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Band:Dean Koontz Album:Frankenstein: Book One: Prodigal Son Record Company:Random House Writer: Sherri Carras Click Album Cover To Buy Now

Book One: Prodigal Son

I have never been able to get through a Dean Koontz book. The episode of Family Guy where Brian runs a man over, then runs him over again after discovering it’s Dean Koontz made me give a cheer. The man is prolific, so his writing feels rushed to me, and maybe that’s why his writing failed to keep my attention past the first chapter before.
So what’s the secret to this one? Why did I not only make it all the way through, but loved it? Dean Koontz co-wrote this book with another author, Kevin J. Anderson.

I’ve never heard of Kevin J. Anderson. However, I’m sure it’s his writing style that pulled me in so deep. Okay, this is a trite storyline. Mad Dr. Frankenstein manages to stay alive, and is rich and powerful in present time, and still doing his horrific experiments. The poor creature he originally created also managed to stand the test of time. The creature’s name in this tale is Deucalion, which I thought was pretty cool, and rolled off the tongue. Deucalion is seeking his former master, so he can stop the madness. Yes, yes, we’ve seen this all before. In fact, we saw it on a USA failed attempt at a series. Koontz explains this in an author’s note at the beginning.

What drew me in is the chemistry between the two other major characters, Carson O’Conner (lord, why do all cops need to be Irish?), and her partner, Michael Maddison. Their interactions are intense, with great dialogue, and always serve to drive the plot forward. This isn’t just a ‘partner interested in their partner’ subplot. It serves a purpose. Carson is gun-happy, drives too fast, and is a little too serious. Michael Maddison is the lighter side, and serves up great comic relief in this gothy, dark tale. I laughed out loud at several points.

On a side note, I did watch the television movie that spawned this book. It had Parker Posey as O’Conner, which was a pretty good fit. But for studly Michael Maddison they had Adam Goldberg. I like Adam Goldberg, but not in this. He’s funny, but he’s not tough enough to stand up to O’Conner. The rest of the movie was bad. And not in a good way.

Back to the merits of the novel itself. It’s fast paced, making for a fast read. It’s light on substance, but that’s okay. This is purely entertainment, even though it’s on the dark side of things. There’s mutilation, torture, and murder. Victor Frankenstein has a god complex of magnitude ten, and you feel slimy whenever he’s on the page. But the tale has enough unique aspects to keep me into it. There is already a sequel out, which I voraciously read, as well, called Frankenstein: City of Night. The third installment was supposed to be out this summer, but now it’s not slated for release until winter of this year, damn it!

Buy this book. Especially if you could never get through a Dean Koontz book before, buy this book. Something about him working with another writer eliminates whatever frenetic style he has on his own, so you get something readable. If you love Dean Koontz, this may be a good read just to see if you still like him even with his style toned down. The story is all his, so it’s still Dean Koontz, so this could answer whether you like his stories, or just his writing style, or both. In any event, I loved this book, and will read it again. Click on the Amazon link and snap up a copy. While you’re at it, you may as well buy the sequel, too!

Band:Dean Koontz Album:Frankenstein: Book One: Prodigal Son Record Company:Random House Writer: Sherri Carras Click Album Cover To Buy Now

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