Dark Rivers of the Heart - Dean Koontz

I first read this novel about four years ago and remembered that I could not put it down, so when I was clearing out books to sell on Ebay I thought I’d read it again as I could not remember the exact ending.

*THE STORYLINE*
The novel is centred on the main character, Spencer Grant, and his adorable dog, Rocky. Grant is a loner and from the first chapter there are clues to his obvious torment of things in his past. A chance ...
...Door’ has brought him hope of a new life, but all is shattered when on his return visit to her, he finds she has fled.

Curiosity leads him deep into her world, with false names and a life on the run, although who she is running from is unclear to him. He endeavours to find this mysterious woman. Eventually, he learns she is being chased by an unknown agency for the information she possesses, Grant knows he must help her, as the same ... more

I first read this novel about four years ago and remembered that I could not put it down, so when I was clearing out books to sell on Ebay I thought I’d read it again as I could not remember the exact ending.

*THE STORYLINE*
The novel is centred on the main character, Spencer Grant, and his adorable dog, Rocky. Grant is a loner and from the first chapter there are clues to his obvious torment of things in his past. A chance encounter with a waitress in a bar called ‘The Red Door’ has brought him hope of a new life, but all is shattered when on his return visit to her, he finds she has fled.

Curiosity leads him deep into her world, with false names and a life on the run, although who she is running from is unclear to him. He endeavours to find this mysterious woman. Eventually, he learns she is being chased by an unknown agency for the information she possesses, Grant knows he must help her, as the same people are now chasing him.

*MY OPINION*
The outline above may be a little vague, but I don’t want to give too much away as there are a few subplots to the basic storyline which I think are best left to when you read the book.

This novel is your basic action-packed, have-to-keep-up story. From the moment the story takes up the chase I found myself eager for more. As with many a Koontz book the writer leads you in from the beginning with small snippets of information that later you start to think about, and it leaves you wondering if you had actually read them, so you want to keep reading to find out if those snippets pan out.

I found the best part of Koontz’s imagination in this novel is the relationship between Spencer Grant and his canine companion, Rocky. They obviously have a bond, and with Grant being a loner you can imagine what that relationship would be like, if you only had your dog to talk to. I want to show you the first scene I came across that proves my point:

“Never lie to the dog.
‘Okay, so I know why I went to her house. I know what I was looking for.’
Rocky regarded him with interest.
‘You want me to say it, huh?’
The dog waited.
‘That’s important to you, is it – for me to say it?’
The dog chuffed, licked his chops, cocked his head.
‘All right. I went to her house because . .’
The dog stared.
‘Because she’s a very nice-looking woman.’”

I don’t know about you but I found that very comical, and they do this throughout the book, which I found to be a small relief to the constant seriousness of the situations they’re placed in. The pair have these comedy duo moments which suddenly lift your spirit and make you will them on. Strange, but true.

The other major character is the woman he meets, Valerie, and as the book starts from the moment he’s returning to see her, you don’t really get a feel for her, apart from all the information he uncovers as he delves into her world. Even later on when she becomes a main part, I find the writing on her quite flat, although you could put this down to her being very secretive, and maybe Koontz felt this was the way to emphasise this. However I would have preferred to get a feel for this heroine, Koontz had already made the character of Grant so likable that I would have liked to have felt the same for Valerie.

I found Spencer Grant to be slightly creepy at the beginning, due to the fact he follows this woman to her home on the night he met her, he sits in his car and waits until the lights go out. He doesn’t go in or anything, but I would find that very strange if someone I met follows me home, just to see where I live.

The other complex character is the main agent who is chasing them, Miro. I won’t go into specifics because it would ruin that ‘Huh?’ feeling you get when it focuses in on him. I’ll just say, the creepometer will be at 110% in his case.

Parts of the book are quite graphic, not in violence but sex. There are a few sexual encounters which to me are very perverted in their description, and although they center around some not very nice characters I found them a bit much. It made me want to put the book down, or even skip a few pages which I hate doing, so I'm afraid the rating will have to lose a star, but that was the only thing I can say was put off.

I have read quite a few Koontz novels and one of the reasons I kept buying them was his ability to keep the ‘space fillers’ to a minimum, in this I mean the descriptions of people and places that I would prefer not to drag on for several pages. Koontz gives just enough to create atmosphere and mood, but doesn’t go overboard. This applies to 'Dark Rivers of the Heart', he drags you into the adventure and gets you loving every terrifying minute of it.

Well, enough of my rambling. I bought this book as part of a book club offer a few years ago, but you can get it at Amazon from as little as £2.50.

Thankyou for reading. Louise. x 

...less