Sole
Survivor
Delving again into the fight between good and evil
Dean Koontz digs out a story that shows his skills as he tackles much larger
scopes then the ones you'd expect in a piece of fiction. This is far from being
an out-and-out horror novel, but it features a good dose of thrilling action
and a fair amount of suspense permeates every chapter. What you may find
peculiar, though, is that it is likely to make you wonder about the eternal
questions of life after death and the existence of a supernatural force guiding
human destinies.
Joe Carpenter leads a void,
gloomy existence since a fateful airplane crash has deprived him of his wife
and daughters, leaving him with a burden of grief and no reason for living. One
year after the accident, though, he spots a woman taking pictures near his
family's grave and right before being assaulted by a horde of thugs he gets to
know that not everyone of those who were on board have perished. The
astonishing revelation plunges Joe in a breathtaking adventure. He sets out to
discover more about who and how someone could escape the deadly flight, but
what he finds out is a jigsaw puzzle made of people mysteriously committing
suicide while others are hell-bent on concealing some terrifying secrets
killing innocents without regrets.
All of this is masterfully put
together with DK's skillful writing, with a riveting blend of engrossing chase
scenes mixed with passages where the protagonist's mind is accurately probed.
The whole book, in fact, revolves around the multifaceted main character, whose
portrait I found so lively that as far as halfway through the book I could
deeply feel for him and his family, which is presented by means of Joe's
memories.
This acknowledged, what prevents
this work from being a top one is the mild weakness of the final part. At 3/4
of the book I confess I was hooked, guessing at every page in sync with the
protagonist, but when the mystery unravelled I couldn't help thinking that the
explanations were a bit far-fetched, in spite of DK's generous effort to
buttress the final with all the proper details. Steadfast fans, moreover, might
see the ending coming too soon and find it not too original considering
Koontz's previous works.
Finally, religious, moral and
mystical aspects all play an important role from beginning to end, enriching
the book with an underlying aura of hope that is a common motif in DK's
production. I personally found this touching, but if you usually dismiss these
themes as boring palaver…this is just not your book.
Well worth a try: 7˝ /10