The Dead Town (Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein #5)

Dean Koontz has yet to write a bad book. He doesn\’t even fall as low as OK, or So-So. This, like all of the Frankenstein books, is a very worthy read. The book tackles technology, the worth of the soul, the human experience, and as usual, koontz has scattered his verbal jewels throughout. One of the best things about reading any Koontz novel is running across a perfect, verbal jewel–a luminous piece of prose, carefully polished and achingly beautiful. Koontz has, once again, woven a the threads of multiple lives and the stories behind them into a beautifully crafted book, one I read in one sitting the day it arrived–then went back and read again, after re-reading all the ones that came before it in the series. For those who know Koontz and love him, this book will meet and likely exceed your expectations. For those just becoming acquainted–you have a LOT of shopping and reading to do LOL. Koontz is one of the finest word smiths we have in literature in general at the present time, and all of his books are keepers.

Let me begin by saying, the first three books were amazing. I loved them. I could see a Hollywood blockbuster being created from them. I really love Koontz\’ writing, however it seems like he was either lazy or lacked imagination on the last two books, opting for a quick sale based on previous successes (does this remind you of most lackluster movie sequels?) The fourth book could be summed up as, \”So Victor is alive?\” and not much else. Lots of padding, I had hope for the fifth. Not so. As one reviewer commented, there are new characters/plots being presented well past the halfway point in this book that add absolutely nothing to the story. For some examples: **SPOILERS FOLLOW** 1) You are introduced to \”Rusty\”, who gets a sense of dread while walking down the street, runs into the bad guys, and wants to save his girl. He does so, and never meets or intertwines with the \”main\” characters at all. This happens after the halfway point of the book. What is the point of this? It adds nothing to the story. It is a side-story, nothing more than filler. 2) The Radio Station is the means to \”get the word out\”, much time is spend building this up. You get to know the characters, Deucalion is ready to help them hold the station personally, it is so vital. They gather weapons for a big show-down so that they can protect this very important piece to the plot. \”Getting the word out\” amounts to absolutely nothing. Nobody comes to their rescue. You are not told of anyone listening to the broadcast apart from those characters which already know what\’s going on. There is no \”final last stand\”, as the story is over before anything major happens. 3) Victor\’s demise is Deucalion\’s mysterious lightning-flashes which simply… burn him up? Very lackluster. For a book that spends so much time on the physical/real/scientific (nanotechnology, satellite uplinks, etc), it instead opts for some never-explained solution to his demise. **SPOILERS OVER** In short, I loved the first three books so much that the last two were terrible letdowns. I expected more.

Ever since I read Mary Shelly\’s Frankenstein when I was a teen I\’ve always identified with the creature. I wanted to know more about him. Not his creator who I thought was conceited to have created him, and then negligent when it came to equipping the creature for the world he was to live in. In his character, Deucalion, Dean Koontz thoroughly answers my question: Whatever became of the creature? In the fifth and final book in his series we find Deucalion along with Carson and Michael Maddison in Rainbow Falls, Montana hunting down Victor Frankenstein\’s clone, Victor Immaculate, who is hell-bent on destroying all of humanity. The action picks up where book four, Lost Souls, left off. Deucalion uses his talent at bending time and space by teleporting wherever his mind takes him. Carson and Michael, cops deep down whether they\’re actually employed as cops, bring their special charm to the narrative. While Deucalion works on uncovering Victor Immaculate\’s whereabouts, they are informing the citizens of Rainbow Falls of the threat to their lives, and helping the residents to arm themselves. Erika and Jocko are also in the story line but not in the midst of the action regrettably. Jocko provides a lot of the comic relief. Mr. Lyss the reprobate hobo who has taken Nummy, a mentally challenged young man, under his wing also has some amazingly funny lines to deliver. That isn\’t to say the story isn\’t suspenseful, because it is. Koontz keeps the tension taut and with the viciousness of Victor Immaculate\’s Communitarians (the duplicates who are set in place of citizens who\’re killed) and his Builders (nanotechnology monsters who devour the bodies and create new builders) the horror factor is also high. You will find yourself rooting for the citizens of Rainbow Falls who have chosen to fight their invaders. The body count will be high in the end, but their resolve to win never flags. Very inspiring! Another wonderful read from the highly creative mind of Dean Koontz.

I loved the first three Dean Koontz Frankenstein books, and advise everyone to read them. I did not know he was doing a fourth and fifth so was thrilled when I saw them advertised and downloaded them both to my Kindle straight away. The fourth book I felt was pretty much just the precursor to this, the final book. I was so disappointed with the ending of the fifth book I sat in shock for about 5 minutes after finishing it. I have always felt Dean Koontz had trouble finishing books, as though he got fed up or just didn\’t know where to take his idea. But this was ridiculous. I won\’t say too much for fear of spoiling it for anyone but in my opinion it was like it had a hidden message from Koontz. The message was telling me that he was forced to finish this book to such an extent that he knew no matter how bad the ending they would publish it anyway, and that he believed it should have ended with book three, like me. If you have not read any of the series I would say read the first three books, definitely. But approach books four and five with low expectations, unless you are looking for a guide on how to destroy a fantastic trilogy.

I am an ardent fan of D.K. so I am a bit biased but I did enjoy this series of books. As I competed book 1, I could not wait to move on to Book 2. I liked all the characters although the final ending could have been a little less obvious. He could have killed off one of the heroes for example. The last Victor surely would have been much better prepared than he was, he seemed too easy to defeat in the end but anyway it was all fantasy so what the heck.

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