#BlogTour ‘The Friend Of The Family’ by Dean Koontz

About the book…

A girl liberated from a carnival sideshow discovers her mysterious purpose in a moving novel about family, sacrifice, and transcendent love by #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz.

The human “oddities” in the Museum of the Strange are less wondrous than the gawking rubes had been promised. But Alida is something else. The real thing. Traveling Depression-era America from carnival midways to speakeasies, Alida is resigned to an exploited and lonely life on the road as the museum’s golden ticket. Until she’s rescued by two compassionate strangers.

Franklin and Loretta Fairchild see in Alida a gifted and uncannily well-read girl in need of a loving touch and a family. With the openhearted couple and their three precociously imaginative children, Alida finds it. Yet despite everyone’s overwhelming generosity and acceptance, Alida knows she is still a very different kind of girl. Her dreams bear that out. They’re vivid, unsettling, and threatening. Alida fears that they’re also warnings. And that it’s the Fairchilds who may need rescue from a bad, bad world.

Alida will do anything to help those she now holds nearest and dearest. Empowered with a purpose to vanquish evil, she will not fail her family.

Huge thanks to Katrina of FMcM Associates for the invitation to the blog tour, and publishers Thomas and Mercer for my gifted review copy of Dean Koontz’ latest novel, ‘The Friend Of The Family’ which is out now!
As a long time Koontz head, this was a real privilege to be swept away into this Depression Era, fairy tale which edges into magic realism.

Alida is a child abandoned -0r so she is told-by her mother to a circus where her entire life is spent being made fun of, gawped at, screamed over and on occasion fondled by people as she exhibited in a sideshow, and private shows, her entire young life.

Believing that she has nothing else to offer the world, and that this is the best she can have , Alida escapes into books brought to her by the odious ‘Captain’ Forest Farnam, the one nice thing her ever does for her but not from altruistic means, more to keep her quiet and distracted from what he is doing.

Alida’s actual physical difference is alluded to but not described, until it absolutely becomes part of the plot later on, which is genius as you get swept away in her character and first person narration-she does not feel sorry for herself, she has a quiet stoicism that endears you to her as a reader, and her voice shines through as though she describe her life , it gives me Jane Eyre vibes and I really responded to it, especially after she goes through a hideous experience at a private show .

It doesn’t linger over details, and doesn’t need to as this is not an author that spoon feeds you, he takes you by the hand and brings you into his world.

At first, you are so invested in Alida’s character you worry that the way that Franklin and Loretta bring her from a world where she is seen as a dirty secret, into a traditional family dynamic, means they will exploit her in the budding days of early Hollywood.

What Alida finds in the company of those who make films is another family, an escape and a sense of purpose so that when it comes time for her to stand up for, and protect these new parents and siblings, as well as this life she holds so preciously, she is unafraid to to do so.

A triumph of personal sacrifice and trust in a world where there is so little to have faith in, Koontz asks you to bring your imagination along for the ride and enjoy this historical fantasy, with one foot in reality and the other in a world we have yet to fathom.

I can see why people found this unlike his other books, as he has written straight forward horror and thrillers for so many decades, however, I think if you leave your expectations at the door and just allow the story to envelop you, you might be pleasantly surprised.

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