At long last, Dean Koontz wrote another good novel.
In the late 70s, through the 80s and 90s, Koontz was delivering the goods, book after book. Starting with Night Chills in 1976, and with the Leigh Nichols pen name, Koontz delivered several books (The Key To Midnight, The House of Thunder, Servants of the Twilight), that set the template for his success, taunt, suspenseful novels that were part horror, part sci-fi, and all out pageturners. Then in the 80s he hit his mega-selling stride – Whispers, Phantoms, Darkfall, Strangers, Watchers, Lightning, Midnight, The Bad Place, Hideaway, etc …). All of these above books I heartily recommend to anyone who is looking for high-quality mainstream fiction.
However, during the 21st century, many of the Koontz novels have been hit-or-miss, some entertaining, some unabashedly maudlin, and other just out-and-out unreadable. Here however, with The Silent Corner, Koontz has returned to classic form, creating a page-turner paranoid thriller with overtones of sci-fi and horrific circumstances.
Jane Hawk is a classic Koontz heroine, a women forced into circumstances of righteous vengeance who uncovers a horrific plot of “culling the human herd.” Against a faceless, and seemingly almost omnipotent enemy, Jane finds allies along the from some of the most unlikely sources.
A definite read!
Too bad, Atkins stayed with the formula of the latter Spenser books. Spenser meets a client. Spenser has dinner or sex (both) with Susan where she uses her “brilliance as a therapist” to ask Spenser questions in which he impart his fears/concerns etc … Oh God … how tedious. I’m guessing that since Susan is obviously a romanticized version of Parker’s wife, Joan, that maybe Atkins was contractually obligated to make sure Susan has a large role. Any other reason makes no sense whatsoever.
The section of the book which details the madness of 1967-70, when CCR turned out classic LPs and dozens of great singles is worth the price of the book for anyone who loves music. Fogerty is quite egotistical about his musical skills, and bit of a control freak. He often goes out of his way to bad-mouth former band members.
When Barry Fairbrother drops dead of an aneurysm, his death sets off a chain reaction in the small English town, Pagford. First of all, it creates a vacancy (hence the book’s title) on the Council. Fairbrother had been a strong supporter of keeping a low income housing project as part of Pagford. He is opposed by a smug, controlling businessman Howard Mullison who wants to rid the village of the “undesirables.” The battle over the empty seat, and the haves and have-nots, soon engulfs everyone in Pagford, and slowly reveals the messy and not-so-pretty reality behind the pretty facade of the town. 
Molly Murphy accidentally kills a man and flees Ireland at the spur of the moment. She manages to catch a boat to England where miraculously she is taken in by an Irish woman with two small children. They are leaving tomorrow for America to join her husband. However, the woman is unable to board the ship due to suffering from TB so … she asks Molly to take her place, pretend to be her and take the children to America for her. (Coincidence #1).
This is the second book in the Maise Dobbs series and there is a dramatic drop-off. We are constantly told (by other characters) how smart Maisie is, but she never comes across that way. She is cold, arrogant and often condescending. Her method of investigating using mysticism is too much New Ageish, feels silly and is ultimately unbelievable. 
The novel opens on the tenth anniversary of the disappearance of Suzanne Lombard. Her disappearance became one of those national stories that was covered 24/7 for weeks and weeks by the media, mainly due to her father – who was a U.S. Senator at the time, currently the vice president and a presidential candidate. Ten years later, when a new photo of Suzanne appears Gibson Vaughn is approached by a private investigation team to assist in a new inquiry into Suzanne’s case.
John Cross, a successful architect in late 19th century New York City, has a problem. Seems his eldest son has accumulated excessive gambling debts, and is entangled in a web of organized crime, thugs and opium dens. A gentleman gangster, James Kent, is determined to make the son, or the father, pay up. So the son is kidnaped and John is blackmailed into helping Kent and his gang set up robberies of prominent New York citizens whose houses and office buildings Cross designed.
Nettie Lonesome is half black and half Native American. She was “adopted” at a very young age by a white couple and grew up working their farm pretty much as their slave, since they don’t treat her like family. One night she is attacked by a strange man and when she drives a stake into his chest, he turns to sand. From that point on, Nettie can see monsters, and her world is full of them. She encounters vampires (some of whom are prostitutes) and werewolves, as well as creatures like sirens and harpies.
The story: Two college roommates figure out how to give people superpowers – they are called ExtraOrdinarys, or EOs. The process involves dying, being resurrected, and viola! You’re an EO! They naturally begin with themselves, however, superpowers do not make a person superhero. As these two morally ambiguous characters become rivals things become deadly.
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