Anything but Breathless

Dean Koontz has long been one of my favorite authors and I’ve followed his work closely over the years. Therefore, I can only assume that for his latest novel, Breathless, Mr. Koontz was either, a) under tremendous pressure to meet a deadline from his publisher, or b) experimenting with some type of free form writing similar to the dissembled hodgepodge of sounds that several popular bands tried to pass off as music in the early 70’s.

Breathless contains none of the heart pounding suspense, skin crawling creepiness, or supernatural thrills characteristic of Dean Koontz novels. Both clever banter and humor are absent, and mystery is minimal. There are way too many characters; all of whom are sorely underdeveloped—with the possible exception of Merlin the Irish wolfhound. (At least the use of a dog in a key role is consistent with recent Koontz books.)

For the past several years, Dean Koontz has included both subtle and overt social commentary in his works. While Breathless is not totally lacking in this aspect, I found the scarcity and toned down nature of the editorializing somewhat disappointing. Even more disappointing is Koontz’s failure to use the words preternatural and susurration even once in Breathless!

Because of my respect for Mr. Koontz and his willingness to take risks in writing, I find it difficult to totally diss Breathless, even though reading the book left me anything but breathless. My suggestion to first time Koontz readers, is to start with something other than Breathless. Strange Highways, Intensity, Odd Thomas and Life Expectancy for example, are just a few of my favorites. The Husband, The Good Guy, and Relentless also rank high on my list of recommendations. And do continue to look forward to new Koontz releases; assured there will be far more hits than misses.