Now co-authored by Ed Gorman, BOOK TWO of DEAN KOONTZ’S FRANKENSTEIN – subtitled CITY OF NIGHT – begins right where BOOK ONE left off, with the original monster assisting two New Orleans cops in bringing down a serial killer created not by God, but by the 200-year-old Victor Frankenstein, now known as Victor Helios.

The Big Easy is chock full of his Body Snatcher-type creations, as the evil doctor has designs on replacing the human race with his own lab-manufactured flesh, blood and data. But they’re not as infallible as they would seem, and cracks in their programming start to show, as would-be-lovebird detectives Carson O’Connor and Michael Maddison race all over the city in order to save it – and perhaps the rest of the world – from Helios’ creations.

Koontz and Gorman keep this basic story moving in fast-forward while also juggling subplots about an autistic villain, baby-napping assassins and even a naked albino dwarf. Again, crime is paid more attention than horror, and the concoction is infectious, even if it’s not quite as good as the surprisingly stellar PRODIGAL SON, which opened the series and was written with Kevin J. Anderson.

Originally this series was to span four books, but according to the ads in the back pages, it’s been whittled down to a trilogy. My only beef with BOOK TWO is that it builds and builds to a climax that won’t come until BOOK THREE, which won’t come until next summer. That’s a mighty long wait.