Sitting in a friend’s dark and quiet bar after a good day’s work as a stone mason, Timothy Carrier takes some time to unwind. A nervous stranger sidles up to him and opens an odd conversation in code. The stranger believes that
Carrier is the hit man he wishes to hire. Sliding over an envelope with $10,000, complete with information regarding the person to be killed, the stranger leaves before Timothy understands what is being asked of him.

Moments later, the killer arrives and assumes that Carrier is the man to meet. Carrier tells him that he has changed his mind, gives the killer the money, and cancels the hit while keeping the pertinent information about the targeted woman to himself. Later that night, he goes to Linda Paquette’s home to warn her and finds himself embroiled in her troubles as the killer has figured out that Carrier has intervened where he had no prior business. What ensues is a series of interesting chase scenes where the plot is developed more deeply, along with the understanding of who the characters are.

What I enjoyed about the development of the killer’s profile is how the author uses him to kill off cut-rate authors who write books badly but still get published. That amused me. This is a quick moving story with a few sections that could have been stitched together with a bit more finesse, but a good read for anyone not bothered by some twisted and violent thought by the psychopath hired to kill.

Koontz, Dean
Bantam Books
ISBN #978-0-553-80481-2

Juanita Marshall © 2007 , butyoudontlooksick.com