Dean Koontz ‘The City’ Review

Written by: Paula Limbaugh

I have to say I was quite excited when I was given this book by Random House to review.  As an avid reader and long time Dean Koontz fan, I couldn’t wait to begin reading.  Alas, after a few chapters I found myself a tad disappointed, thinking that this was just another coming of age story, I felt a bit let down. Thankfully I was wrong!

The City is told by an older Jonah (Kirk) Bledsoe but begins when he is eight years old.  The story is about a young boy growing up in the sixties.  His mom is a nightclub singer and Grandpa, a piano man.  Jonah has music in his blood and aspires to one day be better than his Grandpa.

“When I was eight, I would meet the woman, who claimed she was the city, though she wouldn’t make that assertion for two more years.  She said more than anything, cities are people.”

The city, in the form of a woman called Pearl takes young Jonah under her wing and begins grooming him for what’s to come.  In a series of nightmares he begins to see what lies ahead and who the enemy is.  When a strange woman named Fiona Cassidy shows up one day as a new tenant in Jonah’s building, his hackles are raised, she has been in his nightmares.

After a harrowing encounter with Fiona, Jonah enlists the aid of another neighbor Mr. Yoshioka to find out more about Fiona.  With the investigation underway the mystery deepens.  There’s a lot of subterfuge and a touch of the supernatural going on.  Somehow the father, who had abandoned Jonah, is involved and the plot just keeps on thickening.

When Jonah begins to despair over the turn of events, the city is there once again to pick him up.  With the sage advice from Pearl, “No matter what happens, disaster piled on calamity, no matter what, everything will be okay in the long run.” stuck in his head, Jonah is able to go forth and face his destiny.

Expect the unexpected and you won’t be disappointed.  Like a three ring circus, there are a lot of little things going on in the background.  This makes for a good read on a lazy weekend.  Pre-order this today, available July 1.

Rating: 3.5/5