After reading Darkness Under the Sun by Dean Koontz, the
next logical book is What the Night Knows. In this novel, Koontz picks up where
‘Darkness’ leaves off. It’s been twenty years since 14-year-old John Calvino
killed mass murderer Alton Blackwood in self defense. Now Calvino is a detective
investigating another 14-year-old who killed his family for no apparent reason,
and Calvino cannot ignore the similarities between the two murders, so what if
they’re 20 years removed from one another. The real giveaway is the statement the
14-year-old utters during an informal interrogation. How could anyone know what
Blackwood said to young Calvino 20 years ago? Calvino revealed these words to
no one—kept it locked up inside all these years.
Now Calvino has a family of his own and fears the ghost of
Blackwood is coming after his family. After all, he promised he would. It takes
over 400 pages to sort it all out, and trust me, the pages fly by…up until the
final chapter or two. Oh, don’t get me wrong, they still fly by, but in an
effort to bring the story to a crescendo, Koontz delivers too much too fast.
Sometimes less is more. At least that’s my impression. The story ends
satisfactorily, but perhaps the ride became a little bumpier than necessary.
What the Night Knows is still a fantastic read, but the ending prompts me to
award 4-Stars instead of the 5 I felt it deserved…right up until that
overreaching crescendo.
(I read What the Night Knows on my Kindle for Android during Spring Break 2015.)
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