Bartholomew is born into the world hours after tragedy strikes his family. That same day, a cold-hearted man named Enoch Cain learns that he has an enemy named Bartholomew somewhere in the world, and sets out to find and destroy him. Around the same time, a girl named Angel is born from a brutal rape, her destiny somehow linked to Bartholomew and the man hunting him.

Bartholomew proves to be a prodigy, his development excelling years beyond his age, but during his third year, a fast-spreading cancer requires the removal of both eyes. Meanwhile, Cain has become obsessed with his mission to seek out Bartholomew, killing any who cross his path. The nagging spirit of one of his victims, a psychologically-adroit private investigator, wreaks havoc on Cain’s wellbeing, causing his obsessions to spiral out of control. Angel also appears to be a prodigy of sorts, exhibiting artistic talents beyond her years. Both children eventually reveal a special gift, which is the underpinning of the entire story, that brings these and many other characters and subplots together to emphasize the interconnectedness of our universe and that all actions have consequences.

Koontz is a master of weaving tapestries of intrigue and mystery. One of his favorite plot devices is to take a theme, sprinkle in a few characters, play “what if” with them, and send them in every direction. And only then does he sit down to write, beginning his story a dozen years earlier where it seems impossible that the events and characters could be related in any way. I truly admire his creative mind and ability to derive such incredible, complex plots.

Many things, too many to rant about here, but I shall list a few of my pet peeves. 1) An unbelievable amount of buildup, foreshadowing upon foreshadowing, for an ending that was anticlimactic, disappointing, and revealed almost in its entirety in the opening three paragraphs of the 750 page book. 2) Too many characters and too many plots, most of which were unnecessary and contributed little more than 500 unneeded pages. A forceful editor armed with a machete could have trimmed this down to a manageable, fast-paced read. 3) A non-stop barrage of sticky-sweet, flawless protagonists with divine, biblical-sounding names: Bartholomew, Grace, Celestina, Seraphim, Angel, and even Paul Damascus, for goodness’ sake. 4) Enough unfathomable, coincidental happenings to make even the serendiptious-minded Charles Dickens twirl in his grave. 5) An unendurable amount of exposition, minute detail, and the inner-thoughts, motives, and history of each and every character, no matter how relevant to the story. 6) Some of the most painful descriptive passages I’ve ever laid my eyes upon. Cast yours on a few gems: “Winter night, wound in scarfs of fog, like a leprous mendicant, rattled out a breath as though begging their attention beyond the glass.” “Week by week, the slender sapling of frustration had grown into a tree and then into a forest, until Tom began every morning by looking out through the tightly woven branches of impatience.” “While the slats of ash-gray light slowly lost their meager luster, and sable shadows metastasized in sinister profusion, the sentinel silence remained unbroken between Junior Cain and the birthmarked man.” As an accomplished author, Koontz should know better than to spew out such sophomoric drivel. 7) A bumbling antagonist that had me laughing more than cowering. I admit, Enoch Cain was a well-developed, entertaining character, but as the book’s sole, active threat, he failed miserably to instill any sense of dread in the reader. And finally, 8) Stilted, corny interactions between characters so blatantly constructed to endear the reader to them that Koontz might as well have added a footnote beside their names, stating: “Care about these individuals, as their lives will soon be threatened in some way.”

Take a break from Koontz. I’ve read four of his novels in the past two months, Phantoms, Watchers, Sole Survivor, and From the Corner of His Eye, and they all suffer from similar flaws (although the others to a much lesser degree). Watchers was a great read, but, in my opinion, and as Koontz himself has stated, that was his best writing effort and one that he can only hope to someday match.

From personal experience with this author and in talking to other readers of Koontz, the man has better novels to offer. For the reasons I cited above, this lengthy book just isn’t worth the time. As with many of Koontz’s works, the most fascinating aspects of the plot are unveiled in the final fifty pages, leaving his reader unsatisfied, wanting to see and experience more of his mind-blowing revelations – the ones he’s been building up since the opening sentence. Around the point in the book where the reader should be on the edge of his or her proverbial seat, Koontz presents quantum theory in a page-and-a-half, gives a couple quick examples, neatly disposes of the non-threatening antagonist, wraps up the final twenty years, and types: “The End”. If only his succinctness had come 700 pages earlier . . .

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Created Jan 19, 2005 at 1:43am • Submit your own review...