Velocity

Velocity, by Dean Koontz. Every once in a while you just feel like a Big Mac. That's what Koontz writes -- you know they're junk, you feel a little guilty about enjoying it, but boy are they good! Lots of dialog and short chapters so, even though its about 400 pages long, this is a really fast read.

One warning, though, this book is much more like Koontz's recent stuff. Its not at all a horror novel -- much more of a serial killer/slasher novel. Its pretty gruesome in parts, so, if you don't like that kind of thing, then skip this one.

For a change for a Koontz, this book actually makes you think a little. The book focuses on Billy, a bartender. One night, after work, Billy comes out to his car to go home and finds a note under his windshield -- "If you don't take this note to the police and get them involved, I will kill a lovely blond schoolteacher somewhere in Napa County. If you do take this note to the police, I will instead kill an elderly woman active in charity work. You have six hours to decide. The choice is yours." And just like that, Billy has to no choice but to become an accomplice to murder. So, what would you do?

The book then takes off as an elaborate dance between Billy and the unknown killer. The murders pile up and Billy gets pulled deeper and deeper in to the hole that the killer wants him in. As Billy works to figure out who the killer is and how to stop him, the story takes any number of abrupt shifts in direction that will keep you turning the pages.

Definitely a fun, if brutal, bread. You'll enjoy but, like the Big Mac, you'll feel a little embarrassed by the fact that you do!