Velocity - Koontz proves his Bloody Knife worthiness

I do make fun of my beloved Bloody Knife* novels. With their cavalcade of murder, mayhem, ghouls, ghosts and general evil beasties, there is a definite danger for authors to get just a touch carried away and go from creepy to campy. Yet this is still my favorite reading-for-fun genre. To be honest, I even like the bad ones, at least a little, so stumbling on a really good thriller/horror novel is a joy indeed. For my leisurely summer gore-filled pleasure, Velocity fits the bill perfectly.

Author Dean Koontz has disappointed me more than once of late, and I was beginning to despair of him ever coming up with the goods again. I’m happy to say that I’ve gotten my jolt of Koontz goodness with Velocity to see me through any other disasters he might have waiting out there for me.

Velocity begins straight away with an introduction to our main character, Billy Wiles. An unassuming sort, Billy tends bar and keeps the peace, expertly working his sometimes obnoxious clientele. He has some trauma in his past and prefers to keep to himself and just be a regular guy doing a regular job. Unfortunately, someone has plans for Billy, and they aren’t anything even close to regular. After finishing a shift at the tavern, he finds a note on his windshield. The note gives him a choice; he may choose one of two people to die. By his action, or inaction, someone will be murdered.

Of course, he assumes this all to be a scam or prank or cruel joke. It soon becomes clear that it is nothing of the sort. Billy is being forced to make life or death decisions (more like death or death decisions), against his will, by someone who is as clever as he is evil.

From the first pages of character set-up, Billy is a likable main protagonist. He’s quiet and unassuming and that doesn’t change. He doesn’t turn into a studly superhero when danger threatens, he feels very real in his actions and reactions. He reminds me of some of the best of Stephen King’s characters, a regular person caught in highly irregular circumstances. The peripheral characters are interesting, but only as they relate to Billy. None has much of a role to play – this is cat and mouse, one of each. Koontz chooses well to focus tightly on Billy, the lack of external distraction keeps the pace high and the suspense taught. He also doesn’t make the mistake of revealing his bad guy too soon, which can make the last parts of a book drag. He manages to keep us waiting without getting too repetitive in his scenario.

For a book of this type, the plot is well thought-out and executed. I really don’t mind a few plot holes in an otherwise good thriller, but they’re a distraction, so it’s nice to find a book that doesn’t have me rolling my eyes at some absurdity or another (okay, absurd is relative – the whole book is absurd, but it isn’t more absurd than necessary). Velocity begins with a great premise – the anonymous notes promising to kill one of two people depending on the actions of the protagonist – and follows through all the way. I’m often annoyed at characters who are just plain stupid – not going to the police because of some unfounded fear, or going along with some foolish plan out of laziness or greed, then lamenting their Bloody Knife fate. Billy is not stupid. He’s put in an impossible situation. The reader doesn’t have to sit there and wonder why he doesn’t do the obvious – each action he takes is completely understandable in the face of his ever more psychotic situation. If there’s anything to complain about, it’s that he’s a little too level headed, understanding the ramifications of the antagonists actions before we quite catch on.

Koontz really does know how to write a fun, fast paced, creepy Bloody Knife novel. With Velocity he reels in his tendency toward ungainly descriptive prose and excessive goofy character philosophizing and gets the job done, keeping the story tight. The end is a little far fetched, but that’s the beauty of good Koontz. He can’t keep his philosophizing bottled up through an entire book, after all. He builds up to the ending gradually enough that we’ve become accustomed to this world and can accept its weirdness. All in all, a fine, well executed thriller with a likable main character and an interesting story arc. It’s unlikely to go down in the annals of fine literature, but for a rainy day or a trip to the beach, it’s a winner.







*The Bloody Knife novel is one that features murder, mayhem and perhaps something supernatural and paranormal. The term “Bloody Knife” is used to describe these books I love so much due to the alarming frequency with which this very item appears on the cover art. Surprisingly, many do not actually feature the knife pictured. The world of fiction is a mysterious and wonderful place…..*



Other books by Dean Koontz:

The Taking
The Face
The Door to December