Tick Tock by Dean Koontz

Tommy Phan has carved out a nice career as a detective novelist, so much so that he has just quit his reporter day job. His family immigrated to the US from Vietnam when Tommy was a young child, and he is all about pursuing the American Dream. But when a mysterious package arrives on his doorstop containing a strange little cloth doll, he wonders who sent it. Wonder turns to fear and terror when the doll comes to life, attacks him, and continually morphs into a larger and more gruesome demon. Worse, all Tommy’s attacks and attempts to stop it, kill it or even just harm it, fail. His only clue in all this is a phrase that has mysteriously appeared on his computer: “Deadline is dawn”. 

Tick Tock.

Every time I start to read a Dean Koontz book, I hesitate, knowing I am taking a risk. While some of my best reading experiences in the horror genre are due to his work, I’ve also suffered a great deal of wasted opportunities. Over the first 100 pages of this novel, I was preparing, unfortunately, to log this one in the later category. It’s a simple set-up for a horror tale but Koontz can drag out a scene with the best of them and this was getting old real fast.

But then, the whole thing gets turned on its head. It turns into a screw-ball comedy. You heard that right. Perhaps the setup I’ve described lends one to conclude that’s what has been planned all along. Regardless, the character of Del (short for Deliverance Payne) enters the plot and all is cool thereafter. She provides the zaniness, the pizazz, the aggravating nonchalance that is required for a screwball horror comedy to work. She’s a waitress who is also an heiress to a fortune. Tommy is the bumbling, unbeliever who must tolerate Del’s wild philosophies and uncanny abilities to do everything from hotwire a car to pilot a helicopter. This isn’t a laugh-out-loud funny book but her antics (and her mother’s) certainly brought a smile to my face, and eventually to Tommy’s as well.

In the end, I’m glad I stuck with this one. It’s not Koontz’ masterpiece but it turned out to be a pretty nice fun read.