Velocity

Jan 05, 2008 Chris rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Usually people go on smoke breaks at work to take a break from their routine paper-pushing to talk all raw about chicks and cuss a lot. Thank god where I work I can do these things from the comfort of my desk, so when I go on a smoke break I can talk about things that actually take up to ten minutes to discuss (seeing as I’ve been seeing the same chick for years I don’t have much in the way of interesting conversation anyway). Sometimes I will rap about the futility of Chicago football, usually...more Usually people go on smoke breaks at work to take a break from their routine paper-pushing to talk all raw about chicks and cuss a lot. Thank god where I work I can do these things from the comfort of my desk, so when I go on a smoke break I can talk about things that actually take up to ten minutes to discuss (seeing as I’ve been seeing the same chick for years I don’t have much in the way of interesting conversation anyway). Sometimes I will rap about the futility of Chicago football, usually I’m rapping in a negative manner about the clods I have to deal with in a day’s work, or sometimes movies and music, and once in a great while, I’ll actually discuss a book. Usually it’s just one person talking about the book and how much it ruled or sucked while the other person nods with slight enthusiasm; this is because finding two people who have read the same book and can openly discuss it in this day and age is less common than finding a large chunk of platinum sticking out of the ground. Well, even if you’re not on quite the same page, or in the same book, for that matter, you can get a recommendation of worth.

Or, you can be led into the fallacy that Dean Koontz is worth a shit as an author. Sure, someone might say ‘hey, if you like Stephen King you’ll love this guy’, and in the seldom-used recesses of the mind you think, ‘hmmm, I’ve been seeing Koontz’s name for ages, he’s obviously a NY Times bestseller several times over, maybe it’s time to finally give the guy a chance.

And Velocity is exactly the type of reason that I’m not listening to anyone tell me that a particular author is worth a damn. I’ll go back to either judging books by their cover or getting some recommendations from ‘Brick’, the spirit I channel via my ouija board. About all I can say on a positive note about this book is that I wasn’t exactly offended by it, not as if that is a rave review, but nothing within made me throw it out the window, a fate that’s been suffered by only two books in my time. It just doesn’t do anything for me; no entertainment, no enlightenment, it certainly didn’t make my manhood any bigger.

Good old Billy, the common Everyman, becomes a pawn in a dangerous game being perpetrated by a crafty villain with the singular goal of psychologically harassing him while offing people. The catch; prior to every murder, the killer leaves Billy a note giving him two choices, either take no action and he’ll kill victim A or to run to the cops and he’ll kill victim B. As the game plods along, he starts including people who are close to Billy (or at least could be people close to him, as the descriptions of the victims are always vague enough not to point to anyone in particular) as potential victims, and our intrepid bartender has to use every shred of cunning and resourcefulness he can muster to rise to the challenge; to reveal the identity of this vicious bastard and kick his ass. The killer, of course, isn’t about to let him do that, and begins planting evidence on Billy’s property, pestering him over the phone, dropping misleading clues as to his identity, and generally being a nuisance. After the killer makes a few personal appearances and beats Billy down and becomes and even bigger pain in the ass, the final confrontation is afoot, in what might be the most mundane and completely preposterous finale imaginable.
(less)

26 likes · like · see review

Dec 12, 2008 Alex rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Velocity by Dean Koontz
Napa County California seems to be a quiet place were not much really happens but things change when Billy Whiles gets off work at the local bar and finds a note under his windshield stating "If you don't take this note to the police and get them involved, I will kill a lovely blond schoolteacher. If you do take this note to the police, I will instead kill an elderly woman active in charity work. You have four hours to decide. The choice is yours." Billy takes the note to...more

4 likes · like · see review

Jul 27, 2007 Beth Frink rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was an easy read--couldn't put the book down. Very interesting, and really makes you think. What would you do, if you were given a choice like this?

6 likes · like · see review

Apr 24, 2008 Holly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: who like fast pased murder mysteries

Recommended to Holly by: DJ CC

Dean Koontz’s unique talent for writing terrifying thrillers with a heart and soul is nowhere more evident than in this latest suspense masterpiece that pits one man against the ultimate deadline. If there were speed limits for the sheer pulse-racing excitement allowed in one novel, Velocity would break them all. Get ready for the ride of your life.

Velocity

Bill Wile is an easygoing, hardworking guy who leads a quiet, ordinary life. But that is about to change. One evening, after his usual eight-...more

4 likes · like · see review

Jan 15, 2008 Sarah Sammis rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: released, read-in-2008

Velocity starts with death by garden gnome and gets weirder from there.

The back of the book has the message: "If you don’t take this note to the police and get them involved, I will kill a lovely blond schoolteacher. If you do take this note to the police, I will instead kill an elderly woman active in charity work. You have four hours to decide. The choice is yours." Going on that piece of information alone, one might think that Velocity will be a typical "ticking time bomb" type thriller; it i...more

6 likes · like · see review

Jan 21, 2008 Izzy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A very interesting, precisely detailed (more on that later), spine-tingling murder thriller. The way Koontz writes keeps you riveted, because he pays attention to every detail, the way Billy Wiles carves wood, decorates his house, eats, or even sneaks into a house that may or may not contain a vicious, cunning killer. Not perfect, but perfectly designed to keep you reading while simultaneously freaking you out. Scary, mysterious, and thrilling. Towards the end it can get a bit graphic, but that'...more

3 likes · like · see review

Apr 24, 2012 Deana Holland rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Good Koontz book....ending had a twist like always :)

1 like · like · see review

Feb 07, 2013 Al rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Dean Koontz’s unique talent for writing terrifying thrillers with a heart and soul is nowhere more evident than in this latest suspense masterpiece that pits one man against the ultimate deadline. If there were speed limits for the sheer pulse-racing excitement allowed in one novel, Velocity would break them all. Get ready for the ride of your life.

Velocity

Bill Wile is an easygoing, hardworking guy who leads a quiet, ordinary life. But that is about to change. One evening, after his usual eight-

...more

Dean Koontz’s unique talent for writing terrifying thrillers with a heart and soul is nowhere more evident than in this latest suspense masterpiece that pits one man against the ultimate deadline. If there were speed limits for the sheer pulse-racing excitement allowed in one novel, Velocity would break them all. Get ready for the ride of your life.

Velocity

Bill Wile is an easygoing, hardworking guy who leads a quiet, ordinary life. But that is about to change. One evening, after his usual eight-hour bartending shift, he finds a typewritten note under the windshield wiper of his car. If you don’t take this note to the police and get them involved, I will kill a lovely blond schoolteacher. If you do take this note to the police, I will instead kill an elderly woman active in charity work. You have four hours to decide. The choice is yours.

It seems like a sick joke, and Bill’s friend on the police force, Lanny Olson, thinks so too. His advice to Bill is to go home and forget about it. Besides, what could they do even if they took the note seriously? No crime has actually been committed. But less than twenty-four hours later, a young blond schoolteacher is found murdered, and it’s Bill’s fault: he didn’t convince the police to get involved. Now he’s got another note, another deadline, another ultimatum…and two new lives hanging in the balance.

Suddenly Bill’s average, seemingly innocuous life takes on the dimensions and speed of an accelerating nightmare. Because the notes are coming faster, the deadlines growing tighter, and the killer becoming bolder and crueler with every communication—until Bill is isolated with the terrifying knowledge that he alone has the power of life and death over a psychopath’s innocent victims. Until the struggle between good and evil is intensely personal. Until the most chilling words of all are: The choice is yours.

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. A diabolic killer plays a harrowing game of cat and mouse with a reclusive bartender in Koontz's latest gripping suspense thriller. Billy Wiles, a 30-something bartender and former writer, is content with his solitary Napa County existence listening to "beer-based psychoanalysis" from tavern regulars; visiting his hospitalized, comatose fiancée, Barbara; and carving wood sculptures. But the simple life gets mighty complicated when he finds a note with a deadly, time-sensitive ultimatum: he must choose between the death of a young schoolteacher or an elderly humanitarian in six hours. Reluctant local sheriff Lanny Olsen dismisses it as a joke until a comely teacher is found strangled and another threatening note appears—offering even less time for Billy to decide the fate of two more people. Who would have guessed that one of those people would be Olsen? After his friend's murder, Billy finds that the cunning killer has gained access to every aspect of his life as the ultimatums grow increasingly more personal. Suppressing horrific childhood memories, Billy scrambles to bury grisly incriminating evidence the murderer has deviously planted. More gruesome deaths and shaky suspicions trap Billy right in the demented killer's lair for just the beginning of Koontz's serpentine showdown. Graphic, fast-paced action, well-developed characters and relentless, nail-biting scenes show Koontz at the top of his game. (May 24)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–Bartender Billy Wiles's life spirals out of control after he finds a note on his windshield telling him that he has a choice: involve the police, and a lovely blonde schoolteacher dies. Do nothing, and an elderly woman active in charity work dies. His options only become harder once the killer targets people whom Billy knows and plants circumstantial evidence tying him to the crimes. His greatest fear is for his comatose fiancée, and he works frantically to find the murderer before Barbara is hurt. Koontz keeps the plot moving at an accelerating pace, and there are enough twists and turns to keep the story from being predictable. Billy isn't a hero in the traditional sense, but he is a sympathetic protagonist, an average man pushed to his limits by an implacable foe. Although there is a great deal of violence and an impressive body count, the worst of it occurs off-screen. The themes aren't subtle, but they are worth considering--the importance of connection and community, the enduring power of love, and the validity of modern art. Velocity is a fast, entertaining read.–Susan Salpini, TASIS–The American School in England
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

(less)

like · see review

Feb 28, 2010 Matt Barker rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a fantastic book from beginning to end. Once you start reading this book, you will not be able to put it down until it is all over.

Publisher's Summary

Bill Wile is an easygoing, hardworking guy who leads a quiet, ordinary life. But that is about to change. One evening, after his usual eight-hour bartending shift, he finds a typewritten note under the windshield wiper of his car.

If you don't take this note to the police and get them involved, I will kill a lovely blond schoolteacher. If y...more

3 likes · like · see review

Mar 22, 2009 Benjamin Solah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Dean Koontz never fails to grip his readers into a complex and deeply addictive plot. ‘Velocity’ is, of course, no different. Koontz’s style is both literary and contemporary. He doesn’t fluff up his description to sound good, but in places, his language has a beautiful quality to it.

The novel is about a bartender, Billy Wiles, after he finds a note stuck in the windscreen of his SUV. It reads, “If you don’t take this note to the police and get them involved, I will kill a lovely blonde schoolte...more

like · see review

Mar 05, 2009 Heather added it · review of another edition

Velocity by Dean Koontz
Velocity is about a guy named Billy Wiles. Billy lives in a small town called Napa County where everybody knows everyone. In Napa, things are normal. Billy thinks until he gets a note on his Explorer. Everything takes place in modern day society. The story is told in third person limited because it only gives Billy’s point of view.

I like this book because of the main character, Billy. Billy is strong in this story. Billy has a wife name Barbara who is in a coma. He also ge...more Velocity by Dean Koontz
Velocity is about a guy named Billy Wiles. Billy lives in a small town called Napa County where everybody knows everyone. In Napa, things are normal. Billy thinks until he gets a note on his Explorer. Everything takes place in modern day society. The story is told in third person limited because it only gives Billy’s point of view.

I like this book because of the main character, Billy. Billy is strong in this story. Billy has a wife name Barbara who is in a coma. He also gets attacked by a person. He also doesn’t just complain to the police, but he tries to solve the mystery on his own.

Lanny Olsen is Billy’s best friend. They grew up together ever since Pearl Olsen adopted Billy when he was fourteen. Lanny is a police officer. Lanny is the first person that Billy goes to for advice.

Billy works at a family tavern. The tavern is owned by Jackie O’Hara. Jackie O’Hara is a very funny guy that anyone can get along with. There is another guy that Billy works with and he gets on everyone’s nerves. His name is Steve Zillis. Steve can from a different town and was an art major in college. Steve always says “How’re they hangin’, Kemosabe,”.

Barbara is in a coma. Sometimes she will mumble in her sleep. She sometimes say weird things that doesn’t make sense like “death of the sun,”. Toward the end of the novel, Billy gets a clue way she says these weird sayings. She says them because she is living in Dickens’s Books. Barbara loves books by Dickens.

Billy also starts to notice something about the notes that he keeps finding. The person who wrote them is not just playing around, but he is playing around with peoples lives. He also starts to notice that the words and sayings in the notes resembles words that a famous artist Valis once wrote.

The major theme of Velocity is don’t always think that something harsh can happen to you. The reason why is because Billy thought the notes were just jokes at first. Then he notice that they were not.

I like Velocity by Dean Koontz. Its not realistic, but there are some psychopathic killers. I kind of think this novel is kind of hard to believe. Most people in Billy’s place would have went to the police instead of going up against there attacker. Also its very unbelievable that the person didn’t get caught or that no one really found Lanny in his place. I really like the book because it was a mystery. It was very interesting. I always want to read more to find out if Billy ever goes to the police, if Billy finds out who the person is, or if Billy even lives.
(less)

like · see review

Dec 26, 2012 Tristan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was the first - and only - Dean Koontz book I've read. I'll admit that the main reason I never read any of his books was because of the supermarket best-seller image (stigma?) his name creates in my mind. Elitist? ...yeah. I guess so.

But, a friend enthusiastically recommended it, and so I checked it out. I was surprised that yes, after reading the first chapter, I was indeed hooked and wanted to follow it through to the end. I immediately picked up another of his books that she recommended,...more This was the first - and only - Dean Koontz book I've read. I'll admit that the main reason I never read any of his books was because of the supermarket best-seller image (stigma?) his name creates in my mind. Elitist? ...yeah. I guess so.

But, a friend enthusiastically recommended it, and so I checked it out. I was surprised that yes, after reading the first chapter, I was indeed hooked and wanted to follow it through to the end. I immediately picked up another of his books that she recommended, read about seventy pages, and returned it, unimpressed.

There are a few points where some of his personal distaste for academic "elites" and "the high arts" come through - a major character is a frou-frou celebrity artist who keeps an attractive young cabana boy with him at all times, and the locals' eye-rolling distaste at his presence as a plot device just toes the line of cliche. Considering that this book takes place in a part of California where many of these celebrity artists and their patrons reside and contribute to the ponceyest of pursuits (winemaking), this is somewhat puzzling... but, hey: suspension of disbelief is a big part of enjoying any novel. You do get the impression from reading this that Koontz is the sort of guy who will gladly pay many thousands for a large painting of a barn in a field or a beach with some sailboats in the background from a well-known and prolific painter, but roll his eyes at anyone who would place a bid on a Rothko. However, he will indeed lucidly admire that painting of a barn or sailboats, and will be able to talk at length about the subtle details of light, composition, and feeling - and, he'll probably incorporate that feeling into his next novel. But... Rothko? Blegh, a big canvas with a bunch of paint on it.

The title does fit the book because as it picks up speed, it certainly gains momentum, and becomes a train-wreck page turner where you really do want to know the outcome. The pace of the writing is excellent, and it gets to a point where you, like the character, nervously wait for the next big trauma to hit, but have absolutely no idea where it'll come from. The idyllic, charming, sun-soaked backdrop of Napa Valley becomes a claustrophobic and imposing place where bodies vanish into caverns and the charming local cops' inattentiveness allows killers do their horrible deeds unfettered.

The only parts of the book that let me down somewhat were that the ending seemed somewhat anti-climatic relative to the lurid, cruel violence and nail-biting suspense that seemed to lurk around every corner throughout the novel, and the none-too-subtle introduction of the antagonist in the beginning of the book. It seemed as though the ending was supposed to be the harsh, with-my-own-mitts payback ala the end of "Sin City," but instead, I was left to blink a few times and wonder to myself, "was that it?" A subtler introduction, or at least the introduction of other over the top, out of place characters who could have been the antagonist would have helped me from correctly guessing who was behind everything so early in the book.

Regardless, it was an enjoyable read that I'd certainly recommend to anyone who likes suspense, can suspend their own disbelief just a tad, and is willing to pick up a supermarket softcover once in awhile. Definitely a pleasant surprise.(less)

like · see review

Dec 18, 2012 Kelly Vardiman rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Some nice turns of phrase and character descriptions throughout the novel make it especially enjoyable to read. Here are some of the best:

"…. the window beyond which the acid-yellow day soured slowly toward a bitter twilight."

"There are days of doubt, more often lonely nights, when even the devout wonder if they are heirs to a greater kingdom than this earth and if they will know mercy - or if instead they are only animals like any other, with no inheritance except the wind and the dark."

"In the...more

like · see review

Oct 13, 2012 Linda Pohl rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My husband and I had listened to the audio CD of Intensity and found it so suspenseful that we decided to try another Koontz book for our next road trip. We were not disappointed and found Velocity as intense and moving as Intensity. Dean Koontz did not disappoint. One of the main premises is that we have choices. At the beginning of the story, Billy Wiles, a bartender, finds a note under his dashboard that basically tells him to make a choice between two people. One will die. It's stated that s...more

like · see review

Sep 17, 2012 David rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Velocity is the first Dean Koontz novel that I have read, primarily because he writes in a genre I am not particularly fond of. Actually that’s not really true – I like a good thriller, but I am a pretty squeamish kind of guy, and Koontz (or so the book blurbs would imply) has a tendency to delve into the darker and more horrific sides of human nature. Having said that, I must admit I really enjoyed Velocity. I couldn’t put it down, turning the pages into the wee small hours of the morning.

Gener...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 30, 2012 Jane Stewart rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: suspense-thriller

I like suspense and danger but not this type of suspense and danger.

I purchased this three years ago. I could not finish it. I did not do a review at the time thinking Koontz was not an author for me. Recently I read Lightning by Koontz and loved it. Therefore I’m now reading several of his books. I’m posting this as part of a group of reviews for comparison purposes - for readers who have tastes similar to mine.

I was frustrated, afraid, and felt hopeless watching Bill being threatened and manip...more

3 likes · like · see review

Feb 15, 2012 Martip rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book packs a wallop of a surprise. Different from many of Koontz's works due to the murderous, grisly nature of events, this book carries themes one has seen from Dean before: Boy murders family, comatose wife tenderly cared for by a husband. Only this tender husband confesses to Ivy that he killed his mother and father at age 14. (Ivy-think Harry Potter weird blonde girl archetype) As usual, there's plenty of people in the book to keep you among a comfortable crowd. The suspense is metered...more

like · see review

Jun 25, 2011 Samantha rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Velocity was a great thriller. The suspense kept me reading it until I finished it and uncovered the mystery. The premise is that Billy, a hardworking, quiet bartender, recieves a note telling him he has the power to determine who the writer of the note murders. Billy decides that the note is a malicious prank and ignores it. He's ready to move on until one of the possible victims the note indicated ends up dead. More notes arrive and Billy realizes that he's dealing with a serial killer who's s...more

like · see review

Mar 03, 2011 Shea added it · review of another edition

Shea Carmona
Velocity Review
Once I started this book, the plot grabbed me right from the beginning and would not let go. Even though it is a plot driven book, the main character is well developed, even though others may not be. It doesn’t make any difference, as it is not the characters that keep you reading, but the ever changing and churning story.

Billy Wiles is a formerly promising writer turned barkeep. He has experienced a goodly amount of tragedy in his life. His parents were killed when he...more

like · see review

Sep 27, 2010 Maciek rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own-in-paperback, thriller-mystery-suspense, read-in-2010, reviewed

Velocity is the essence of mass-market fiction. Billy Wiles, an everyman bartender finds a note under the windshield of his car - If he takes it to the police, a schoolteacher will die. If he doesn't, an old woman will be killed. Billy visits his cop friend and tells him about the note. The cop thinks it's a hoax and tells Billy to dismiss it. It turns out it's not - the schoolteacher dies. Billy starts receiving other notes, forcing our bartender to choose the fate of people that are close to h...more Velocity is the essence of mass-market fiction. Billy Wiles, an everyman bartender finds a note under the windshield of his car - If he takes it to the police, a schoolteacher will die. If he doesn't, an old woman will be killed. Billy visits his cop friend and tells him about the note. The cop thinks it's a hoax and tells Billy to dismiss it. It turns out it's not - the schoolteacher dies. Billy starts receiving other notes, forcing our bartender to choose the fate of people that are close to him.

Velocity moves along nicely and is fairly suspenseful until its faults start to kick in. In one scene the cops drive over to Billy because he mistakenly called 911. They grill him and even search his house. In another scene the cops give Billy details of a classified investigation over the phone without bothering to check who's calling (caller ID is enough).
Also another flaw is Koontz's limited knowledge of personal computers. Billy is worried about somebody checking his internet activities at the library computer because it could have a keylogger. Hasn't he heard about browsing history?
The biggest plot hole of all deal with disposing dead bodies. As Billy has to do something with quite a few of them, where does he go? You got it, to the Giant And Deep Hole No One Knows About. Several times. It's a deep lava vent hole that goes hundreds of feet down (it's essentially bottomless) and is conveniently located in his friend's backyard, so Billy doesn't even have to do much driving. Of course everything is nicely solved in an epilogue, because it's a Koontz novel and the good guy doesn't have to face the consequence of his actions.

All the action is interrupted by dialogues, which are thinly veiled Koontz's personal ideas about things like modern art, universities and scientists, and Billy's deep, philosophical thoughts about himself, painkillers, and the world in general - they must sound profound, but not be too complicated for the average bored housewife to understand. It seems to me that Koontz has found his niche - or rather a whole shelf at the nearest Wall-Mart. Because that's what it is, folks - the Wall-Mart of fiction. Quoting T.S. Eliot and Hemingway does not make a book smart. There are shades of a good moments in Velocity, but the whole book will evaporate from your mind quickier than a dead body goes down that damn hole. (less)

11 likes · like · see review

Jul 11, 2010 Crystal Starr Light rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller

About as close as I have come to "horror/thriller" are the movies Signs and Secret Window. But I am adventurous and will attempt to read pretty much anything.
Billy Wiles is a very seclusive bartender in Napa Valley. His life is pretty ho-hum until he finds a note on his car. He is given the choice: to remain silent and a young schoolteacher will die or go to the police and an elderly woman will die. At first, he thinks it is a joke. But when Gisele Winslow, a young schoolteacher, dies, Billy rea...more About as close as I have come to "horror/thriller" are the movies Signs and Secret Window. But I am adventurous and will attempt to read pretty much anything.
Billy Wiles is a very seclusive bartender in Napa Valley. His life is pretty ho-hum until he finds a note on his car. He is given the choice: to remain silent and a young schoolteacher will die or go to the police and an elderly woman will die. At first, he thinks it is a joke. But when Gisele Winslow, a young schoolteacher, dies, Billy realizes that the notes wasn't a joke and that he--and those around him--is in serious danger

Good:
If I could think of one word for this book, I would think "intense". Dean Koontz doesn't spend much time detailing every last minutiae about Billy's life, his neighborhood, his dog; he forces the audience to leap feet-first into a whirlwind of tense sequences, chilling revelations, and spine-tingling events and reveals Billy's chilling past in short, quick side stories. The writing is terse and quick; it is completely easy to get lost in the writing and find huge sections are behind you. The environment is described so well, that you are actually transported into the scene. Everything said or done is easy to follow and draws you more and more into the story.
What I found I actually liked was when Koontz would have a conversation and interspersed between dialogue would detail the surrounding environment. At first, I wondered why Koontz spent so much time on something so irrelevant, but when I realized that it was symbolism, I enjoyed it.
Speaking on symbolism, Koontz uses the entire tale to leave the audience with the message that Billy's real problem wasn't what the "freak" was doing to him, but that the fact that Billy had no one else to turn to. I loved the message and how it was intricately wrapped into the fast-pace of the novel.
My favorite characters are Billy (of course) and, of all people, Ralph Cottle. Billy, our hero, is an everyman. He isn't that pleasant but isn't unkind (he considers the loss of any life terrible). He has abandoned his dream to write, has committed crimes, and has dedicated his life to his fiancée, Barbara, who resides in a coma. Ralph Cottle, on the other hand, is a man who has lost pretty much everything, has nothing to lean on, but who is so scared to lose what little he has left that he will make a deal with the devil. Koontz wrote him well and made him easily accessible.

Bad:
Well, as you will read below, the violence is pretty hefty. For a squeamish person like myself, this is a real turn-off.
While the novel is great, what really is the draw-back is the end. (Some minor Spoilers ahead.) The story goes along well, but you get hooked on a particular red herring to discover that the person wasn't the "freak". Instead, the actual killer or "freak" is someone the audience barely knows (a complete stranger to Billy too) and comes off as an almost dues ex machina. Then, when Billy has his confrontation with said "freak" you get another shocking surprise about the "freak" that makes you want to go, "Ugh!" And the actual conclusion, while okay, made you wonder how the police never realized that a total of six people were dead and that their deaths were related.
Although petty, I found it silly that Billy kept referring to the killer as a "freak". Dean, you have written so many beautiful passages, can't you think of a better word to describe this guy than "freak"?

Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
The dialogue is very tame here. A few wandering b****, da**, and he**'s but other than that, very mild.
Sexual situations are a bit more involved. Ivy's sexual attraction is constantly mentioned as are how "hot" men are when around her. Further Steve Zillis has a sexually twisted hobby.
Violence, however, is not tame. Over the course of the entire novel, six people die and their deaths, while not described in depth, are still vividly alluded to (along with the reason they died). A woman's face is kept in a jar by the killer. Billy ends up with fishhooks in his forehead and nailed to the floor.

Overall:
Wow. After the brisk pacing of this book, I feel like I've run a marathon.
Anyway, I enjoyed the book but the violence was too much for me (I'm terribly squeamish). If you can stomach some violence and don't mind a few bumps in the night, I would definitely recommend this one. (less)

like · see review

May 12, 2010 Yasmine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The book striked my curiosity, my attraction to mystery, and my purse.

The back cover posted a note from a nobody that told Billy Wiles to choose whether to let a lovely blond school teacher be killed if he didn't report it to the cop, or to let an old woman active in charity work die if he did bring it to the cop.

As a brooding, none-of-my-business 34 year old bartender, Billy is picturized to be a very sad, calm, yet full of measurements when he had to clean up for every trace of his involvement...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 14, 2009 Troy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Velocity certainly interested me enough to encourage quick reading, so the skeleton of the story can't be that bad. But I can only give it the two-star "it's okay" rating because everything about the novel, except its spine, seemed to be too thin. I guess I mean that several things happened so quickly that Koontz forgot to make any explanatory links between them. The novel felt very thrown together, as if maybe the author had promised to write something, but was very behind. Variations on the un...more

4 likes · like · see review

May 25, 2009 Todd rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Velocity is another Koontz novel in which we watch the protagonist taken through more twists and turns than a person has a right to survive, yet amazingly the guy does.

This story is more a story about transformation than other books by Koontz. The lead character is taken on a breakneck ride over a few days. He is taken from mild mannered bar tender to ... well you'll have to read.

What I liked most about the book was watching this man become something he fears. The journey is more than it seems...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 14, 2011 Momo rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Velocity was the first book that I ever read by Dean Koontz. The idea of the book was original and creative. The plot alone was interesting enough to ensure that the book wouldn’t be “bad” but that doesn’t mean that it didn’t disappoint.

The first chapter throws Bill into a crazy inescapable situation and you’re immediately eager to find out what Bill will chose and what the next note will bring. There are a lot of questions the reader will develop throughout the story because the source of the n...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jul 17, 2011 Alecia Talbot rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like · see review

May 13, 2013 Ayu Ikhwani rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The cover caught my eye first! I've never really read a Dean Koontz but I figured it would be best to start with something that piqued my interest at first glance.

It started good, with a 'death by garden gnome' story shared in a pub.. but after that I go a bit dizzy (and 'sleepy' at times)

The pace disturbed me.. it felt like one time it was going so fast that I couldn't understand the details, but then the next minute it was slow enough that I could see and feel what Billy felt.

I didn't like tha...more

like · see review

Mar 30, 2011 Matt rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hook:How would you feel if you had a note on your car saying somebody was going to die?

Review:Billy Wiles lives a serene life; working days tending bar and visiting his coma-suffering fiancée in his off-hours. Until one evening when he finds a note under the windshield wiper of his car telling him if he takes the note to the police, a schoolteacher will be murdered; if he does not, an elderly woman will die. Unsure whether or not this is a prank, Billy shows it to a friend on the police force, w...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 27, 2012 Ubie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

The idea of this book is what really got me, something that just makes you think about what you would do if you were in the same position. Some real horrifying scenes are portrayed and some real evil is unraveled again and again. I think the simplest way to explain what really intrigued me about this story was how an everyday person like you and me can be placed in a totally crazy situation and how the way the main character deals with each sick and freaky problem the reader slowly watches the m...more

like · see review

Nov 30, 2011 Tess Mertens-Johnson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

30NOV11 Velocity

What a great thriller. It was a page turned from the beginning to the end. The story starts with Billy Wile, a work a day bartender who receives a note stating him he has the power to determine who is going to die next. He ignores it thinking it is a prank, and then hears of the news that the person who was described in the note is dead. This starts not only his quest to find the note writer, but the stop the deaths of the notes that follow. More notes arrive and Billy realizes t...more

like · see review

title link	preview: Velocity
avg rating	preview: Velocity Goodreads rating: 3.79 (30437 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21351.Velocity?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320513224l/21351.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21351.Velocity?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Velocity by Dean Koontz[/url]

Velocity

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (44)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Dean Koontz

Books by Dean Koontz

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Velocity

Quotes from Velocity