Well, it looks like I'll be the first to post under this topic . . .
Just finished up Dean Koontz's Velocity. I've been a big Koontz fan from way back, but must admit his more recent stuff doesn't hit me the same his books from the 80's and 90's. I'm sure I'll always continue to read his work, but I'll also be nostalgic about that earlier period.
Velocity is inspiring to me in that it's a book by a bestselling novelist that is not so intricate that any number of people from our group couldn't have come up with the idea. The basic premise is that Billy Wilder is a young bartender who gets off from work one night, only to find a note in his vehicle saying, "If you don't take this note to the police and get them involved, I will kill a lovely blond schoolteacher. If you do take this note to the police, I will instead kill an elderly woman active in charity work. You have four hours to decide. The choice is yours."
There's your hook. Billy doesn't take the note completely seriously at first, but then successive notes arrive and events take place, which move the story along.
Unfortunately, a lot of Koontz characters are similar from one book to another. Typically in the same thirty-something age category every time, very rarely do the characters have children, nor do they usually have any contact with parents or extended family. This novel could have benefitted from a faster pace. Yes, there is a lot going on, but it ran 450 pages, when I think it could have been a lot more taut (maybe at 350 / 375). There is also the matter of Billy's girlfriend being in a four year coma as a result of a serious case of botulism due to eating a can of bad vishisois (sorry about the spelling--too lazy to look it up, but fish soup, okay?). This idea came across as a little absurd to me. Maybe Koontz meant it to be, intending to make the point that life is absurd, but to me it just seemed silly. The cover is also one of the unappealing yet on one of his books. Just a yellow cover, with the title blurred, as if to indicate motion and speed. No art to it.
So, all that's on the downside. On the plus side . . . Koontz's prose is always polished. Beginning writers could do worse than reading some of his thrillers. And he can teach a lot about plot and building of story lines. There are a couple of chilling moments and disturbing images. But the really big benefit to me was that in reading the book, I got a really great idea for a story of my own. Tom M. and other writers have mentioned this happening to readers before. You'll be reading along and think that the story should go one way, but it doesn't, and you kind of like your own idea better. Or, you'll read some throwaway line that the writer considers insignificant without any special meaning, but for you, it resonates enough to create a chain of thoughts which cause you to come up with a completely seperate idea. Well, that happened with me. I've got a hummer of an idea, and I'll look forward to developing it in the future.
In summation, Koontz is one heck of a writer, but Velocity would not be among my favorites of his novels. For my money, I like Watchers, Voice of the Night, The Servants of Twilight, Phantoms, and to a lesser degree Winter Moon, Eyes of Darkness, Door to December, Darkfall, Shadowfires.
Happy reading everyone.
--Shelby
Just finished up Dean Koontz's Velocity. I've been a big Koontz fan from way back, but must admit his more recent stuff doesn't hit me the same his books from the 80's and 90's. I'm sure I'll always continue to read his work, but I'll also be nostalgic about that earlier period.
Velocity is inspiring to me in that it's a book by a bestselling novelist that is not so intricate that any number of people from our group couldn't have come up with the idea. The basic premise is that Billy Wilder is a young bartender who gets off from work one night, only to find a note in his vehicle saying, "If you don't take this note to the police and get them involved, I will kill a lovely blond schoolteacher. If you do take this note to the police, I will instead kill an elderly woman active in charity work. You have four hours to decide. The choice is yours."
There's your hook. Billy doesn't take the note completely seriously at first, but then successive notes arrive and events take place, which move the story along.
Unfortunately, a lot of Koontz characters are similar from one book to another. Typically in the same thirty-something age category every time, very rarely do the characters have children, nor do they usually have any contact with parents or extended family. This novel could have benefitted from a faster pace. Yes, there is a lot going on, but it ran 450 pages, when I think it could have been a lot more taut (maybe at 350 / 375). There is also the matter of Billy's girlfriend being in a four year coma as a result of a serious case of botulism due to eating a can of bad vishisois (sorry about the spelling--too lazy to look it up, but fish soup, okay?). This idea came across as a little absurd to me. Maybe Koontz meant it to be, intending to make the point that life is absurd, but to me it just seemed silly. The cover is also one of the unappealing yet on one of his books. Just a yellow cover, with the title blurred, as if to indicate motion and speed. No art to it.
So, all that's on the downside. On the plus side . . . Koontz's prose is always polished. Beginning writers could do worse than reading some of his thrillers. And he can teach a lot about plot and building of story lines. There are a couple of chilling moments and disturbing images. But the really big benefit to me was that in reading the book, I got a really great idea for a story of my own. Tom M. and other writers have mentioned this happening to readers before. You'll be reading along and think that the story should go one way, but it doesn't, and you kind of like your own idea better. Or, you'll read some throwaway line that the writer considers insignificant without any special meaning, but for you, it resonates enough to create a chain of thoughts which cause you to come up with a completely seperate idea. Well, that happened with me. I've got a hummer of an idea, and I'll look forward to developing it in the future.
In summation, Koontz is one heck of a writer, but Velocity would not be among my favorites of his novels. For my money, I like Watchers, Voice of the Night, The Servants of Twilight, Phantoms, and to a lesser degree Winter Moon, Eyes of Darkness, Door to December, Darkfall, Shadowfires.
Happy reading everyone.
--Shelby
It was billed as a masterpiece, but
I don't see it. I think it was written around 1970, so perhap his "meds" were a factor. 
