Bought this at a library sale or a thrift store used book sale.


This book is tied for first place (with Fear Nothing) as my favorite Dean Koontz book. I absolutely love the cast of characters and the storyline.

Injected with "stuff" by a mad doctor, a man (Dylan), his brother(Shep), and woman(Jilly) who is a complete stranger find themselves with new abilities and a strong drive to do good. But first, they need to understand what's happening to them and prevent it from happening to anyone else. The group of characters is really spectacular.

From Library Journal:
Someone menacing is after itinerant artist Dylan, his autistic brother, and their new traveling companion, Jilly, a stand-up comic who has visions. And they only have the novel's 24-hour time span to figure out who it is.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:
Perhaps more than any other author, Koontz writes fiction perfectly suited to the mood of America post-September 11: novels that acknowledge the reality and tenacity of evil but also the power of good; that celebrate the common man and woman; that at their best entertain vastly as they uplift. His latest is one of those best, exciting and deeply moving, shorter than usual and also less prone to the overwriting, the flood of similes and metaphors, that sometimes overwhelms his storytelling. As usual for Koontz, the novel opens at full throttle: a mad doctor invades a motel in Arizona, injects both itinerant artist Dylan O'Connor and struggling comic Jillian Jackson (strangers to one another) with an unknown substance that, he says, is his life's work and will have some unknown effect, then warns them to flee before his enemies kill them; soon after, the doctor is slain by heavily armed assailants. The rest of the story is an extended chase, as Dylan and Jillian, along with Dylan's high-functioning autistic brother, Shep, dart around the West, only steps ahead of the assassins. Within hours, the effects of the injections materialize: Jillian experiences portentous visions-a flock of birds, a woman in a church; Dylan is overcome by the need to rush to the aid of people in distress (among others, in an intensely poignant scene, an elderly man searching for his missing daughter); and Shep learns to teleport himself and others. (Interestingly, Koontz bases the science behind these developments on nanotechnology, the same mechanism used by Michael Crichton in his just published Prey, an object lesson in how two writers can take the same premise and generate two very different yet excellent novels). The novel's only flaw is its abrupt ending, contrived probably to allow sequels-a probability that Koontz fans, but also anyone else who reads this novel, a predestined bestseller and rightfully so, will applaud.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Taking this to the Random House Bookfair so it can find a home with a new, lucky reader!

Released as part of the Harry Potter Alliance Accio Books March Give-Away!
http://www.thehpalliance.org/acciobooks/

Congrats and welcome to BookCrossing!
Thank you so much for picking up this book! Please make a journal entry here on this page if you haven’t already done so to let me know that this book has found a good home. You may choose to remain anonymous or to join (joining is free). BookCrossing is entirely confidential (you’re known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your e-mail address) and spam-free. If you register, you can track this book easily later as it goes on its journey!
I really hope you enjoy the book you found! When you’re done reading it, you can make another journal entry with your comments here to let me know what you thought of it. You can keep the book forever and ever or pass it on to someone else. If you’re giving it to someone directly, make another journal entry saying so. If you choose to leave it somewhere “in the wild” for anyone to catch, make release notes that indicate where you left it. If you register, you will be alerted by e-mail each time someone makes another journal entry.ku

Picked up at the Random House Book Fair.

Not a bad story, a little better than some of Koontz's stuff. At least this one reads like he took his time with it.

Hoping this book has an exciting adventure in Flossie's Paranormal Bookbox!!

Don't think I've ever read any of Koontz's stories, so I'll give this one a read.

When Dylan O'Conner is attacked by a man who injects him with an unknown substance, his life is turned upside down. The man tells him that there are people who will kill him because of what is now in his body and tells him to run. Dylan and his autistic little brother are going to do so when they find a woman who is another of the strange man's victims. The three set off on a panic-fueled road trip to try and find out what the changes they are experiencing mean, but there are folks who would quite prefer that they never get the chance.

This book is a simple tale that is far more character-driven than plot-based. The main point of the story is the characters' attempts to figure out what happened to them and deal with the consequences. This is accomplished through assorted scenes and incidents that are relatively self-contained.

The characters are each interesting and I found the relationships between them very honest feeling. I particularly found the portrayal of Shep interesting, I admit to not having known many autistic people but I felt that this character was probably the most solid feeling of the three. He didn't seem to be created to suit the plot, as I often feel about characters with mental illnesses. I know from reading other reviews that some folks found his tendency towards repetition annoying, but it didn't bother me most of the time and in my limited experience it is a common thing for people with this disorder to do.

The writing was overdone, in my opinion, with the author trying too hard to sound sophisticated and literary. The result was messy, with too much description and a tendency to use overused phrases.

Without spoiling anything, I also felt very disappointed with the ending. It was wrapped up too neat, too fast and was not one bit believable. I sort of wish I hadn't read it, because it pretty much ruined any possible respect for the author's plotting skills.

Left on a newspaper stand by the carts, well away from any books that the store might be selling so as to avoid any potential confusion.