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