Twilight Eyes, by Dean Koontz
The one about the carnival goblins.
The first-person narrator, who adopts the name of "Slim" MacKenzie because he's seventeen and thinks it sounds cool, is on the run due to having axe-murdered his uncle because he was one of the evil goblins that only Slim can see beneath their human disguises.
If this sounds like incredibly creepy psychological horror in which the reader keeps wondering whether there really are goblins or Slim is a delusional homicidal maniac, Koontz keeps you guessing on that count for a while. Possibly he kept me guessing for way longer than was intended. But since I already gave it away in the poll and the book gives it away on the cover copy: yes, the goblins are real.
Slim has incredibly beautiful purple "Twilight Eyes," which means he has premonitions in addition to being able to see goblins. It's 1963, and he ends up in a carnival which, surprise, is being stalked by goblins.
I was more into the carnival than the goblins, but there are satisfactory amounts of both. Koontz went all-out into period carnival research, and it's really atmospheric and fun. A lot of the characters are from the freak show, and while Koontz writes about them in his usual overblown style, they're all sympathetic characters who have their own lives and motivations. The owner of the freak show is also its star attraction, Joel Tuck, who has severe facial disfigurements including a third eye. He's a great character.
Slim falls for Rya, the lovely young owner of several carnival attractions. She has a darkness in her and dark secrets and their romance is pure angsty swoony genre romance. Since he's psychic they end up with a psychic bond and can see into each other's very souls!
Meanwhile, there's a lot of goblin action. It's pretty fun, but so OTT in Slim's insistence that they are PURE EEEEEVIL and YES HE REALLY CAN SEE THEM and NO THEY'RE NOT HUMAN that every now and then I started wondering if he was protesting too much and was just a delusional serial killer. (This is not actually supported by the text.)
Bonkers and fun. I could have used more carnival in the last third but there was enough to make it not disappointing.
Twilight Eyes[image error]
[image error] [image error]
NOTE: Today (and maybe tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow), I will periodically put up posts that have nothing to do with the election. Come on in and vote in polls, discuss ridiculous books, etc, if and when you need a break. You will be able to find them all by clicking the "election respite" tag.
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The first-person narrator, who adopts the name of "Slim" MacKenzie because he's seventeen and thinks it sounds cool, is on the run due to having axe-murdered his uncle because he was one of the evil goblins that only Slim can see beneath their human disguises.
If this sounds like incredibly creepy psychological horror in which the reader keeps wondering whether there really are goblins or Slim is a delusional homicidal maniac, Koontz keeps you guessing on that count for a while. Possibly he kept me guessing for way longer than was intended. But since I already gave it away in the poll and the book gives it away on the cover copy: yes, the goblins are real.
Slim has incredibly beautiful purple "Twilight Eyes," which means he has premonitions in addition to being able to see goblins. It's 1963, and he ends up in a carnival which, surprise, is being stalked by goblins.
I was more into the carnival than the goblins, but there are satisfactory amounts of both. Koontz went all-out into period carnival research, and it's really atmospheric and fun. A lot of the characters are from the freak show, and while Koontz writes about them in his usual overblown style, they're all sympathetic characters who have their own lives and motivations. The owner of the freak show is also its star attraction, Joel Tuck, who has severe facial disfigurements including a third eye. He's a great character.
Slim falls for Rya, the lovely young owner of several carnival attractions. She has a darkness in her and dark secrets and their romance is pure angsty swoony genre romance. Since he's psychic they end up with a psychic bond and can see into each other's very souls!
Meanwhile, there's a lot of goblin action. It's pretty fun, but so OTT in Slim's insistence that they are PURE EEEEEVIL and YES HE REALLY CAN SEE THEM and NO THEY'RE NOT HUMAN that every now and then I started wondering if he was protesting too much and was just a delusional serial killer. (This is not actually supported by the text.)
Bonkers and fun. I could have used more carnival in the last third but there was enough to make it not disappointing.
Twilight Eyes[image error]
[image error] [image error]
NOTE: Today (and maybe tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow), I will periodically put up posts that have nothing to do with the election. Come on in and vote in polls, discuss ridiculous books, etc, if and when you need a break. You will be able to find them all by clicking the "election respite" tag.
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