SUMMARY:
On page 1, Dean Koontz introduces the story by introducing a character that goes is just parking near an outlet in the woods. His name is Tony and he is now in his upper 50's. Tony goes into the woods to get away from his life which he now despises. He continues going through the woods until he comes to a meadow in a clearing and unpacks his bag. Tony then sits on a rock and enjoys some Oreo cookies he packed. While eating his Oreos Tony sees something out of the corner of his eye. When he looks at what caught, he notices a dog still out in the clearing ahead of him. Tony proceeds to move towards the dog, but is unsure if he is friendly or not. The dog appears friendly; however, when he attempts to pass the dog, the dog goes crazy and begins barking viciously at Tony and grabs his leg and drags him back to his entrance. Tony attempts again and the dog does the same, but this time the dog turns around towards the exit path and begins barking loudly at the path as if warning something away. Then the dog grabs Tony's leg and begins to run towards the entrance. Tony begins running with the dog and is afraid because he realizes that something in the clearing is chasing them and it isn't something normal. They continue running and Tony becomes paranoid as he continues running. Tony finally reaches his car with the dog and they get into the car and drive off as he wonders about the dog that saved his life.
Next, the reader is introduced to another character named Nora. She is a very timid humble woman who lives in her aunt's house that is now in her possession ever since she passed away. Nora never liked her aunt, however, and she was raised up to believe that all men are pigs and that all of life's experiences can be found in books. Nora's T.V. is broken and so she needs someone to fix it. Then the reader is introduced to Streck who is the repairman. Streck is described as a creepy looking man and looks at Nora in a sexual manner. Streck continues by fixing the TV and talking to Nora with many sexual inuendos, but Nora is too meek to stand up for herself. As Streck is leaving he asks Nora what her husband does (Nora doesn't have a husband) and she tells him that he is a police man. After her answer, Nora realizes that her answer was dumb because her house was much more than a police man could afford. Streck leaves, but Nora feels that he is not gone forever.
Then, the Character of Clem who is a hired killer. Clem had just parked the van outside of the doctor's house of which he is supposed to take care of that night. He then breaks in through the garage door and creeps into the doctor's living room. He says hello and as the doctor turns around Clem shoots the doctor in the forehead with a quiet snap as his silenced pistol goes off. Clem then cleans up the body and the scene and then leaves the house. He then drives to a public phone booth to cal the people that hire him and told them the job was finished. Then the people that give him the jobs tell him that his work is the best of their killers. They then proceed in giving him another address and he knows that that means that he has another job that night. Clem is excited that he has two jobs in one night because killing gives him an unmeasurable high on life.
RESPONSE:
This is a very interesting book because it tells the story from three points of view. I kinda like this style more than normal books because it provides some new scenery and input. I have read another one of Dean Koontz which portrayed the story from different characters and it was awesome because at the end all the characters were tied together and ended up crossing paths and ultimately completing the concept of the story. I enjoy the concept of the dog because it is acting as a protector to Tony, and Nora's stalker gives the book a sense of tenseness and suspense while Clem's killings provide a sense of dark twistedness, for he finds pleasure in killing people. I'm interested to see how all three of these unlikely characters come together.
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