Simultaneously, Martie's stoner brother-in-law begins to hear voices in his head commanding him to commit suicide. Longtime Koontz readers know that what at first appears supernatural will later prove to be something else entirely -- and that, once again, is the case here. But since the novel is cast as a mystery for a few hundred pages, let's just say the outcome involves drugs, bogus therapy, hypnotism, ''trigger'' words, and a suave villain so completely malign he makes previous Koontz psychos seem barely neurotic.
At half its length, ''False Memory'' might have been the best Dean Koontz thriller since 1996's ''Intensity.'' Instead, at 600-plus pages, it's erratically paced, slackly written, and overwrought. Some passages work well -- including one in which Martie becomes traumatized by everything in her well-stocked kitchen from potato peelers to meat-tenderizing hammers. But the sheer bloat -- scenes that should've taken a paragraph ramble on for pages -- stifles Koontz's gothic imagination.
Add your comment
The rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject or we might delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. An asterisk * indicates a required field.