Audio Book Review: The Good Guy by Dean Koontz, Read by Richard Ferrone

Timothy Carrier, while having a beer at a tavern owned by a friend of his, finds a stranger sitting on the next stool. Now Tim, who happens to be a large guy, sometimes likes to go with the flow on some of his conversations. After the man talks to Tim for a while about jumping out of an airplane with his dog Larry, the man asks him if he is the one. Tim thinks for a moment and replies that he is. The man slides an envelope over to Tim and says "Ten thousand now. You get the rest when she's gone." Tim looks at the envelope with the money and a photo of the woman, and by the time he looks back at the man he has left the bar.

Before Tim can get his wits about him, the real hit-man arrives and seeing the envelope, believes that Tim is the contract. Thinking fast Tim says "I've had a change of heart. You get ten thousand – for doing nothing. Call it a no-kill fee." He keeps the photo and hands the killer the money. As the hit-man leaves the bar, Tim follows to watch and sees that the man is a cop. With that his life is changed forever.

Tim being the good guy that he is, decides to find out who this girl is, and why someone would want her killed. When he tracks down Linda Paquette and finds out that she is not married, nor has a boyfriend, nor has no apparent enemies, he is confused as to why anyone would take a contract out on her life. This is where the story really begins.

The Good Guy takes off fast and keeps on running. Over the last few years Dean Koontz has really ratcheted up his novels with deep characterizations of quirky, complex relations and The Good Guy is no exception.

Here we have Tim Carrier, of whom we are aware of a concern from the past, but we don't know what it is. We have Linda who is a writer of books, but they are of such depressing topics that one would think that no one in his or her right mind would buy. We have Pete Santos whose monotone affectation gives an almost nonchalant feeling to trying to figure out who the killer is.

Finally, we have the killer, Krait, who does not believe that he was born of a mother; perhaps he came from the other side of a mirror, a looking glass. He has no memory before the age of 18. He is very conscious of his hygiene and he has a support staff that will deliver equipment at a moment's notice.

The audio book was read by Richard Ferrone who has appeared on and off Broadway and in regional theaters. His television credits include Law and Order and Against the Law. He does a fantastic job of narration for both male and female characters. To me the best test of a good narrator is how much you feel their presence in the book and I must say, I forgot that there was even a narrator.

There is a lot of dry humor spread throughout the book, which at times will have you down right laughing out loud. There is a lot of suspense with twists and turns that will have you wanting more. If you like the Brother Odd series, the Christopher Snow series, or really any of his recent books, I think you will love The Good Guy