What the Night Knows
Dean Koontz
Bantam, Dec 28 2010, $28.00
ISBN 9780553807721
Providing no explanation afterward as to why he committed the atrocity, fourteen year old Billy Lucas simply butchered his family. Homicide detective John Calvino knows Billy’s case hits too close to home. Two decades ago serial killer Alton Turner Blackwood slaughtered John’s family and three other families; only John survived by shooting the maniac who was in the midst of a deranged ritual.
John has always feared that Blackwood was possessed by a malevolent spirit who the cop believes has not finished the job. His fear is not so much for himself, but for his wife and their three children. John visits the teen at a psychiatric ward, but as soon as he leaves his family members especially his preadolescent kids begin to feel haunted. John knows time is running out for him to prevent history from repeating itself; perhaps his only reliable ally though he has doubts of the existence and the loyalty is Willard; his family’s deceased dog.
This is an exciting horror thriller that grips the reader with the same high level of suspense that Dean Koontz always achieves. The behavior of the four Calvino family members in some ways reflect the inane behavior of a teen-slasher movie, as each conceals what is happening to them from each other. With a nod to the OK Corral, fans will enjoy the supernatural battle between Calvino and the evil essences from beyond even as Mr. Koontz sets up a potential sequel.
Harriet Klausner
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