#BlogTour ‘After Death’ by Dean Koontz

About the book…

A modern-day Lazarus is humanity’s last hope in a breathtaking novel about the absolute powers of good and evil by Dean Koontz, the #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense.

Michael Mace, head of security at a top-secret research facility, opens his eyes in a makeshift morgue twenty-four hours following an event in which everyone perished—including him and his best friend, Shelby Shrewsberry.

Having awakened with an extraordinary ability unlike anything he—or anyone else—has ever imagined, Michael is capable of being as elusive as a ghost. He sets out to honor his late friend by helping Nina Dozier and her son, John, whom Shelby greatly admired. Although what Michael does for Nina is life changing, his actions also evoke the wrath of John’s father, a member of one of the most vicious street gangs in Los Angeles.

But an even greater threat is descending: the Internal Security Agency’s most vicious assassin, Durand Calaphas. Calaphas will stop at nothing to get his man. If Michael dies twice, he will not live a third time.

From the tarnished glamour of Beverly Hills to the streets of South Central to a walled estate in Rancho Santa Fe, only Michael can protect Nina and John—and ensure that light survives in a rapidly darkening world.

My thanks to Anatara from FMcM for the blog tour invite, and publishers Thomas and Mercer for my gifted e-arc of ‘After Death’ by Dean Koontz which is out in Audiobook, Kindle e-book and hardcover from July 18th, wherever good books are sold!

I haven’t read any of Koontz’ thrillers, despite having been an old time fan of his horror output of the 70’s onwards, it feels as though I parted ways with his books in perhaps the mid-90’s.

Reading ‘After Death’ gave me a chance to see how he fares in a different genre and I was not disappointed.

The use of a modern, Frankenstein-esque plot (meddling with things beyond our understanding) is very relevant as the place where main protagonists, Mike and Shelby work in, is an ostensibly benign skin care factory when in reality they are looking at melding science fact and science fiction between bacteria and nano technology. Shelby is a genius level scientist and the setup of his friendship with Mike, the common or garden American, is so natural and warm, that you feel the loss when Shelby and 53 others die in a mysterious circumstances. Desperate to quell any rumours , the government sweep in to cover this up, realising when checking the footage of the aftermath that out of 55 bodies, only 54 corpses were retrieved.

The missing one appears to be invisible and also unidentifiable.

And he has a promise to keep….

Driving forward this thriller is the notion of debts owed, and debts to be claimed-Mike has to forge a new identity whilst trying to work out just what has happened to him, and who he can trust which is very difficult for someone who no longer exists.

On top of this he has to convince Shelby’s girlfriend, Nina , to accept his support to give them the future he knows Shelby would have wanted. And she has troubles of her own, as her ex has turned up 13 years to late to play Daddy, and just so happens to be a leading member of a gang that makes the Bloods and the Crips look like Boy Scouts chasing a merit badge.

These plots criss cross each other as Mike has to dodge Durand Calaphas, a pitch black antagonist who describes the general populace as ‘Extras’ as in they have no function other than to decorate the back drop of his life. He is the diametric opposite of Mike, with whom this cat and mouse chase begins.

The plot is driven forward by short chapters and the use of the present tense, giving it intensity and thrust from the opening chapter which shows Mike doing the seemingly impossible, and then, a couple of chapters later, the wheels click into place and all makes sense.

You have all the elements of a great thrilling novel unfolding in front of your eyes, it may not be the horror of his older novels like ‘Phantoms’  or my all time personal favourite, ‘Strangers’, however, it does have classic Koontz descriptors and scene building which immediately brings the reader into the story. And in my book, that is something to be savoured.

About the author…

Acknowledged as “America’s most popular suspense novelist” (Rolling Stone) and as one of today’s most celebrated and successful writers, Dean Ray Koontz has earned the devotion of millions of readers around the world and the praise of critics everywhere for tales of character, mystery, and adventure that strike to the core of what it means to be human.

Dean, the author of many #1 New York Times bestsellers, lives in Southern California with his wife, Gerda, their golden retriever, Elsa, and the enduring spirit of their goldens, Trixie and Anna.

Links-http:http://www.deankoontz.com/

Twitter @deankoontz @FMcMAssociates