Dean Koontz is the master of the high-concept thriller, cranking out novels whose devilishly clever, insta-hook scenarios can be described in one sentence. In the case of THE GOOD GUY, it’s this: Mistaken for a hitman, an Everyman is given $10,000 and instructions to kill a woman.

That Everyman is Tim Carrier, a bricklayer by trade winding down after a hard day’s work at his best friend’s bar. A mysterious man sidles up beside him with a bag of dough, a photograph and tells him it’s on. In disbelief, Tim plays along for a moment, but by the time he reveals he’s not who they think he is, it’s far, far too late.

Realizing that his life is now at stake in addition to that of his anonymous target, Tim does the right thing – it’s right there in the title, people – by locating her to warn her of potential impending doom. Her name is Linda, she’s a writer and she holds more than a fair amount of bitterness at the world, but there’s no reason she can think of why somebody would want her dead, much less pay for it. You’ll never guess, either. No, really – you’ll never guess.

About the only thing you’ll guess correctly is that the lonely Tim and the lonely Linda will end up happily ever after, but at least Koontz doesn’t push that angle to the forefront. Given the ringer they’re put through for about 350 pages, who can blame them for mustering up some sexual tension? They’re forever fleeing from a tidy, calculating assassin (and part-time rapist) named Krait, who breaks into strangers’ homes and enjoys tea and biscuits before getting down to his dirty work. Even by Koontzian standards, he’s quite the character and conversationalist.

Once this cat-and-mouse game gets going – and with Koontz, you know you don’t have to wait long – THE GOOD GUY flys with a sense of true urgency. Surprisingly, the reader looks forward as much to Krait toying with his victims as they do to Tim and Linda making another escape. Invariably, Koontz scores high on the suspensometer.

But his prose is especially strong, too, especially for what so many will dismiss outright as “just” a thriller. Consider this passage describing the speech pattern of a man who speaks with ellipses between words: “His voice was as thin and taut as a telephone wire, his words like birds perched at discreet intervals, resonant with a plucked note that might have been dismay.”

Koontz is a much better writer than for which credit is granted him. And crafting a tale that literally pounds your pulse takes as much skill – if not more, I’d argue – than writing the Great American Novel. The proof is in THE GOOD GUY. It completes an unofficial trilogy started by VELOCITY and THE HUSBAND of righteous men thrust into wrong situations, all of which are terrific reads. And now with this trilogy out of the way and the ODD THOMAS one hopefully out of his system, maybe Koontz can get around to giving his FRANKENSTEIN a much-anticipated final chapter. –Rod Lott

Buy it at Amazon.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• BROTHER ODD by Dean Koontz
• DEAN KOONTZ’S FRANKENSTEIN: BOOK ONE – PRODIGAL SON by Dean Koontz and Kevin J. Anderson
• DEAN KOONTZ’S FRANKENSTEIN: BOOK TWO – CITY OF NIGHT by Dean Koontz and Ed Gorman
• DEMON SEED by Dean Koontz
• THE FACE OF FEAR by Dean Koontz
• FOREVER ODD by Dean Koontz
• THE HUSBAND by Dean Koontz
• ODD THOMAS by Dean Koontz
• VELOCITY by Dean Koontz