The Face - Softcover

Koontz, Dean

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0553593412 ISBN 13: 9780553593419

Publisher: Bantam, 2009

Synopsis

He's Hollywood's most dazzling star, inspiring the worship of millions and the hatred of one twisted soul. His perfectly ordered existence is under siege as a series of terrifying "messages" penetrates the security of his legendary estate. All that stands between him and an insidious killer is a weary ex-cop who has already seen his own death.

Enter a world of marvelous invention, enchantment, and implacable intent, populated by murderous actors and the walking dead, hit men and heroes, long-buried dreams and never-dying hope. Dean Koontz takes readers on an unforgettable journey to the heart of darkness and to the pinnacle of grace, with a brilliantly observed chronicle of good and evil in our time, of illusion and everlasting truth.

About this title

Review:

The Face mixes both elements of psychological and supernatural terror in an unusual and disturbing way. "The Face" is a Hollywood superstar who's never at home. For his lonely son Fric, that's the keynote of life: a father who gives him everything, including the run of a fabulous Bel Air mansion (the Palazzo Rospo) in a large estate, but no personal affection. A series of cryptic gifts arrive, suggesting a stalker's threat to the actor, but in fact the person in danger is 10-year-old Fric.

The house security boss, former LAPD cop Ethan Truman, isn't that worried. The Face is away as usual and the Palazzo's defences are spectacular. What does worry him is that after tracking down the middleman who delivered one of those sinister parcels, Ethan is killed--twice. But yet he lives, as though time has been rewound; and he keeps glimpsing an old friend who is very definitely dead.

Koontz's villain is a memorably unpleasant creation; thanks to wealth, contacts and horrible ingenuity, this bad guy is well-equipped to crack the Palazzo defences, kill Ethan and grab Fric. Gradually his inhuman scheme is revealed.

Meanwhile the supernatural element is working on the other side, though shackled by rules that forbid direct action. Fric gets disquieting phone calls warning that someone or something called Moloch, devourer of children, is coming and that the boy had better find a safe hiding place. Chillingly, the caller always knows exactly where Fric is and what he's doing. And these messages somehow don't register on the Palazzo's elaborate logging system.

Appalling rain drenches Los Angeles as Moloch's day approaches; Fric's terror grows, Ethan and a friend who's still in the LAPD follow hopeless leads and even the dead begin to despair of thwarting a psychopath who holds all the high cards. No plan, however, quite survives contact with reality. The finale offers extreme violence and electrifying twists, and delivers satisfaction. --David Langford

Review:

"Dean Koontz is not just a master of our darkest dreams, but also a literary juggler." --The Times (London)

"Dean Koontz almost occupies a genre of his own. He is a master at building suspense and holding the reader spellbound."--Richmond Times-Dispatch

"Koontz has always had near-Dickensian powers of description, and an ability to yank us from one page to the next that few novelists can match."--Los Angeles Times

"Still the DEAN of suspense...a rewarding climax...you'll enjoy the ride."--People Magazine

"Both terrifying and amusing, The Face is classic Dean Koontz--a blend of murder, mystery and wit...Koontz's dialogue is sharp, his characters multidimensional, and the plot is tight."--New York Daily News

"A modern Swift...a master satirist."--Entertainment Weekly

About this edition

• Publisher: Bantam
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0553593412
• ISBN 13: 9780553593419
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 672