Voodoo and Frogmen

As a reader, I struggle to keep my nose in just one book.  My bedside tables are piled with novels of different genres to whet my literary appetite.  Sometimes I'll read a chapter or two from Game of Thrones, sometimes I'll plow through a Matthew Reilly misadventure.  A few days ago, I finished rereading a book by one of my favorite authors, Dean Koontz. 
 
TICK TOCK
 
The Synopsis:
 
Tommy Phan is a Vietnamese-American desperately embracing American culture - devouring artery-clogging cheeseburgers, writing cheesy detective novels, and avoiding his family and their Vietnamese heritage.  More recently, he's bought himself a cobalt blue Corvette, the pinnacle of his American dream. 
 
Tommy's blissful dream is spoiled, however, when he returns home to find an unusual ragdoll on his doorstep.  At first it seems completely harmless, and so Tommy brings it inside. 
 
 

 
And while Tommy tries to escape his Vietnamese roots in his idealized mystery character Chip Nguyen, strange things start happening.  The ragdoll disappears, and soon Tommy is desperately trying to escape this otherworldly threat.  There's not much help to be found -a few members of his family, an enigmatic beauty named Deliverance- as he runs for his life, trying to puzzle together this strange demonic doll. 
 
The Genre:
 
Dean Koontz always toys with genre, but he really pairs off an oddball couple for Tick Tock.  Seriously, the novel kicks off as a horror story, but by the end of the book, it's matured into a screwball comedy.  The humor starts off light at first, but it picks up speed with every turning page.  Eventually, the suspense is almost completely overwhelmed by the fast-pace funnies that Koontz pitches at the reader. 
 
I say almost because Koontz makes the superobjective very clear in this book.  The ragdoll types out a warning message on Tommy's computer, stating that "The deadline is dawn."  So Tommy must try to survive until daybreak - much easier said than done.  So while the humor certainly provides relief from the horror elements, it doesn't ever quite overwhelm the overarching narrative. 
 
The Done-Rights:
 
The humor is really the greatest strength of the novel.  Koontz carves out his characters with care, and this is especially true of Tommy Phan.  His dialogues with the various other characters, and none more so than Deliverance Payne, are exquisitely crafted to not only develop character depth but keep readers rolling with laughter.  On top of that, Koontz's trademark prose is present, filling the novel with gorgeous imagery and fantastic POV narration.  All in all, it's a wild ride. 
 
The Verdict:
 
While Tick Tock may not be Dean Koontz's best novel (there are a lot of contenders for that position), it's a quick read and a thoroughly enjoyable one at that.  Horror fans will get their fill of suspense and supernatural, while readers looking for laughs won't leave disappointed. 
 
I give Tick Tock four stars, or a solid 8.5 for the decimal lovers out there. 
 
 
 
Images belong to their respective owners.  Jurassic World is a fantastic movie that you should watch.  Seriously, it's the best installment of the franchise since the original aired in '93. 
 
I'm not sure I understand people's aversion to rereading books.  If you love a movie, nobody bothers you if you watch it more than once.  But that's a rant for another day.