Life Expectancy - Dean Koontz

...nights. As the Tock's life becomes inextricably entwined with the history of the circus, as the might of the clowns and the aerialists comes to bare on Jimmy and his beautiful wife, they are forced to make life changing decisions in order to keep their loving family together. Koontz writes the story so well that you find yourself willing the Tocks to succeed, not to fall foul of the traps the Beezos and the Vivacementes may be setting for them in ...
...more. Whatever your usual genre of choice, Life Expectancy has enough of a level of romance, comedy, excitement and terror to suit all tastes and it's a highly recommended read. If you're looking for any clues as to "who dunnit", the only thing I shall say is: syndactyly. ...

markd_uk 25.04.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Life Expectancy - Dean Koontz

...a very clever and disturbing life ahead of him. Sadly I found the writing style a bit clunky and disappointing given the expectations I had of Dean Koontz as an author. Later it occurred to me that this style, which lacked much character development and a real feel for the locations and motivations in many parts, was due to the story's autobiographical protagonists telling it, rather than Koontz as a writer. Perhaps it wasn't representational of ...
...faith in the books momentum and to be sufficiently absorbed in this fictional world in order to really feel for the characters. As the story progressed I found this inexperienced writing style less cumbersome, but still found it a bit forced in places. Twice the storytelling protagonist(s) try to trick the reader and this I found a little patronising, and led to a removal from the fictional world's momentum. Although the first person narrative allowed ...

Callinore 30.08.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Life Expectancy - Dean Koontz

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* LIFE EXPECTANCY BY DEAN KOONTZ*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "When the hand of fate reaches out to touch an ordinary man....." "The Master of our Darkest Dreams" THE TIMES *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* THE PLOT *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 'Life Expectancy' is a tale told from the point of view of Jimmy Tock, whose life we pick up at the time of his birth where his anxious father, Rudy is separating his time between his labour-pained wife, Maddy and his father, ...
...then follow Jimmy through his life as he meets each danger date and the impact it has on his life and that of his wife Lorrie and eventually, their three children, Annie, Lucy and Andy. As they face each new danger with courage and near fatalities, the Tocks come to realise how the clown Konrad Beezo is enmeshed in their lives and struggle to extract themselves from each new danger only to know they face another.... *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* MY THOUGHTS ...

Kes30 15.08.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Life Expectancy - Dean Koontz

...analogy. Dean Koontz's Life Expectancy suffered from exactly such a problem, for me. The premise is a fantastic, tantalising one; setting out with the end of one life and the start of another in quick succession. The dying man, one Josef Tock, awakes from the grip death was increasingly applying to him, and makes a series of prophesies concerning his soon-to-be-born Grandson, whom he is destined to miss by minutes. The first set of his ten predictions ...
...a terrible day in the life of young Jimmy Tock. Having made his prophecy, he dies, and the child is born, instantly fulfilling the first five predictions, giving his parents cause to believe the likely accuracy of the second set. Thus Jimmy's life begins, and must continue, taking in all five days. What lies beyond, and of what nature is the evil that stalks him? For me, this is a gripping, teasing premise; one can't help but read on, if only to ...

Puggers 13.06.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Life Expectancy - Dean Koontz

...five days in the boy's life where pain and death will seek him out, days of great terror and torment. Rudy faithfully records his fathers warnings on the back of a circus flyer. After his message is imparted, Rudy's father abruptly dies leaving both him and the medical staff stunned. Overwhelmed by grief, Rudy returns to the fathers lounge to see Beezo and the delivery doctor in the middle of a formidable argument. Beezo's wife, an aerialist ...
...Jimmy has a healthy happy life with two loving parents and his Grandma Rowena.The Tock family lead a simple life, they take joy from each other, the community they live in and from food. Jimmy is following in his fathers footsteps to become a master baker, and dinner at the Tock home is all about enjoying each others company and celebrating the wonders of pastry. As the first day of his grandfathers predictions daws near, Jimmy and his family try ...

loopymum65 25.08.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Life Expectancy - Dean Koontz

This is the first Dean Koontz Book i have read and i read it in 3 days whilst sunbathing in Egypt. The book is about a pastry chef's son named Jimmy Tock and in the moments before he is born, Jimmy has a strange destiny thrust upon him, Jimmy's grandfather, who was in a stroke induced coma, suddenly awoke and predicted, among other things, five "terrible days" for his grandson, between his twentieth and thirtieth birthdays and then dies as Jimmy ...
...old, tragedy befalls the hospital as a man whose wife dies in childbirth goes berserk, kills the doctor and a nurse, grabs his newly born son and rushes into the night. As it turns out the events of that night and the legacy of terrible days are intertwined and do come back to haunt him five times. The Tock's have been Pastry Chefs for generations and Jimmy is being groomed to follow in his father's footsteps. He has started out as a baker, where ...

pokerdj5 18.11.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Life Expectancy - Dean Koontz

...Koonzt tells the story with all the magic we could expect. The story flows quickly with chapters are short and enthralling. Koonzt's main ability is to carry you onwards through the book. Life Expectancy is a page-turner without a doubt. I read it just a few days. ...

salt.n.pepper 31.03.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Life Expectancy - Dean Koontz

I cannot say I was disappointed by this piece, but I was definitely not left as highly satisfied as I have been by the author's other work. This book would be a very good entry point for anyone who wanted to start reading Mr. Koontz's work. I finished the book in a day so it was an easy read. The story flows fluidly from chapter to chapter, spanning the lifespan of Jimmy Tock, a character who if you don't start to love from the get go then you lack ...
...so lifelike and animated that you cannot help falling in love with them. The theme is dull compared to what Mr. Koontz has written in the past, but still it intrigued and kept me enraptured for the whole of the 24 hrs it took to read it. I think the worst part of it for Mr. Koontz is that ultimately he is competing against himself here. As a new book from a new author it's brilliant, outstanding and exceptionally good, but as a book from the mind ...

gmhavvas 13.01.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Life Expectancy - Dean Koontz

...joy, you name it , Life Expectancy has got it, as soon as I read it, I was out to the shops the next day to buy it, and it sits proudly on my bookshelf and I read it when I want to relax...I really you buy this book. You won't be dissapointed I assure you all of it!!! ...

Electricity 12.08.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Life Expectancy - Dean Koontz

...grandfather dies. It follows the life of Jimmy and how these predictions came true throughout his life and how these predictions affect his family and friends and some not so friendly people who keep crossing paths with Jimmy. This book will keep you on the edge of your seat and keep you turning the pages. Mr Koontz keeps the suspense throughout the book and make you live the whole storey, right to the last page the twists and turns continue. I ...
...will love this one. Life Expectancy uses clever words that are easy to understand and the pages flow, each more gripping than the last, you share the charactors ups and downs as they progress through life, and makes you wonder what will happen next, i wanted to read the last page quite early on ( This is always a good sign of a good book for me, but i did resist and it was well worth it) I reccommend this book to any one, as its not too frightening ...

Roznrub 12.07.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Life Expectancy - Dean Koontz

On the stormy night that Jimmy Tock is born, not only does his dying grandfather correctly predict the facts of his birth, including the fact that he will be born with fused toes, but he also predicts that there will be five horrible days ahead in Jimmy's life. His Grandfather predicts five horrifying dates just before he dies. Jimmy, now a baker by profession, must face those five terrible days. As each date approaches, Jimmy tries to prepare for ...
...day bring, and when during the day will it happen? Each chapter covers the time leading up to and through one of the prophesied days. Those days are horrible indeed. They are also interrelated and tied to a mysterious fact about Jimmy's birth that he has yet to discover. Having read everything that Stephen King has written I decided to try a bit of Dean Koontz. I thoroughly enjoyed it and found that once I got into it I could not put it down. I will ...

futurecar 09.11.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Life Expectancy - Dean Koontz

...author uses the ironies of life throughout the book from a realistic point of view both comical and heart-rending in the same breath(It made me want to laugh and cry alternately all the way through. I did find the dark humour of this bok not quite what i would expext from Mr Koontz, whose books I have been reading for 19 years now.(this book being the most recent read of his wonderful publications. Anyway, getting back to the point, the grandfather ...
...the narrator) ,the last one being that there would be three terrible days he would have to overcome,he could give dates but no more info as this was his final revelation on his deathbed, and unfortunately passed away before he could say more. The first 2 premonitions turned out to be true, but the '3 awful days'left his family in a desparate state as these dates approached. The rest of the book tells of the chains of events that brought him to narrate ...

kate72 07.03.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Life Expectancy - Dean Koontz