I occasionally get the urge to read a Koontz novel. Some of his earlier works like Watchers are quite exciting. I keep hoping his current novels will return to his earlier high standards. However his later books, Relentless being a prime example, simply do not work well and hints of a writer who may now be writing to a formula and for the money. I hope that's not true but it is my suspicion.Dean's Koontz Frankenstein pastiche of which this is the first part does not reduce that fear. In fact, this may be the worst Koontz novel I've ever read. Even at his worse, Koontz is a quality writer of horror and suspense but this doesn't even read like his style, leading me to the conclusion that collaborator Kevin J. Anderson was more than second fiddle on this project. There are plenty of tell-tale annoyances throughout such as Patterson-like short chapters (most are less than four pages), alternating scenes that do not meld together (I guess that happens later in the series), and a wandering style that screams , "I'll tell you in the sequel!". I doubt Mary Shelley would have been very happy with this book. I certainly wasn't.
