Dean Koontz - Life Expectancy (2004)
Many writers slow down as they age. Not Dean Koontz, who is 59. Like clockwork he produces two novels per year. This would be a feat even if the books were ordinary. When they are as brilliant as Koontz's are, it's an accomplishment.
His latest, Life Expectancy, begins on a night of birth and death. As Jimmy Tock is born in one room at a hospital, his grandfather is dying in another. Before he dies, the old man forecasts five momentous dates that will have a terrible impact on young Jimmy's life.
As the book unfolds, the reader is taken through the course of its narrator's life, focusing on those crucial days. They are filled with promise and joy but also marked by sadness and loss.
A rarity among best-selling writers, Koontz continues to pursue new ways of telling stories, never content with repeating himself. He writes of hope and love in the midst of evil in profoundly inspiring and moving ways.
Posted by David J. Montgomery in Book Reviews | Permalink
