dozen of his other books. We have the nice male hero, the beautiful heroine with a dark past and the clever byplay between the two; as always, the two click instantly and romance is a certainty. Krait is a nasty character, but a rather standard Koontz villain: an intelligent sociopath who thinks he is above mere humans. If you're unfamiliar with Koontz, this will be a suspenseful, fun read; but for Koontz fans, this is strictly been-there-done-that.

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