THE BIG DARK SKY

5 stars out of 5

"When people think their lives are without meaning, they'll seek meaning even from the creepiest of charlatans." Truer words may never have been spoken, whether it's in real life or in a work of fiction like this engaging book that reeled me in fast and kept me on the hook all the way to the last page. 

While I'm in accolade mode, I'll add this: Dean Koontz is among very few writers - the other two who come to mind are J.K. Rowling and Stephen King - who never fail to make me wonder how in blazes he (or she) could even conjure up such intricate plots, much less write them down in such cohesive, delicious detail and (no small feat) make the supernatural seem, well, plausible.

This story centers around Rustling Willows Ranch in Montana, where Joanna Chase lived as a child until both her mother and father died, both thought to be accidental. Years later and living on her own as a writer, she experiences a series of strange events, the most troubling a phone message from an unknown female caller begging Joanna - in her former life nicknamed Jojo - to come help her. It takes a while and a few more bizarre experiences, but finally Joanna gets that the unknown caller wants her to return to her Montana home.

But maybe, just maybe, someone (or something) has a sinister reason to draw her to the ranch. And as readers soon learn, she's not the only one being targeted; and elsewhere, a couple of others are being "saved" by the intervention of a strange man dressed in white, while still others, shall I say, aren't quite so fortunate. Lurking out there, just waiting for a chance to get his jollies by mayhem, torture and horrific murder, is a man with a manifesto that claims human extinction is the only way to salvation. He welcomes the sight of a "big dark sky," and he'll do everything he can to make that happen.

Joanna, the man in white and the handful of characters (including a private investigator, a white hat hacker and a disfigured, nonverbal young man once befriended by Joanna) who escape his grasp are coming together as fast as they can grasp what's happening. But can they get the answers they need before the madman gets them? Well of course, I'll never say another word, except that that their trials and tribulations make for one heck of a tale. You'll have to read it for yourself to learn the details of their journey - and I highly recommend that you do (if you do, watch for the sneaky little references to a heroine in one of the author's popular series along the way). As for me, I'll just thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the privilege of reading a pre-release copy.

The Big Dark Sky by Dean Koontz (Thomas & Mercer, July 2022); 380 pp.

THE SUN DOWN MOTEL

5 stars out of 5

Do you believe in zombies, ghosts and things that go bump in the night? Neither do I, unless I'm in the middle of a Stephen King novel - or this one. What could be more perfect for reading over a couple of icy cold winter nights?

The story takes place in the quintessential creepy place: A broken-down motel in small-town upstate New York, where lodgers - at least those who actually exist - typically stay one night, pay in cash and leave at odd hours. In 1982, a young night clerk (yes, there was one, if only to deter vagrants from trashing the already disheveled rooms) named Vivian Delaney mysteriously disappears - never to be found. That bothers Carly Kirk, a college student who happens to be Viv's niece. Long a lover of murder stories, in 2017 she leaves college and sets out for remote Fell, New York, to look into her aunt's disappearance.

Carly finds an apartment with another young woman, and once she sees the Sun Down Motel, she realizes the best way to learn more is by working there. Low and behold, the mostly absent owner needs a night clerk - and you guessed it, Carly gets the job. Chapters flip back and forth to the perspectives of Viv and Carly (switching so often that I nearly got whiplash until halfway through, when I was able to keep each time frame in perspective). Almost from her first night at the desk, Carly hears and sees strange things - some of the same things that, readers learn through those flashbacks, Viv experienced as well. Clearly, this motel has sordid secrets; and if Viv has gone to her grave as Carly suspects, it'll take some digging to unearth them.

But terrified as she may be, Carly is nothing if not determined. Gradually, she identifies people who were there when Viv disappeared - some human, some cooperative and others not so much on both scores - but just as her aunt did all those years ago, she pushes on at her own peril. Then and now start coming together near the end, bringing some not entirely unexpected "surprises." Needless to say, you won't learn anything more about that from me.

Without a doubt, this is a book that reeled me in and I didn't want to put down (and except for sleeping, I didn't). Definitely a winner, and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to get a pre-release peek.

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James (Berkley, February 2020); 336 pp.