Dean does it again

It seems I am on a bit of a reading binge.. not sure how long it will last so I intend to take full advantage of it. Finished a book again today!! It was a Dean Koontz one this time.
I first discovered him when a friend gave me one of his books to read. Since then I have been merrily reading away at his huge catalogue of books. I find his style very easy, I can read his books really quickly and not feel that I have missed any essential parts, turns of phrase or underlying hints when I do so. That is one thing I really noticed about DeanK, he writes quickly. some authors (for example Raymond Chandler) write leisurely, relaxed, safe in the knowledge that you will get to the end of the book eventually. With DeanK it is all go from the start. I wonder if his brain works that quickly and that shows in his style or is it simply that he has found a way to put that speed across on paper in the way that he structures his stories and it is just a trick he has learnt? He does tend to arch his chapters in a way that makes you want to read on and on. At the end of a chapter he will leave you mid conversation or revelation almost forcing you to read on. His characters are recognisable, easy to relate to and the story usually moves at a fast pace. Another good thing is that usually something weird happens somewhere along the line - be it to someone or something is brought into the story that make you go "what???" (creepy misty rain, scary mind control, dogs that can spell, people with hidden powers etc etc).
Now more about the one I read this time.


## SPOILER ALERT##


Your Heart belongs to Me - Dean Koontz
After I resisted the urge to read the blurb on the back (sometimes these things tel me more than I really want to know) I dove right in. Basically the story is about a young man called Ryan Perry who gets a heart disease and then gets a new heart. Seems simple enough.. well yes and no. The story is about how he deals with the diagnosis and how he feels that something is amiss, something is working against him in the background and he even becomes paranoid that he has been poisoned but he decides to overcome these feelings by taking charge and getting himself back on track. He makes choices that seem perfectly reasonable and when he does take control you do not really think anything of it although the woman he loves does (should have been a clue right?!). All the time he seems to be busy uncovering this plot outside himself when it is really all about him and about how he deals with people and impacts on others, how he does not question what good things happen to him and this new heart that he is given. Turns out the heart he is given in his transplant really "belongs" to someone else and the whole thing was not really above board. In a way the explanation seems a bit far fetched to me. He seems to have invented a backstory to his narrative that is in a way just "added in" at the end. In the last 40 pages it all comes out. It's almost as if DeanK came to a point of "right the guy is happy and healthy. Now why does it still all go wrong for him?" enter stage right the innocent religious girls, give her a super assassin avenging sister, add some medical organ harvesting and let's get some bullets flying. However, in the end when Ryan has finally learnt the life lessons he needs to learn, has got the humility and patience to let life be what it is, you are happy for him and you can tell that he is balanced and he will be okay. Even if he does not get the girl.

Title: Your Heart belongs to Me
Author: Dean Koontz
Harper
406 pages
ISBN nr 978-0-00-726758-3


Books bought: 0
Books to be read: 69
Next one to be read Victorian Ghost Stories