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A review by s_sheppard18
Elsewhere by Dean Koontz
2.0
I liked that the protagonists are a father-daughter duo, and that the romance aspect of the plot was more of an extra tangent for the father than a driving force of action. The story itself was good enough to read all the way through, but I finished it more with a feeling of "this is boring but I want to know how the author decided to end the story," than "I'm desperate to know what happens to these people!" I mostly read Koontz when I'm looking for a good story, not necessarily a good piece of writing, so I at least mostly got what I paid for, despite the ending feeling like a bit of a cop out. This is probably my least favorite of Koontz's novels I've read.
The real drawback to this book was how flat the characters were. I didn't feel engrossed in the world of Amity and Jeffy at all, which is what I'd prefer in a sci-fi action adventure novel. Although the protagonists were relatable and lovable, there was a distinct lack of realistic depth. During the sections of the book from Amity's perspective, there are glimmers of extra dimension which come close to making her narration realistic and compelling, but then that realism is broken by the author beating a dead horse to hammer home some small character facet that feels like it came from a bullet point list of "character qualities" on a 5th grade book report. Jeffy was less compelling than Amity, but was still tolerable to read. I should have kept track of the number of times they mention that Jeffy restores old radios, or Amity is worried about her pet mouse. I kind of want to tell the book, "I know that already, give me something else. There's more to this guy than being a dad who likes old stuff and reads a lot with his daughter."
The flattest characters were the bad guys- especially the main antagonist. The more that Koontz revealed about the antagonist, somehow the less believable and one-dimensional he became. By the end of the book, the main antagonist of the story is essentially a caricature of "evil incel with too many resources for his own good." He's not interesting or engaging; he's just a gross, predictable, plot device. Considering how much of the plot hinges on this guy's personal vendetta, you'd think we could have a morsel of something to make him relatable or empathetic.
The real drawback to this book was how flat the characters were. I didn't feel engrossed in the world of Amity and Jeffy at all, which is what I'd prefer in a sci-fi action adventure novel. Although the protagonists were relatable and lovable, there was a distinct lack of realistic depth. During the sections of the book from Amity's perspective, there are glimmers of extra dimension which come close to making her narration realistic and compelling, but then that realism is broken by the author beating a dead horse to hammer home some small character facet that feels like it came from a bullet point list of "character qualities" on a 5th grade book report. Jeffy was less compelling than Amity, but was still tolerable to read. I should have kept track of the number of times they mention that Jeffy restores old radios, or Amity is worried about her pet mouse. I kind of want to tell the book, "I know that already, give me something else. There's more to this guy than being a dad who likes old stuff and reads a lot with his daughter."
The flattest characters were the bad guys- especially the main antagonist. The more that Koontz revealed about the antagonist, somehow the less believable and one-dimensional he became. By the end of the book, the main antagonist of the story is essentially a caricature of "evil incel with too many resources for his own good." He's not interesting or engaging; he's just a gross, predictable, plot device. Considering how much of the plot hinges on this guy's personal vendetta, you'd think we could have a morsel of something to make him relatable or empathetic.