Darkness Under the Sun by Dean Koontz

About the book: The chilling account of a pivotal encounter between innocence and ultimate malice, Darkness Under the Sun is the perfect read for Halloween–or for any haunted night–and reveals a secret, fateful turning point in the career of Alton Turner Blackwood, the killer at the dark heart of What the Night Knows, the forthcoming novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz. There once was a killer who knew the night, its secrets and rhythms. How to hide within its shadows. When to hunt. He roamed from town to town, city to city, choosing his prey for their beauty and innocence. His cruelties were infinite, his humanity long since forfeit. But still…he had not yet discovered how to make his special mark among monsters, how to come fully alive as Death.
This is the story of how he learned those things, and of what we might do to insure that he does not visit us.

First line: A week before his eleventh birthday, when Howie Dugley climbed to the roof of the former Boswell's Emporium to watch the normal people doing all kinds of ordinary things along Maple Street, he saw the monster for the first time.

My thoughts: This was a quick read and a good one. I liked Howie, the child and adult, a lot. Koontz has always been able to do that for me, create likable characters with good hearts that I want to root for. I felt bad for Howie and the decision he had to make at his young age. This is not just a horror story it is a psychological thriller. This novella, only found in eBook form, stands alone well but I am glad that there is more in the novel What the Night Knows. (I have to get it off my wish list and into the house, soon.) The tension built well and kept me turning pages. The creepiness of the story held on all the way to the end. If you have never read Dean Koontz, this is a great way to sample his work.

Rating:

Quote: "There's always a parade, Howie. When it's something you can't ever join but only watch, then it's a parade"

Links:
Dean Koontz