Review: Relentless by Dean Koontz

Relentless by Dean Koontz


Publisher: Bantam
Publish Date: June 9, 2009
Hardcover, 368 pages


My rating: 3.5/5.0

Dean Koontz has definitely changed as an author through the years and while he isn't quite the horror author I knew as a teenager (reading his backlist), he still is a talented author. He writes fast-moving suspense, lately with a paranormal twist involving a beloved dog. Relentless continues in this format as part of a successful string of bestsellers.

I liked Relentless, I didn't love it, but I did enjoy reading it. It was definitely worth my time and I found a lot of enjoyment in the story and was satisfied with the ending. The beginning was a little bit slow, but once it picked up it really picked up.

The banter was one of the best things in Relentless. The conversations between Cubby, Penny and Milo had me laughing at times and thoughtful at times. Milo is so witty for his age and I love how Cubby and Penny treat him as parents.

The suspense is edge-of-your-seat. You keep wondering what will happen next, who is Shearman Waxx and what really happens to those that he writes bad reviews about. Exciting, thrilling and page-turning is what Relentless is all about. Add in an endearing family that you will be cheering for and you have an enjoyable read for an evening.

About the Book (from Goodreads.com):

Bestselling novelist Cullen “Cubby” Greenwich is a lucky man and he knows it. He makes a handsome living doing what he enjoys. His wife, Penny, a children’s book author and illustrator, is the love of his life. Together they have a brilliant six-year-old, Milo, affectionately dubbed “Spooky,” and a non-collie named Lassie, who’s all but part of the family.

So Cubby knows he shouldn’t let one bad review of his otherwise triumphant new book get to him—even if it does appear in the nation’s premier newspaper and is penned by the much-feared, seldom-seen critic, Shearman Waxx. Cubby knows the best thing to do is ignore the gratuitously vicious, insulting, and inaccurate comments. Penny knows it, even little Milo knows it. If Lassie could talk, she’d tell Cubby to ignore them, too.

Ignore Shearman Waxx and his poison pen is just what Cubby intends to do. Until he happens to learn where the great man is taking his lunch. Cubby just wants to get a look at the mysterious recluse whose mere opinion can make or break a career—or a life.

But Shearman Waxx isn’t what Cubby expects; and neither is the escalating terror that follows what seemed to be an innocent encounter. For Waxx gives criticism; he doesn’t take it. He has ways of dealing with those who cross him that Cubby is only beginning to fathom. Soon Cubby finds himself in a desperate struggle with a relentless sociopath, facing an inexorable assault on far more than his life.

Source:  I borrowed this book from my wonderful local library!