Innocence (Dean Koontz) Conclusion

As usually happens in Mr. Koontz’s novels, the little mysteries that have perplexed us right up to the end are cleared up and we are shown why things happened as they did.  Well – mostly.  The Clears and especially the Fogs are left largely unexplained as to their origin or purpose.  And we aren’t really given any explanation of what animated the marionettes and why.  Much of the supernaturalism is left as simply that, with no coherent explanation.  But the nature of Addison’s appearance is revealed, more or less satisfactorily, the role of dogs in Addison’s life is nicely described, the odd connections and coincidences between he and Gwyneth are satisfactorily explained.

Over the years, Koontz’s novels have contained more and more references to his political philosophy, and lately, more references to his religious beliefs, as well.  This book actually ends on a decidedly religious note, with very biblical (Christian biblical, to be precise) overtones.  Once again, mankind has been all but wiped out, as in the biblical story of Noah, only this time, a man-made plague is the culprit instead of a flood.  Now, “The forest deep and primal harbors nothing that kills, and in it now grow … new trees and vines [that] produce scores of fruits…”  No mention of that “special” tree that Addison and Eve…I mean Gwyneth…are not allowed to eat upon pain of eternal damnation.  Gwinnie, put down the Kiwi fruit and no one gets cursed!  “Former predators basked in the early sun beside former prey … wrestled playfully or chased one another without fear or menace…”  Addison must feel cheated that he didn’t get to name them…

Earlier, Father Hanlon had explained Addison’s “condition” to him; ‘”You were born with a difference perhaps because the world was moving toward a time when such as you would be needed.”  “What difference?” I asked, breathless in expectation of the answer … In this mysterious world, I was the central mystery of my life.  “Though born of man and woman, you aren’t an heir to Adam or to Eve … By some grace beyond my understanding, beyond anyone’s, you don’t carry the stain of original sin.”  So, again, our author lets himself off the hook here by having a clergyman character make these statements, like he does with the political beliefs mouthed by other characters.  All that’s missing is the fine print saying that the views expressed by the characters in this story are not necessarily those of the author, publisher, or vendor.  Am I being too facetious here?  Yes, but I think I’m justified in poking fun at my favorite author when he takes too many liberties with his poetic license.  Entertain me, Dean; if I wanted preaching, I’d get up earlier on Sunday morning!

And, while I’m ranting, there’s something else amusing that I’ve noticed Mr. Koontz doing here and in previous novels:  mentioning that a particular character resembles a famous actor or actress, as if dropping a hint as to who should be cast in the role when the movie is made!  In this case, the second “Father” resembling Denzel Washington, is just a little too blatant.  Save it for the director, Dean!

I did like the ironic twist of having our hero finally come face to face with the Bad Guy, only to find the Bad Guy in the throes of dying a painful death from the plague.  That kind of paradigm shift suits my sense of irony to a tee.  And the moment when Gwyneth pulls up Addison’s hood to finally get a good look at him is poignantly told – we find out just how much we have connected with these two wonderful characters.  A truly beautiful moment, one of very many nicely executed scenes in this story which serve to make it a watermark in the later phase of a stellar career in suspense writing.  A Publishers Weekly blurb states, “This is the most satisfying Koontz standalone in a while.”  I have to agree.







 

Join us next month for May’s book of the month: “Memory in Death,” by J. D. Robb!

J.D. Robb is the pseudonym for Nora Roberts, a number one New York Times bestselling author of more than 190 novels, including the futuristic suspense “In Death” series. There are more than 400 million copies of her books in print.

Excerpt: Death was not taking a holiday. New York may have been decked out in its glitter and glamour, madly festooned in December of 2059, but Santa Claus was dead. And a couple of his elves weren’t looking so good. Lieutenant Eve Dallas stood on the sidewalk with the insanity of Times Square screaming around her and studied what was left of St. Nick. A couple of kids, still young enough to believe that a fat guy in a red suit would wiggle down the chimney to bring them presents instead of murdering them in their sleep, were shrieking at a decibel designed to puncture eardrums. She wondered why whoever was in charge of them didn’t haul them away. 

Not her job, she thought. Thank God. She preferred the bloody mess at her feet.


[Interesting departure for an author known chiefly as a Romance writer!]


We'll start Week 1 on May 9th;

Week 1:  Chapters 1-6
Week 2:  Chapters 7-11
Week 3:  Chapters 12-16
Week 4:  Chapters 17-21

Innocence (Dean Koontz) Ch. 43-58

The relationship between Addison and Gwyneth continues to be enigmatic, both of them placing complete trust in one another despite the fact that they have just met – under unusual circumstances – and know very little about each other.  She invites him to dinner, where at one point he summons up the courage to say, “I’m so happy to be here.”  This is courageous because, for all he knows, it will trigger an alarm in her, with her people phobia, which could end the only friendship he has known for years.  Her reply; “I’m happy, too.  My life has always been so limited.  But it doesn’t feel limited now.”

There is a lot of drama going on behind the scenes here as well, involving our antagonist, Telford and some shady people he has apparently hired to work for him.  In his desperation to catch Gwyneth, who has information that could send him to prison, he resorts to kidnap and torture, among his other transgressions, as his former partners in crime panic, at least one of them leaving the country.  Gwyneth recounts some of his earlier crimes, including the murder of her father by poison.  Who knew that honey made by bees that gather pollen from only oleanders would be fatally poisonous?

We occasionally get glimpses of what lies ahead, though they may not seem to tie into anything in the story just yet.  Addison’s flashback encounter with a pair of dogs at the age of eight shows us that they aren’t afflicted with the same automatic hatred for Addison that people display when they see what he looks like.  This is the best clue we’ve been given as to his physical appearance.  The chapter ends with the cryptic “And as it happened, in a critical hour, dogs did prove to be all that I imagined and more.”  For those who don’t know, Koontz has featured dogs very prominently in many of his stories, always in a saintly light.  I love dogs, too, but his infatuation with them is practically pathological!

Through one of Telford’s shady accomplices, we get a glimpse of a greater evil than Telford.  The art buyer, Goddard, explains that the extremely valuable artworks that he fences for Telford are bought in order to be destroyed.  About the mysterious buyers; “Like voodooists, they believe that each iconic thing they burn or shatter or melt down will strengthen their cause and weaken their enemy.  From their kingdom in the Middle East, they intend soon to destroy the West entire, but first they want the personal satisfaction of eradicating some of its most precious and inspiring creations, piece by piece.”  Koontz is occasionally accused of using his forum of suspense novels to make political statements or preaching his worldview.  The fact that he does it through his characters, written in first person is, perhaps, a thin disguise.  Other authors presumably do the same thing, just a little less obviously.  In Koontz’s books, I’m not bothered by it – maybe because I happen to agree with most of his opinions!

The plot device of casting most of the important action in the middle of a snow storm is smart, not only because it sets a mysterious otherworldly tone to the action, but because it creates an environment in which our characters – especially Addison – can move about more freely than might otherwise be possible.  Gwyneth, behind the wheel of her Land Rover with chains on the tires, takes great liberty in her driving, seeming to feel that she can do no wrong.  ‘“What happens if a policeman pulls you over?” I asked.  “Won’t happen…”’  Addison asks a lot of questions due to the fact that Gwyneth is so used to not communicating with people.  Her answers, too, are frustratingly terse.  This, of course, adds an element of mystery to the narrative, keeping the reader in the dark, as well as Addison, as to her intentions.

 

 

 

Next Week:  Conclusion





And join us next month for May’s book of the month: “Memory in Death,” by J. D. Robb!

J.D. Robb is the pseudonym for Nora Roberts, a number one New York Times bestselling author of more than 190 novels, including the futuristic suspense “In Death” series. There are more than 400 million copies of her books in print.

Excerpt: Death was not taking a holiday. New York may have been decked out in its glitter and glamour, madly festooned in December of 2059, but Santa Claus was dead. And a couple of his elves weren’t looking so good. Lieutenant Eve Dallas stood on the sidewalk with the insanity of Times Square screaming around her and studied what was left of St. Nick. A couple of kids, still young enough to believe that a fat guy in a red suit would wiggle down the chimney to bring them presents instead of murdering them in their sleep, were shrieking at a decibel designed to puncture eardrums. She wondered why whoever was in charge of them didn’t haul them away. 

Not her job, she thought. Thank God. She preferred the bloody mess at her feet.


[Interesting departure for an author known chiefly as a Romance writer!]


We'll start Week 1 on May 9th;

Week 1:  Chapters 1-6
Week 2:  Chapters 7-11
Week 3:  Chapters 12-16
Week 4:  Chapters 17-21

 

 

 

 

Innocence (Dean Koontz) Ch. 22-42

This book is as close to being in a “Goth” style as anything Dean Koontz has ever written.  Goth isn’t really his style, but if he ever chooses to write a full-on Goth story, it will be superb, I have no doubts.  The fact that Gwyneth has chosen to adopt a Goth look doesn’t really take us there.  For a really good Goth novel, I recommend “God Save the Queen (The Immortal Empire)” by Kate Locke.  Perhaps Koontz’s Frankenstein novels come as close as anything he’s written to fit the category.  “Innocence” does have something of the feel of Goth, but some key ingredients are missing, and the elements of his signature “suspense” style are in full swing.

One plot technique used here is that of alternating chapters in two or more settings.  In this case, the alternation between sub-plots isn’t happening between different sets of characters in the same time sequence, but between three time sequences of the same character; Addison as 8-year-old, as 20-year-old, and Addison as 26-year-old.  I feel that alternations like these have to be treated very carefully or they can become irritating.  The worst examples are those in which a decided momentum is constantly established and then broken, over and over, creating frustration or even confusion – we just want find out what happens next, not visit the other sub-plot repeatedly in a series of mini-cliff-hangers.  Some very good stories have been ruined for me this way.

In this book, however, the alternations aren’t so jarring; we don’t feel like we’re being toyed with.  There is a little “reminder” at the beginning of some of the 20-year-old-Addison segments – “My first night in the city, and everywhere glass underfoot…” to help us transition back to the chapter before last, in case we have forgotten what was going on.  Koontz is skilled enough to make this work, but I have to say that breaking the thread of the Addison-Gwyneth storyline so frequently does somewhat damage the effectiveness of the characterization and relationship for me.  If there turns out to be a special reason for the skipping back and forth, it will most likely be justifiable.

Clears and Fogs.  As of the half-way point in this story, there doesn’t seem to be a compelling reason to include these strange beings in this story.  In the Odd Thomas books, there are similar beings that Odd has dubbed “Bodachs” and that play a functional role in the story.  So far, the Clears and Fogs seem to be extra baggage; fascinating in their own right, but superfluous to the story as far as we can tell.  To include story elements that eventually become explained as important to the plot late in the book is all well and good, and Koontz has certainly used that technique before.  But it feels he’s overplaying this ploy a bit here.

The sequence of action where the man Addison has called “Father” is caught and killed is masterfully done.  When a beloved character in a story sacrifices him- or herself for another character – usually the protagonist – the effect can be extremely poignant in the hands of a great story-teller.  It works beautifully here.  We see the appallingly irrational reaction to the appearance of “those like” Addison and Father in the two police officers that catch our heroes in an unguarded moment.  The nature of Addison’s appearance still hasn’t been revealed, but the effect it has on “normal” people is consistent.  We have to wonder if there will come a time in the story when Gwyneth finally sees him and what her reaction will be.  Might that be the climax of the tale?  Perhaps.




Week 3:  Chapters 43-58
Week 4:  Conclusion

Innocence (Dean Koontz) Ch. 1-21

Such a pleasure to be reading a completely new Dean Koontz novel again!  He has written mainly about Odd Thomas lately, and before that, the Frankenstein series.  The Odd Thomas books are superb, the Frankenstein books – interesting.  But I was getting to the point where I wanted something more fresh from Mr. Koontz.  I think he did, too.  This book definitely hits the mark, though there are similarities to Odd Thomas; a protagonist who has a huge cross to bear, a secret to keep, and who sees apparitions almost no one else can see.  Some people might react to this by asking, “Can’t he write about normal people for once?”  Well, it’s been done.  By him as well as others.

One important reversal:  while Odd Thomas was a normal-looking person with a bizarre talent, Addison is a bizarre-looking person, with mainly normal abilities.  In a very interesting twist, we are kept from a description of just what Addison’s appearance may be –  tantalized by the knowledge that people are not only repulsed by his appearance; it somehow sends them into a murderous rage.  One wonders just what it is that could trigger that in people.  Does he have snake-like qualities?  Does he look like a devil?  A werewolf?  Hitler?  George W. Bush?  I’m having a hard time imagining what a satisfactory answer to this might be.

Enter Gwyneth.  Beautifully offsetting Addison’s apparent deformities, she exemplifies the ultimate Goth girl, minus the pretentiousness.  A supernatural origin is hinted at by her resemblance to a puppet that Addison encountered in a strangely Ray Bradbury-esque scene which occurred at about the time of Gwyneth’s birth.  Hmmm.  The juxtaposition of these two intriguing personalities is somehow fitting.  “We hold each other hostage to our eccentricities,” he says, referring to their agreed upon rules that she is not allowed to look at him and he is not allowed to touch her.  “We’re made for each other.”  The author didn’t want us to miss that point…

Gwyneth had grown up eccentric, with a phobia about being around people and an extremely wealthy father who indulged her aversions.  And then, “Shortly before her thirteenth birthday, she had chanced upon a magazine article about Goth style, and the photographs had fascinated her.  She studied them for days.  On the Internet, she sought other examples of Goth girls in all their freaky majesty.”  This revelation and the transformation following it set her free.  Well – is this really all that different a scenario from the adoption of things Goth that any other adolescent experiences?  “As a child, Gwyneth had been a prodigy, self-educated and emotionally mature far beyond her years.”  Addison, too, had been a prodigy of sorts, having essentially raised himself in the wilderness with minimal upbringing by his soul-tormented mother.

So the overall effect here is almost of a meeting of two superheroes, even imitating the currently popular movie-depiction of superheroes as deeply flawed individuals who have somehow turned those flaws into strengths.  Years ago, Koontz wrote one of my favorite books by him entitled, “By the Light of the Moon,” in which a trio of characters was inadvertently transformed into something like superheroes, and I have often hoped for a sequel to that story, picking up where it left off with the supernatural powers these characters had acquired.  We almost get that here, and the effect is deliciously comic-book-like.  “[An] imaginative, mystical thriller from bestseller Koontz . . . This is the most satisfying Koontz standalone in a while.”—Publishers Weekly“[An] imaginative, mystical thriller from bestseller Koontz . . . This is the most satisfying Koontz standalone in a while.”—Publishers WeeklyAs usual, Koontz really hits the spot with many of us: this one nails it!






Week 2:  Chapters 22-42
Week 3:  Chapters 43-58
Week 4:  Conclusion