Review of Dean Koontz' Life Expectancy
Evaluation of Koontz’s 2004 Suspense Novel
Before his death, Josef Tock foretold of five terrible events that would befall his grandson, Jimmy Tock, between the boy’s twentieth and thirtieth birthdays. Armed with only the dates that these events would occur and the love of his tight-knit (if a bit eccentric) family, Jimmy must find a way to cheat death and ultimately save not only his own life, but the lives of those whom he holds most dear.
Jimmy Tock
Most normal twenty year olds are relatively content with their lives, and Jimmy Tock is no exception. He is a baker working with his father at a local resort, and his only worries are about his daily chores, his incredible car -- and the fact that he’s doomed to suffer five terrible days that will change his life forever.
With the help of a beautiful young woman named Lorrie, he barely lives through the first of these dreaded days. In the process, he simultaneously gains a lifelong companion and sets the stage for the next four awful events to take place. Over the span of the next ten years, Jimmy Tock is given many blessings, such as a wife and a family, but he cannot escape the malevolent force that continues to pursue him, leaving the reader wondering if he will even live to see the last of his terrible days.
Analysis
Like most of Dean Koontz’s other works, Life Expectancy is a heart-pounding, gripping story of a likeable man just trying to get by in a world that has suddenly been turned upside down. Told from the first-person perspective of Jimmy Tock, this novel is a pleasure to read, for it feels as if the narrator is personally telling his readers a story; taking their hands to lead them on a journey in which his innermost thoughts and feelings are revealed in such a way that the readers will never forget a single step.
Life Expectancy’s brilliant storyline will have the reader alternately laughing and crying. At other times, the reader will gasp out loud at the insane plot twists and breathtaking action scenes. The plot is like a roller coaster that continues to pick up speed and intensity until it finally slams to a stop at the end of the book, leaving the reader breathless, but wanting to get right back on and ride it again.
Vintage Koontz
Saturated with the delicious sarcasm and dry humor that is a trademark of Koontz, the reader finds him or herself not only fearing for the characters in the story, but also laughing at their witty comments and self-deprecation. If there is one thing that Dean Koontz has mastered above all else, it is making the characters in his novels seem both intensely real and tremendously likeable. Readers come to know and love Jimmy Tock from page one, and can’t stand to spend even a moment out of his company until they have heard his entire tale.
Life Expectancy is an incredible book, but should only be read by someone who has a bit of time on their hands, because as soon as the reader has picked up this book, he or she will not be able to put it down until they have absorbed every word of its text, right down to the very last heart-wrenching line.
Life Expectancy Published by Bantam Dell in 2004 ISBN 0-553-58824-9
Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz
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