Book Review: "The Good Guy" by Dean Koontz

There's more to Timothy Carrier than meets the eye. He works hard to blend into the background; he wants to go through life unnoticed. Since Timothy is three inches over six feet tall and weights 210 pounds staying invisible is pretty much a full time job in itself.

The bottom line is Timothy Carrier is a good guy. He's a good-natured man, but when life gets rough Timothy is the guy you want in your corner. His desire to be invisible is fighting against not only his physical reality, but against his true nature of being a natural born hero.

Reading this book makes me want to look closer at the guys hiding in the edges of the room. What are they really like? Are they a good guy looking to be invisible?

Timothy, a stonemason, is enjoying quiet time at his friend's bar when approached by a stranger who thinks he is a hit man. Being an ordinary man who doesn't have much experience with talking to folks who want to hire him to kill people, he just didn't/couldn't get the words out "Hey, you have wrong man" in time.

Then it gets worst. The hit man comes in after the stranger leaves and thinks Timothy is the one who is hiring him. By now Timothy has figured out he needs to cancel the assignment and get out of there. Figuring that the two men will eventually connect with one another again and go after their target, Linda Paquette, he goes to her.

Timothy can't help being a good guy. He could have just walked away or made a phone call, but he didn't. Wanting nothing more than a quiet visit with his friend after an ordinary work day, he gets nudged into being someone's hero.

I don't want to tell you anymore. You need to read the book for yourself to find out just how Timothy not only convinces Linda he is a good guy, but makes her believe there is a bad guy that wants her dead, to find out why Linda is the target for murder and learn more fascinating information about all the lead characters including the bad guy.

I do want to tell you that Mr. Koontz has once again written a fascinating tale that you just don't want to put down until you get the very end of the story. There's mystery, adventure, suspense, twists and several unexpected discoveries. I just hope if I find myself in trouble that there's a good guy out there who is willing to put himself between me and the mess I find myself in.

I highly recommend "The Good Guy," but I want to remind you that you will not want to put it down and you may loose sleep or forget to go to work...so be prepared.

"The Good Guy" by Dan Koontz. Bantam Books, New York, 2007. Paperback version: 447 pages, $7.99.