A review by blackenedwhiplash
The Voice of the Night by Dean Koontz

3.0

I bought this book on Google Play Books whilst browsing on my phone and in a late night, sleep deprived slumber, I read the entire sample and then just bought it and kept reading, despite already having like 6 Dean Koontz books in physical copy I've been meaning to read. The first half was great, feeding off the premise of a friendship between a timid bookworm who's quiet and easily frightened and a popular athlete who is obsessed with the idea of killing things, and possibly even people. Watching Roy manipulate Colin more into seeing his world is interesting and disturbing. But the second half of the book almost turns to a more generic thriller vibe, a sort of cat and mouse kind of deal that I get a little tired of in thriller novels. Colin realizes Roy's obsession isn't a joke and doesn't want anything to do with it, and Roy doesn't want him to turn his back on him. But then in the end the feel of the book improves again when Colin and Heather, a girl he becomes interested in throughout the story, come up with a plan to prove to the adults that Roy isn't the charming, polite kid he seems to be. During this time, we see the origins of what made Roy into having a sociopath-like personality, and it becomes important and interesting. Colin's character development becomes very dynamic as we see him grow up throughout the story, and the ending is sort of bitter sweet. Their plan at the end wasn't quite what I was expecting, and was executed better than I anticipated, though the last sentence closes the novel pretty abruptly. We don't get any insight into what happens to the characters in the aftermath. It's like the novel arrived at the climax, but stopped before the resolution. It feels like Dean Koontz just didn't feel like adding more, as if he felt that the important parts were written therefore he should spare the muscle movements to type any longer. Seeing Roy get increasingly creepier was engaging, and how our view of him changes at least a little at the end makes the novel a coming of age story of sorts where we see a kid struggling with finding his place in the world, despite his hatred for everyone else. It's a good book, and I would rate it a star higher if it didn't have the drop in vibe in the middle of it, even if it does come back up at the end, and if the ending was fleshed out a bit more. If you're thinking about picking it up, I recommend you try it out, it's worth the read.