Barb's Bookcase: Koontz and Brown
Barb Moore
Dean Koontz is back, and better than ever! He is one of my favorite writers of evil people in our society, and his evil characters are usually among the people who are supposed to protect us. "The Good Guy" begins with Timothy Carrier, who stops at his favorite bar for a beer and maybe a little relaxation after working as a stonemason all day. Ajittery man walks up to him, and after a few comments, hands him an envelope of cash, including a photo of a pretty woman and her address. The man leaves the bar, only to be replaced with another man, who is a cold-blooded killer. The killer assumes that Timothy is the man who hired him. Timothy thinks fast, and tells the killer he's had a change of mind, he doesn't want the job done. He gives the money back to the killer, but keeps the photo. As Timothy watches the killer leave the bar, he gets another surprise. The killer is a cop. Thus starts an intriguing cat and mouse chase. Timothy warns the girl, who quickly comes on the run with him, both being stalked by the killer. Using his connections with a couple of trusty friends and major high technology, he and the girl are on the run for their lives. Of course, the killer has major technology, too. And better connections, it seems. The mystery is why anyone would want her dead. Suddenly Tim, who is just an ordinary guy, must battle unknown adversaries to save the life of an innocent woman. Tim portrays the good guy in a society full of evildoers who are massive but nameless, and this fast paced novel will come to it's conclusion before you're ready for it.
"The Rope Walk", by Carrie Brown carries us back into our past, to the time in our lives when we were on the brink of maturity, hovering between childhood and adulthood. The story begins with Alice's tenth birthday, and a party planned by her widowed father, a professor of Shakespeare, and her five older brothers. All her friends and neighbors are invited to her Memorial Day birthday party in the garden of her Vermont small-town home. During the party, she meets two people who are unlike anyone she has ever known. Theo is a mixed-race kid from New York City, visiting his grandparents for the summer. Kenneth is a famous artist with AIDS who has come home to convalesce with his sister. During this last summer of innocence, Alice and Theo form a remarkable friendship, and spend many hours reading to Kenneth, who is losing his sight. They begin the journals of Lewis & Clark, and from them, take adventure to another step. They secretly build a "rope walk" for Kenneth, so that he can travel outdoors through the woods safely. This story is wonderfully written and reveals to the reader an exceptional depth of emotions from its characters that we all remember from our own adolescence.--Barb Moore woeks at Franklin Memorial Library.
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