Book Week Continues!

Also known as "Why The Hell Aren't My Comics More Interesting?" Week. Ah well, nothing wrong with a little diversification.

Moving along.

I've got to confess I haven't been a huge fan of Dean Koontz up to this point. Where I compared T. Jefferson Parker to Jeph Loeb, I'd compare Koontz to Paul Jenkins. Now I'm a fan of Jenkins, especially his work on Peter Parker Spider-Man, but I have to admit, he does not have a flair for endings. He's good when doing a quick, stand alone issue, but when he tries to build something up over three or four issues (or more), the conclusion inevitably seems to be a letdown. The most recent Sentry mini-series (of course, nothing short of Sentry's death would have suited me, so that's probably not fair), the four issue Spider-Man versus the Goblin story in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #142-145.

Koontz' had that track record in the four books of his I've read previously. He builds up this huge level of weird stuff that's going on. It's creepy and awesome and then. . . God's behind it. Or the Devil. Or it's flat-out the Rapture. Everytime. Maybe it's me - in fact I'm sure it is - but that always seems like a copout explanation for a story. I don't know why that's a copout, but "aliens did it" isn't. Maybe because I figure aliens are still mortal beings, and so it's more interesting to try and figure their motives, than some powerful, inscrutable force that permeates the cosmos. It's just a little frustrating when you've invested considerable time reading the story. I won't even start on my irritation with Arthur C. Clarke's Rama series, the ultimate expression of this for me. This is the point where my dad would pop up and say 'It's not the destination, it's the journey.' Not after 2500 pages, Dad.

With that in mind, I was a little unsure reading Koontz's The Face. Fortunately, Koontz has decided to write a story with people like me in mind, yet still remaining true to his apparently favorite themes. Basically, he gets the weird crap going right from the start, but also makes it clear within the first 2oo pages or so (the book runs 650) that there are higher powers involved. For some reason, his having gotten that out of the way helps a lot. Probably because it removes any need on my part to wonder why the weird crap is happening, and to instead focus on the characters: what they're doing, what they're thinking, choices that they should be making, choices they do make, and so on. That made it much more enjoyable.

Or maybe it's just a stylistically different book. The others had the same sort of thriller elements to them, but there was much less shared with the reader; we didn't neccessarily understand all the motivations, or the forces at work, and so figuring it out was part of the fun. This is less mystery, more thriller, more "can the hero get there in time?" kind of stuff. There's still a bit of a mystery as to why certain characters are involved, but it's not something that dominates the book, or at least not my reading of it. In other words, it's something that would be more likely to make it to the big screen, what with being less deep and all. Which might be a statement on today's world, given the plot involves a famous (fictional) actor, and an anarchist. I get the feeling Koontz isn't all that pleased with the world today, given one character railing against how actor's today are "flat", that they have no personality or gravitas compared to the Bogarts and Grants of the past, and the sheer number of people in the story who seem to be in favor of aiding society's collapse.

Or maybe Koontz is just really adept at giving that impression of himself. Either way, I tore through it in less than 24 hours, so I suppose that should serve as a recommendation, one of those 'I couldn't put it down!' quotes you see on the back. Think I'll see any sort of a check?