The City by Dean Koontz
Harpercollins (Hardback), 2014
400 Pages
www.deankoontz.com
I won this in a giveaway on www.goodreads.com.
BLURB FROM THE COVER
The city changed my life and showed me that the world is deeply mysterious. I need to tell you about her and some terrible things and wonderful things and amazing things that happened . . . and how I am still haunted by them. Including one night when I died and woke and lived again.
Here is the riveting, soul-stirring story of Jonah Kirk, son of an exceptional singer, grandson of a formidable “piano man,” a musical prodigy beginning to explore his own gifts when he crosses a group of extremely dangerous people, with shattering consequences. Set in a more innocent time not so long ago, The City encompasses a lifetime but unfolds over three extraordinary, heart-racing years of tribulation and triumph, in which Jonah first grasps the electrifying power of music and art, of enduring friendship, of everyday heroes.
The unforgettable saga of a young man coming of age within a remarkable family, and a shimmering portrait of the world that shaped him, The City is a novel that speaks to everyone, a dazzling realization of the evergreen dreams we all share. Brilliantly illumined by magic dark and light, it’s a place where enchantment and malice entwine, courage and honor are found in the most unexpected quarters, and the way forward lies buried deep inside the heart.
EXTRACT
Malcolm gives me a tape recorder.
He says, ‘You’ve got to talk about your life’.
‘I’d rather live in the now than talk about the was’
Malcolm says, ‘Not all of it. Just the… you know’.
REVIEW
I thought The City was great.
I liked the characters especially Jonah. Koontz does a great job at writing in the first person from his point of view. I liked the nasty people Jonah encounters and the revelation that his absentee father is one of them. The City is well written, fast paced and packed with tension and shocking revelations. I enjoyed every page. The City has plenty of stand-out moments. I’m a fan of first person narratives but I’ve read a lot of badly written books that use this method. Koontz is the exception and the first person point of view is spot on in The City. The past couple of Koontz books I’ve read have descended into spiritual nonsense at the end. I was relived to discover Koontz manages to avoid this in The City.
RATING
