I remember when I first got hold of book by Dean Koontz. Being an avid Stephan King fan I passed immediate judgment by calling this author an SK Wannabe. However as I read the book, I grew to not like his style after just a few pages and I ended up closing it up, vowing to never bother with a Koontz book again.
I realize now that horror books are not the sole property of Stephen King, and I decided to once again give Dean Koontz a shot. I figured I was only a teen wen I first tried giving one of Dean Koontz’s books a read, and now in my late 20’s I assumed perhaps that I’d like the author more that I did when I was a kid.
Now I bring you to Tick Tock, the latest book I have read by Dean Koontz. I like millions of others judge books by their cover, and when I came across Tick Tock, primarily it was the cover that sold me. The cover told a tale of voodoo.
A small white voodoo doll lay silently on the cover, and I couldn’t not flip the book over to read what it offered. As it goes, a young Vietnamese author comes home one night to find the doll on his porch!!!!
Oh… it just screamed of deliciousness!!!
Tick Tock wasn’t your ordinary voodoo, black magic scary tale. Tick Tock featured action, love, aliens, and monsters as well.
The first part of the book managed to draw me in with the voodoo doll, but as th book unfolded into an odd sci fi like action flick I got a little bored with the non-stop running from the bad guy, and the love tid bits of love that were added in.
You see the young Vietnamese man, Tommy, who brought the doll into his home unleashed an ancient curse and now that the doll has been invited in, it begins to take on a life of its own. As time goes on though the doll gets bigger, stronger, and it seems to have just one motivation in mind. To kill Tommy.
While Tommy flees the ever growing creature he runs into a young woman who becomes his love interest along the way.
Although this action may seem appealing it has long drawn out moments that I wished would just end, and moments that were downright awesome. For me Tick Tock was so mixed which made it feel rushed in some scenes, and fallen asleep in others.
The added establishment of a love relationship was just all too confusing. They go from running for their lives, to kissing. How the hell does the two even combine!?
It doesn’t. You either go one way or the other. You want to make a love novel, make a love novel. You want an action packed suspenseful horror, than stick to just that. Combining the two just adds major lame points.
The thing about Tick Tock that I did enjoy though were the fact that scary parts were downright scary. Amusing parts were amusing, funny parts were humorous, and when there was something lame thrown in, it would be downright lame. All in all though it was a decent fast easy read. Not the best book I have ever read, but also not the worst.
The ending in particular was probably the deal killer for me though. It just seemed rushed and jammed into 2 final chapters.
Overall Tick Tock grabs 3 out of 5 stars from me. The ending and the super gay love story thrown in cost it 2 points.
