Velocity was written by Dean Koontz in 2005 and is a suspense mystery that follows Billy Wiles who is a bartender. Billy leads a simple life he has very few friends, works his job and goes home. His quiet peaceful life is turned upside down when he receives a letter on his car windshield that states if he goes to the police the killer will kill an old man but if he doesn’t go to the police he will kill a blonde school teacher. From the moment he reads that note Billy’s life will forever change.
Billy is the main protagonist of the story; he is a blue-collar guy who tends bars. He used to be a writer until his fiancé Barbara fell into a coma now, he is just coasting through life without really any attachment to anyone. I really liked Billy and the choices he makes throughout the book makes him feel like an actual human.
Now this book is a total 180 from the last Dean Koontz book I reviewed from the moment Billy finds the note on his car this book will not let up. This book is like being on a high-speed chase. Billy finds himself in a cat and mouse game with the killer and the killer is five steps ahead of Billy at every turn. I was burning through the pages on edge to find out what was going to happen next. Since Koontz made Billy such an emotional real character you felt for him every time the killer outsmarted him and got the upper hand.
Even though Billy is a beautifully written character that you can easily care for and feel sympathy for the supporting character fall flat. They almost feel like they were after thoughts. I would not have minded if the book were a bit longer so that a few of the side characters felt more real. This book is 496 pages, but it does not feel long at all so a few extra pages to flush out the side characters would have helped the book out. The one-dimensional side characters hurt the ending a bit which is why this book did not get a full 5 out of 5. Another point against the book is the ending felt very rushed again, something that could have been fixed with just a few more pages.
This is a book I can totally see being made into a television show like The Following and audiences would eat up the cat and mouse hunt between Billy and the killer. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a sick twisted and demented serial killer. Normally Koontz writes about Lovecraft style monsters, but I would not mind him doing more books like this one. I love books that make you nervous and anxious to keep reading. There were nights I stayed up late plowing through page after page. I will guarantee that you will be plowing through this book late at night.
Cliff Edge Critics 