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Dec 09, 2007

Ryan rated it:

Keeping with the Koontz theme. I finished The Good Guy over the weekend. The cover (front and back) doesn’t tell you much. I didn’t read the inside part of the dust jacket. I just picked it up. I figured Koontz = Good read. I was right.

At this point in my Koontz reading extravaganza I’ve made a few generalizations about his books. Someone or something will have special powers. Meaning, if the lead character doesn’t have special powers, then that character has a pet (usually a dog) that More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jun 15, 2007

Carol rated it:

Timothy Carrier, having a beer after work at his friend’s tavern. But the jittery man who sits next to him tonight has mistaken Tim for someone very different—and passes to him a manila envelope full of cash.

“Ten thousand now. You get the rest when she’s gone.”

The stranger walks out, leaving a photo of the pretty woman marked for death, and her address. But things are about to get worse. In minutes another stranger sits next to Tim. This one is a cold-blooded killer who b More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 20, 2009

Donna rated it:

This is your typical Koontz story - extremely bad guy chasing good guy(s)and in this one, the good guys don't know why they're being targeted for murder. The good guy, (hence the title), Tim, is mistaken for a hired killer in a bar and given an envelope with $10,000 and a picture of a woman whom he is supposed to kill. He then tries to save the woman, Linda, and gets caught up in the cat&mouse game. The bad guy is one of Koontz's worst, I think. He is remorseless & capable of unspeakable, ne More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 24, 2008

Lisa rated it:

As a writer, Koontz is improving. I found that this novel had very little rambling about his characters and scenes. His development of characters was amazing. I found that even though I despised the evil character, Krait, I was just as attached to him as I was the main characters, Tim and Linda.

This novel had a very interesting and scary plot. What made this Novel so intensely frightening was that it was a plausible situation. It is a plot that could very well be happening or co More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 16, 2010

Valerie rated it:

This is my first Koontz book and I liked it. I was kind of hoping for more suspense and there were times that I did feel anxious but not to the degree I was hoping for.

It was pretty clean for an adult novel. It gives me hope that when I'm an adult I can actually read novels that aren't too provocative. This is compared to some of the other adult books I've read. There are very slight innuendos and the bad guy pees on stuff he doesn't like which I thought was weird.

Maybe More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 26, 2009

Richard rated it:

The ending is the weakest. Too much tom foolery for such a focused story. But....the journey is what its all about, right? That is a pretty good thing about this book. Its a good ride. Koontz comes up with the creepiest bad guys.

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jan 14, 2012

Ningerbil rated it:

Listened to this on CD. A very gripping story with some unexpected twists. Tim Carrier is an average guy, a mason, who enjoys his quiet life. One day, when enjoying a beer at his favorite bar, he is approached by a nervous guy who hands him an envelope stuffed with cash and the picture of a woman. Tim is told that he will "get the rest when she's gone." This guy leaves, and a short time later, another guy comes in and sits next to Tim. Tim quickly figures out this guy, Krait, is the ac More...

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Feb 28, 2010

Matt rated it:

Another great Koontz book!

Publisher's Summary

Timothy Carrier, having a beer after work at his friend's tavern, enjoys drawing eccentric customers into amusing conversations. But the jittery man who sits next to him tonight has mistaken Tim for someone very different and passes to him a manila envelope full of cash. Ten thousand now. You get the rest when she's gone.

The stranger walks out, leaving a photo of the pretty woman marked for death, and her address. But things are about to get worse. In More...

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Oct 15, 2011

Shelley rated it:

Tim Carrier is a stone mason, a man who likes a peaceful life, who likes order, a man who has earned the loyalty and respect of his friends. Being mistaken for an assassin, his courage and desire to protect lead him into adventure, a cat and mouse game and a partnership with a woman who shares his qualities.

There is a message in this novel and its the seed of true horror; could there come a time when society can be controlled by a hidden agency? Is it already possible for "someon More...

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Mar 06, 2011

Eric_W rated it:

Timothy Carrier is minding his own business in a bar, when he is approached by another man and offered a packet containing $10,000 to kill someone. Soon thereafter, another man, the real killer enters and mistakes Tim for the client. Tim tries to buy off the killer with half of the money only to discover the hitman is a cop. He contacts the victim, an unusual lady, and the cat-and-mouse games begin.

Nothing supernatural in this book which is great because when I read anything with More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Mar 07, 2010

Steve rated it:

It has been awhile since I picked up any of Dean Koontz's books. I can't remember which ones I read years ago, but I remember enjoying them. The Good Guy, however dissappointed me. It has a great premise, a man sitting alone in a bar gets mistaken first for a hit man and then for the man contracting the hit man. After that he's stuck in the middle of a planned murder and, of course, is in danger of losing his own life.

The book is filled with unbelievable scenes, even given the na More...

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Dec 17, 2009

John rated it:

So let’s say you’re in a bar and a guy shows up, mistakes you for someone he was meeting, and you play along. Just for fun. You’ll let him know his mistake sooner or later. But then he slides a manila envelope to you and says, “Half of it is there. Ten thousand. You’ll get the rest when she’s gone.”

Would you say, “Sorry, dude. I’m not your hit man”? A woman’s life is on the line.

In Dean Koontz’s The Good Guy, Tim Carrier is too astonished to react. The man leaves. Carrier More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 10, 2009

Barky rated it:

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

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Dec 17, 2008

ayrdaomei rated it:

Timothy Carrier is at a friend's bar, nursing a drink after work when a stranger sits next to him and strikes up a conversation. The man then slides Tim a manila envelope which proves to contain $10,000 in cash, and a woman's picture and address. "Ten thousand now," the stranger tells Tim. "You get the rest when she's gone."

And with that, this Koontz tale is off to the races. Mistaken for someone else, Tim makes a choice that takes the reader on a thrilling ri More...

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Dec 08, 2008

Roxton rated it:

The first three chapters or so held so much promise, with a tighter style than I'm used to seeing from Dean Koontz and some really nifty wordplay. I could almost describe it as Koontz channeling David Mamet or Aaron Sorkin. The remainder of the narrative, however, just didn't deliver. This is your usual Koontz, but too much so. A lot of it just felt old. It might have been more interesting if the hero had been just a regular guy, and if Koontz could have kept his over-romanticizing in check.

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Nov 03, 2010

Johnny rated it:

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

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Dec 31, 2008

Brian rated it:

Being mistaken for a hit man at a bar and receiving $10,000 in a manila envelope seems good but when the actual killer shows up for the money do u give the money and let what happens happen? Tim Carrier chooses to give the money as a gift for not doing anything but the killer decides to carry on with the assassination anyway. So Tim decides to be the Good Guy and warn the pretty Linda Paquette. He convinces her to leave and they get away together for a while until the actual hit man follow More...

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Dec 16, 2011

John rated it:

Oddly, this has pretty much the same basic plot as the last Koontz book I read, TICKTOCK. A young man and a young woman meet and get chased around by a viscious assassin who seems to be virtually unstoppable and who is easily able to track them down wherever they go. But, where the villian of TICKTOCK was magical in nature, the killer in THE GOOD GUY relies on technology to stay two steps ahead of his quarry. People die, secrets are revealed, and true love blossoms. Also, where TICKTOCK was More...

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Mar 11, 2011

Roger rated it:

I liked this book much more than I expected to. It was an exciting read, of course, but I particularly enjoyed how the two main characters were able to rely so much on sang froid and courage to survive. Carrier was an extraordinary person, but almost all of his actions were successful not because of unelieveable powers but because of being able to quickly make the right decision. with the emphasis placed on decision making and outsmarting the enemy, I thought the story felt much like a chess More...

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Oct 01, 2011

David rated it:

So, you’re just this ordinary working stiff dropping by his favorite watering hole after a hard day laying bricks. All you want is a little down time to chill with a nice cold bottle of your favorite brew and be left alone. Seriously, is that asking too much?

It’s all Tim Carrier, a brick mason, and the son of a brick mason had in mind when he addled up to the bar on what was just another ordinary night in the ordinary life of an ordinary working stiff.
But this wasn’t going to be More...

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Jun 03, 2011

Betty rated it:

Well, Dean Koontz is a name that I’ve heard many times and very long ago but surprisingly, I’ve never read any of his books until now.

This book is about a man, Timothy Carrier, who is mistaken as a hit man and given ten thousand dollars and a woman’s picture to kill her. When the real killer arrives, Tim gives him the ten thousand as a no-kill fee and keeps the woman’s picture, saying that he changed his mind and didn’t want her killed.

Of course, the mistake is eventually, an More...

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Aug 21, 2008

Ron rated it:

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

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 07, 2012

Martip rated it:

The commentaries and reviews touted this as a page-turner. They were right. Once you get on into the book, you aren't going to want to put it down. Koontz unfolds his characters, drawing you in, making you bite your nails, wondering if everyone will make it out alive. I was a little afraid at first regarding the "serial killer" component. Sometimes I don't like to be too gruesomely horrified. There were definitely some serial killer gruesome factors, but not to the degree that you felt More...

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Apr 10, 2009

Kristi rated it:

, ehhh, I ask myself why do i read dean koontz. Because what I want to read is hardly ever on the library shelf and some how Koontz is.
This wasn't a terrible story, it did keep moving and i liked the characters. But i think i needed a little bit more about either the mysterious very weird killer for hire, or "the gentleman's club" that employs him. I'm a bit dense sometimes and the calling in a favor from a very important man's mama to stop the bad guys club was really lame More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 02, 2009

Jenn rated it:

Another good one from Koontz. This is a quick, suspenseful read with good characters. My only issue with this book is that I wanted to know the motivation behind the bad guy, Krait. I know it is obviously supposed to be all about the good guy, but I wanted to understand the bad guy too. Perhaps the message is just that there is unexplained evil in the world.

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jun 23, 2011

LaVerne rated it:

It's been YEARS since I last picked up a Dean Koontz book and after reading The Good Guy, I'm wondering why. He is a masterful storyteller and his bad guys are the best in the business.

I loved Tim and Linda and enjoyed getting to know them throughout the book. The dialogue between all the characters was superb. The witty banter had me laughing out loud a couple of times and gave the reader a chance to take a breath and relax a bit between suspenseful scenes.

Krait, the villia More...

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Mar 18, 2009

Becky rated it:

I loved the beginning of this book! That's unusual for me. I typically like endings much more than beginnings. This one starts out with Tim sitting in the bar. Not only is Tim an intersting character that I couldn't wait to learn more about, but so are the people around him. The people that he calls friends. When the stranger sits next to him, the conversation is a bit odd, yet totally intriguing. Then, the next stranger, and again a conversation to remember. Then the roller-coaster ride hits hi More...

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May 05, 2009

~homegirl~ rated it:

I loved this book... I thought it was going to be a slower one from Dean Koontz but all I had to do was turn the damn page and there was some action. A guy walks into a bar (sounds like a bad joke) but he's here to meet a man to kill a woman for him. He walks over, asks this man if "he's him?" and the man replies with, "Who else would I be?" Money and a photograph is then exchanged. Then that man that walked in walks out. Another man walks in and is there to meet a man who wa More...

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May 17, 2009

hllf rated it:

One of my favorite novels. Not complex but wonderfully enjoyable. Below is a breakdown of my rating:

Enjoyability: 5
Re-Readability: 5
Character Development: 4.5
Complexity: 2
Writing Style: 4.5
Believability: 3.5
Overall: 4.08

This book is built on a rather simple premise; our hero finds out about a plot to kill a woman and tries to be the good guy and save her. Sounds simple, yes, but the story is so well written and the characters so well More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 15, 2010

Rachel rated it:

Okay, I know that this book has some cliche Koontz elements too it, such as the bad guy who also seems to be crazy. The more I read of Koontz (whom I love, by the way), I start to wonder if he believes is evil is real, or if things only appear evil on the surface and are, in fact, just plain crazy. If I hadn't been on such a Koontzian binge, I might not have drawn the parallels between his bad guys, but they almost always seem to be a few fries short of a Happy Meal and convinced that they are More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)