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A review by judythereader
The Face by Dean Koontz
3.0
Ethan Truman, retired police officer, has taken a job as head of security to the most successful movie star in the world - a man nicknamed the Face. In the weeks before Christmas, strange gifts beginning arriving. They feel like threats to Ethan, but the police disagree. Finally, the sender makes a mistake and Ethan is able to track him down. He goes to speak with him, conning his way into the department and dies. That's where things get weird.
There are 5 main characters in this books - Ethan, the 10-year-old son of the Face, Fric, Ethan's current best friend Hazard Yancy, a cop, Ethan's ex-best friend Dunny Whistler and Corky LaPuta.
This is an exploration of evil and redemption. Not just the bad need redemption, a theme I have always loved. That's why Casablanca is one of my favorite movies. It's also about love and loyalty. Emotionally, this is a sweeping novel. Koontz shows the many faces of life, good and bad.
To be honest, I didn't get the name of the book until the end. It made sense in the beginning when you thought the book was going in a specific direction and then for a long time it didn't and then you get hit over the head a bit with it.
I did this as an audio book. It was read by Dylan Baker, a character actor I respect very much. He did a great job. Of all the voices he did, Fric's was the best because he resisted the urge to do a "child" voice. Too many readers do that and the voice becomes whiny or too young. You knew this was a young person, but not an obnoxious one.
I did enjoy this book, but it only got 3 stars because it was too long. Any mystery or thriller needs missed opportunities or needs the hero to take too long to figure out the clues. That's how you build suspense. But I had certain clues figured out by disc 7, the target had already been explained to the audience and Ethan didn't have it explained to him until disc 15. I felt there could be some condensing in there.
All in all, though, a very worthwhile read.
There are 5 main characters in this books - Ethan, the 10-year-old son of the Face, Fric, Ethan's current best friend Hazard Yancy, a cop, Ethan's ex-best friend Dunny Whistler and Corky LaPuta.
This is an exploration of evil and redemption. Not just the bad need redemption, a theme I have always loved. That's why Casablanca is one of my favorite movies. It's also about love and loyalty. Emotionally, this is a sweeping novel. Koontz shows the many faces of life, good and bad.
To be honest, I didn't get the name of the book until the end. It made sense in the beginning when you thought the book was going in a specific direction and then for a long time it didn't and then you get hit over the head a bit with it.
I did this as an audio book. It was read by Dylan Baker, a character actor I respect very much. He did a great job. Of all the voices he did, Fric's was the best because he resisted the urge to do a "child" voice. Too many readers do that and the voice becomes whiny or too young. You knew this was a young person, but not an obnoxious one.
I did enjoy this book, but it only got 3 stars because it was too long. Any mystery or thriller needs missed opportunities or needs the hero to take too long to figure out the clues. That's how you build suspense. But I had certain clues figured out by disc 7, the target had already been explained to the audience and Ethan didn't have it explained to him until disc 15. I felt there could be some condensing in there.
All in all, though, a very worthwhile read.