BOOK REVIEW: One Heck Of A Night On The Town

(Originally Published 1998, Mass Market Paperback 432 pages)

This is the second book I've ever read by Mr. Koontz. "Fear Nothing" brings a unique approach by having the 28-year-old protagonist, Christopher Snow, handicapped with a genetic defect called xeroderma pigmentosum which causes him to be highly susceptible to harmful ultraviolet light. If he doesn't take strict precautions against exposure to light, good ole Chris Snow will quickly be blind and very likely on a one-way ticket to a dirt nap. He and his dog, Orson, roam the small California town of Moonlight Bay while most other residences are sleeping. The death of his last surviving parent sets off an unexpected chain reaction of events that has Chris Snow stumbling upon one mystery after another. The work was published in 1998 and this shows up in such minor ways such as there being pay phones in town. It does not detract from the story, but occasionally gives it a unintentional nostalgic feel.

Because it is written in the first-person narrative of Snow, we are as lost as he is as to what the heck is going on? Snow also has no special abilities, but he does have a heedless curiosity that gets him into trouble and would kill your typical cat. Mr. Koontz does a wonderful job of creating plenty of tense, scary situations. I was about two-thirds of the way through the book before things started to become more clear. The description on the back cover is very vague about the premise of the book which caused me to take a leap of faith as to it being an entertaining work. On the whole, the author succeeded. I liked Mr. Koontz descriptive little embellishments which were sprinkled throughout the story. The last thirty pages or so, however, were a little too formulaic for my tastes because the rest of the work had been so suspenseful and mysterious. It was an enjoyable, light read. Only as I was about to write this review did I discover that "Fear Nothing" is the first installment in a trilogy. The second book is entitled "Seize the Night" (published 1998.) Apparently, the last installment is still banging around in Mr. Koontz's head. Oh well, I'm still going to read the second book. 

(Meyers - A few years ago, I started writing, under the pseudonym Franklin the Mouse, short reviews at Amazon's web site. This is my most recent review #383)

BOOK REVIEW: Raising The Ire Of The Irish

(Originally Published 1996, Paperback Edition 363 pages)

Eighty pages into 'Angela's Ashes,' it was brought to my attention that the book had stirred up quite the ire of the people who live in Limerick, Ireland. All memoirs have an element of intentional or unintentional fiction. Our memories are notoriously unreliable in remembering how actual events unfolded especially the further you go back into your own history. However, based upon the reactions of Limerick citizens, they are adamant that most of the late Mr. McCourt's work is pure BS. The author was just as adamant that it was all true. The hell if I know who to believe.

What I can say is the thing sure sounds authentic when compared to my wife's and my background growing up Catholic during the 1960s and 70s in Maine. I, however, have been an agnostic for about thirty years now. College and critical thinking have a way of doing that to many Catholics. Ireland is well known for being deeply religious especially during the 1930s and 40s when the memoir takes place. A lot of the cockamamie Catholic superstitions and peer pressures are on full display in the book: Unbaptized babies don't go heaven but some odd place called Limbo: you can't eat meat on Fridays or you go to hell; you can't masturbate or you also go to hell; all Protestants have a one-way ticket to Satan Central, blah blah, blah... the list of religious infractions is nearly endless. Add to that regional prejudices, abject poverty, oodles of uneducated adults, a high infant-mortality rate, an educational system that meted out corporal punishment to kids for the silliest of excuses, and lastly, a major-league-alcoholic father and, mercy me, you won't be mistaking 1930s-40s Limerick, Ireland for Shangri-la.

There are also many funny adventures accompanied by the mandatory Catholic guilt trip. I enjoyed Mr. McCourt's memoir despite the controversy surrounding it. Even if many of these escapades were simply pulled out of the author's backside, the very well-written work certainly conveys the times and nature of poverty and religious mindset during the early part of the 20th Century. 'Angela's Ashes' deserved the Pulitzer Prize. 

(Meyers - A few years ago, I started writing, under the pseudonym Franklin the Mouse, short reviews at Amazon's web site. This is my most recent review #382)

BOOK REVIEW: Not So Mad Men

(Originally Published 2013, Paperback Edition 306 pages)

On occasion, I'll start a book which lingers in my thoughts after I've stopped reading it and my eagerness to finish the story becomes almost like an addiction. "Truth in Advertising" was that kind of book for me. It starts out loaded with funny rapid-fire one-liners in a very believable depiction of a large advertising agency. The humor isn't the weird kind of silliness you'd find in a Christopher Moore or Carl Hiaasen work, but more in the lines of Jonathan Tropper's novels. It is written in the first-person narrative of the protagonist Finbar Dolan.

Finbar is a creative writer for a large ad agency in New York City. He is also nearing 40 years of age and seems ambivalent about his work. Finbar's relationship with his two brothers and one sister is about as warm as the one you have with a customer service rep at the Department of Motor Vehicles. His deadpan sarcastic delivery is almost always on display and had me frequently laughing throughout the book. I found all the people to be interesting, especially his closest friend/co-worker Ian, despite them be less defined characters than Finbar. If Mr. Kenney's book had continued on this trajectory for the remainder of the novel, I'd been a satisfied customer. However, halfway through the book, Mr. Kenney's work unexpectedly but seamlessly morphs into a story about coming to terms with a traumatic childhood. There were aspects of his book that hit emotionally close to home for me and made me wonder about my relationship with my own older brother.

I had a constant smile while reading most of this thing. It's funny, sarcastic, tender, gut-wrenching and thought-provoking. Instead of wrapping the story up in a neat tidy bow, like life, many events don't pan out like you'd expect. In the end, I closed the book feeling good about Finbar's possibilities. That's good enough for me. 

(Meyers - A few years ago, I started writing, under the pseudonym Franklin the Mouse, short reviews at Amazon's web site. This is my most recent review #381)

BOOK REVIEW: A Dull Shine

(Originally Published 2013, Hardcover Edition 531 pages)

It's understandable that Mr. King had a great deal of trepidation about writing a sequel to one of his most popular books. 'The Shining' was a claustrophobic horror book which kept the readers on the edge of their seat the further they got into the story. Because of the author's two previous works (Carrie, Salem's Lot,) it wasn't a sure thing that the Torrance family was going to survive the Overlook Hotel. It was easy for the reader to place themselves in the family's situation and freak out to the point of puckering their sphincter muscle to a 10.0 on the ole rump scale. I didn't envy Mr. King trying to top, let alone meet, the quality of 'The Shining.'

'Doctor Sleep' started off great. Burdened with not only having the shine but also dealing with the mental trauma of surviving the Overlook Hotel, Dan Torrance very believably falls into alcoholism. I was rooting for the guy being able to eventually get his act together and having a decent life. Mr. King has proved, time and again, that his protagonist(s) may not necessarily get a happy ending. Midway through the book, it evolved from a heart-wrenching Dan Torrance odyssey into something almost mundane. The 13-year-old heroine,  Abra, has such a powerful shine that the True Knot antagonists, who have abducted, tortured and murdered young children for hundreds of years, don't ever seem very threatening. Sure, the True Knot gypsies would be terrifying to your average everyday Joe, but Abra is like the kid, Charlie, from Mr. King's novel 'Firestarter.' She packs such a serious punch, you start feeling bad for the evil True Knot lot.

If you are inclined to pick up 'Doctor Sleep,' I strongly suggest you first read 'The Shining' or you will miss out on a lot of important back story. The novel is okay, but nowhere near as suspenseful as its predecessor. 

(Meyers - A few years ago, I started writing, under the pseudonym Franklin the Mouse, short reviews at Amazon's web site. This is my most recent review #380)