It was suggested to me almost ten years ago now that I might enjoy Dean Koontz books. I picked up a few from the library and was quickly hooked on his books and started buying his new books as they were released. In the last few years, some of his books haven’t been as good as his earlier books but I continued to enjoy them overall. I recently read The Good Guy, one of his books that came out in 2007.

Timothy Carrier was having a beer after work in the bar owned by his friend Liam when a nervous stranger arrived. The man mistakenly thought that Tim was a hitman and left him an envelope full of money, an address and the picture of a woman to be killed. Shortly after the nervous man left, the real hitman arrived and thought that Tim was his contact. Tim kept the picture and the address, giving the killer the money saying he had changed his mind. The killer didn’t seem to be convinced to give up the job when he left the bar. Tim was still trying to decide what else to do when he discovered that the killer was a cop. Tim then decided to go find Linda Paquette to make sure she wasn’t killed.

The Good Guy was very different from many of Dean Koontz’s other books. He became popular for his books that featured horror and sometimes some sort of supernatural elements. The first books of his that I read did deal more with those types of plots and while some were a bit strange, they were very entertaining and suspenseful. People that started to read Koontz to begin with because of those books may not be happy with this book. Some of his newer books have been straight mystery suspense, so this isn’t the first time he’s written a book like this. I have enjoyed those books that I have read, though most of his earlier books are still my favorites.

There was a good amount of mystery and suspense in The Good Guy. The mystery was introduced right away when the nervous man thought that Tim was a hitman. Tim was still trying to figure out why someone would want to kill Linda when the real hitman turned up. Tim had to make a quick decision about how he was going to handle the unique situation he found himself in. There was some mystery surrounding the hitman as well. Linda and Tim both had secrets that came out late in the book. There was an explanation for who wanted Linda dead and why by the end of the book. The ending did tie everything together and made sense with what was going on.

Most of Koontz’s books have dealt with a fight between good and evil in some way. I do feel that was going on in The Good Guy as well. Tim and Linda were representing good while the hitman and whoever hired him obviously represented evil. The hitman was good at his work and actually enjoyed killing. He wouldn’t hesistate to kill anyone who got in his way. His method of dealing with complications was to start shooting. Several scenes were focused on him. Those scenes did include violence. Some of the violence was more graphic than others. It wasn’t pleasant to read about several of the things he did or thought about doing. I don’t think this book was any more violent than any of Koontz’s other books, but it could be too violent for some readers.

The majority of The Good Guy took place over a fairly short time frame. The last chapter or two covered events that happened a little while after the main part of the book and did help to finish wrapping up everything. Since the book had the shorter time frame, it did make the pace of the book go faster. I didn’t feel like it was too rushed though some may disagree. Because of the faster pace, there wasn’t as much time to devote to character development. I have read several other Koontz books that took place over short time frames as well. I think there have been one or two others that had short time frames than this one.

Tim and Linda met fairly early in The Good Guy. They had to quickly decide they could trust each other and work together so that Linda wouldn’t be killed. They did end up getting along very well right after they met. It did seem like there was a little bit of interest between them, but there really wasn’t any sort of romance in the book. There were no sex scenes, so people who don’t like to read those types of scenes don’t need to worry about this book. The growing friendship between Tim and Linda worked very well and was enough.

Tim was in more of the book than any of the other characters. Even so, there were still some secrets surrounding him and his past in particular. It really wasn’t surprising once that was explained, but it did fit in very well with the plot and how Tim had been portrayed up until that point. He was a likable character. Linda was unique in a few ways that did add some interest to the plot. She did have secrets in her past as well that helped to explain a lot about her. She was also a likable character.

Tim did turn to his friend Pete, a cop, for a bit of help. Once Pete started working on something he was very determined to follow through. Liam, Tim’s friend who owned the bar, and his wife turned up a few times as well. They seemed like nice characters even though they weren’t that developed. Other characters were used here and there without being that important to the overall plot. Several chapters were devoted to the killer. That did illustrate how cold blooded he was about killing without adding much other development to him. He was not a nice character but did work as a villain. This was not someone you’d want to have after you.

The Good Guy was an entertaining, suspenseful mystery book by Dean Koontz that his fans may enjoy. Since it is different from his most popular books, some people will probably be disappointed with it.

Dean Koontz Book Reviews
Odd Thomas ~ Forever Odd ~ By the Light of the Moon ~ Dean Koontz's Frankenstein: Prodigal Son ~ The Face ~ False Memory ~ The Key to Midnight ~ Life Expectancy ~ Night Chills ~ One Door Away From Heaven ~ Phantoms ~ Shadowfires ~ The Taking ~ Velocity ~

Recommended: Yes