Skip Maloney

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The Bad Weather Friend

by Dean Koontz (Goodreads Author)

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Skip Maloney said: " Full disclosure: I am not a fan of the “short and sweet” variety of book reviews that begin with words like “In the tradition of” or “If you liked Author X, you’re going to love Author Y.” Truth be told, the jury is still out on book reviews in gener Full disclosure: I am not a fan of the “short and sweet” variety of book reviews that begin with words like “In the tradition of” or “If you liked Author X, you’re going to love Author Y.” Truth be told, the jury is still out on book reviews in general because they have a way of cementing impressions in one’s mind before reading that are often at odds with the material. While the caliber of reviews, for example, in the New York Times, have a way of mixing scholarship, related opinions and, in and of themselves, excellent writing, they’re as guilty of providing readers of them with information that spoils the reading of the material as surely as those that delve immediately into plot and eventually into ‘spoilers.’

All that said, I’d like to take a ‘swing’ at Dean Koontz’s latest The Bad Weather Friend (2024; The Koontz Living Trust). In the tradition of . . . Just kidding. . . Koontz is known for his contributions in the horror/thriller realm. Well over 50, closing in on 100 novels to date, including a few series, among which is his Odd Thomas series (probably the best known). It had been a while since I picked up a Koontz novel, so when it appeared on my library’s New Fiction shelves and being in the mood for a change of pace at the time, I picked it up.

And am liking it. A lot. Closing in on the end, which, since I have no intention of revealing the ending, doesn’t incline me away from writing about it now. Here’s where it gets tricky. I am loathe to write about the plot. In addition to my full-disclosure notice above, I’d like to add that I’m not a fan of reading the inside of book jackets, because they, like book reviews, can spoil a reader’s encounter with the plot, characters or specific happenings. I read a book jacket, more or less by accident one time, and it told me that someone was going to die in the story. The story didn’t tell me that right away of course, but the jacket kept me in state of anticipation until the story caught up to something I already knew and in so doing, kept me distracted about everything that was going on until the person died. Hated that. I avoid book-jacket reading at all costs, though I still “more or less by accident” do start to read them before remembering.

That said, I’ll try to tell you things you may already know, while avoiding things that you don’t. As noted earlier, Koontz is known for writing a combination of horror/thriller stories. He shares that literary ‘shelf’ with people like Stephen King and Clive Barker (among many others). The Bad Weather Friend sits comfortably in that known pair of genres, while expanding on it in a direction that has the potential of being surprising, maybe even a little disconcerting for some, though fascinating and enjoyable to others. I am firmly in the ‘others’ side of those two.

Here, we step into tricky territory that reveals something about the story without revealing ‘spoilers.’ He brings to this tale a sense of whimsy – “a playful or amusing quality” – that keeps you sliding off onto a path that seems to move the story away from its defining genre. Like watching a cat video on the Internet, while hurricane winds are shaking your windows. Koontz has a lot to say about the ‘human condition’ in this tale, sometimes commenting on these kinds of things directly (as author) and sometimes through the words of characters. Some of this commentary, not often, employs clichés about the nature of good and evil. Other times, he draws comparisons that impart a kind of wisdom that is both refreshing and (to me, at least) ‘spot on’ when it comes to understanding ourselves and others on the good/evil spectrum. It’s like trying to absorb something on the level of Macbeth (pretty much a horror/thriller kind of story if there ever was one) when it’s being performed by people who dress and act like clowns.

I found myself grimacing at the clichés and knotting my eyebrows at a few of the simplistic observations about humanity in general. But not for long. Koontz has always been a good writer who knows his way around sentences, scenes and the construction of compelling drama and he keeps you turning pages, even when something or other, on one or two of them, here or there, has distracted you in less than compelling ways. The characters enter the story as a little vaguely- drawn at first, but as the narrative progresses, you get to know them a little better and are more forgiving of things that may seem a little. . . strange, at first.

Overall? Bad Weather Friend is a good read. Packed with laughs, lessons to learn, and likeable, if occasionally improbable characters with whom I believe you will enjoy spending your time. ...more "

Mar 17, 2024 12:38PM · see review