Stand Alone Novels 2008-2020: Relentless (Group Read - March 2012)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Just started re-reading this today. I'm listening on audio and reading in print also. The narrator talks a little fast but I'm getting used to it :-)

If you love dogs - you're sure to love Relentless :-) here's an early passage:

On his third birthday, Milo declared, "We're gonna rescue a doggy.".....

En route, he said, "We're almost to the doggy." Half a block later, he pointed to a sign - ANIMAL SHELTER.....

Scores of forlorn dogs occupied cages, but Milo walked directly to the middle of the center row in the kennel and said, "This one."
She was a fifty-pound two-year-old Australian shepherd mix with a shaggy black-and-white coat, one eye blue and the other gray. She had no collie in her, but Milo named her Lassie.

[Tom]

:)
I was thinking of this scene when telling you "you will all know" when you found the right guy :)

How is everything working out with her?

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Tom wrote: ":)
I was thinking of this scene when telling you "you will all know" when you found the right guy :)

How is everything working out with her?"

She's doing great. She's feeling very comfortable now... next step is working on training :-)

[Vicky]

I love when Dean includes dogs in his novels. :)

Vicky

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Loofahcat2 wrote: "I love when Dean includes dogs in his novels. :)

Vicky"

*SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT*
And a teleporting dog is even more fun! :-)
*SPOILER ALERT*

[Vicky]

Yes, that was pretty humorous! :)
Vicky

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

"I endured one of my lost-and-alone dreams. Sometimes it is set in a deserted department store, sometimes in a vacant amusement park or in a train terminal where no trains depart and none arrive." - Relentless, Chapter 4

Vacant amusement park = reference to Hideaway?

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

"...I sat in an armchair in my study, reading 'A Good Man is Hard to Find' by Flannery O'Connor, a short story that I much admired.

One of the most disturbing pieces of fiction ever written, it remains as affecting on the tenth pass as on the first. This might have been my twentieth reading, but Miss O'Connor inspired in me a greater dread than ever before." - Relentless, Chapter 6

I've never read anything by Flannery O'Connor, but Dean must really like her. She was also mentioned in Brother Odd which I re-read just previous to re-reading Relentless.

[Tom]

Flannery O'Connor's work is discussed in a group I belong to; Southern Literature.
if you're interested in the genre, check it out.

[Vicky]

I've never read Flannery O'Connor either. I wonder what makes the book disturbing...does anyone know?

Vicky

[Jaice]

Dustin wrote: "Just started re-reading this today...."

You should be focusing your time on Winter Moon, not something you've already read, despite it being a very good book!!! X-( ;-)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

I currently have the audiobook CD of Relentless which helps me get through a book faster. I have the audiobook for Watchers and Winter Moon coming from my library soon :-)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

I love Relentless!!!!

[Jaice]

Dustin wrote: "I currently have the audiobook CD of Relentless which helps me get through a book faster. I have the audiobook for Watchers and Winter Moon coming from my library soon :-)"

Okay, fair enough.

[Jaice]

Dustin wrote: "I love Relentless!!!!"

Me too!

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

I've also requested audiobooks on CD for The Taking and Fear Nothing from my library :-)

[Jaice]

Dustin wrote: "I've also requested audiobooks on CD for The Taking and Fear Nothing from my library :-)"

Good.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

I think Dean based the Shearman Waxx character on a real book critic that was stalking him. Holy Hell! I think I just saw Shearman Waxx go down my hallway! I've gotta go! "Get out of my house, you book critic freak!"

[Jaice]

Dustin wrote: "I think Dean based the Shearman Waxx character on a real book critic that was stalking him. Holy Hell! I think I just saw Shearman Waxx go down my hallway! I've gotta go! "Get out of my house, you ..."

Maybe it was your mother-in-law. :-)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

No, she left last Sunday. I'm sure it was Waxx!

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

I think they should sell some Milo T-shirts on Dean's website :-)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

All about Shearman Waxx:
From an online encyclopedia as quoted in Relentless:

"Shearman Waxx is an enema"

"Shearman Thorndike Waxx, award-winning critic and author of three enormously successful college textbooks on creative writing, is something of an enema."

"Waxx declines honorary doctorates and other awards requiring his attendance at any pubic event."

"He was born in 1868."


This is how Cubby describes Shearman Waxx:

"...stumpy, bow-tied, elbow-patched, Hush-Puppied, horn-rimmed-glasses-wearing, white-wine-sipping, pretentious, thick-necked, wide-assed intellectual fraud..." - Relentless, Chapter 19

[Jaice]

Dustin wrote: "All about Shearman Waxx:
From an online encyclopedia as quoted in Relentless:
"Shearman Waxx is an enema"..."

How can anyone not love this book?

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

I highly recommend Relentless. Anyone who hasn't read this yet - this is the one to read :-) It's lots of fun!

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

In 1933, G.K. Chesterton wrote, "The disintegration of rational society started in the drift from hearth and family; the solution must be a drift back."
-Relentless, Chapter 19

Chesterton is another author that Dean quotes a lot and another that I have never read (except short quotes in Koontz books of course). Dean also seems to be stuck in the 1930's - lots of references to the 1930's in The Good Guy and other books.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Another title mentioned in Relentless and Brother Odd is The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo. I actually plan to read this book in the near future :-) All I know is there's a mouse and a princess.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

The Hawaiian shirt appears....

His bass voice lent an operatic quality to Grim's greeting: "Children! What a delightful surprise. Welcome to our stronghold."
As Usual, he wore a vibrant Hawaiian shirt, khaki pants, and sneakers. The shirt presented an acre of lush palm trees silhouetted against a sunset; and one of his shoes could have carried the baby Moses down the river more safely than an ark of bulrushes.
-Relentless, Chapter 37

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

"Always, the eye sees more than the mind can comprehend, and we go through life self-blinded to much that lies before us. We want a simple world, but we live in a magnificently complex one, and rather than open ourselves to it, we perceive the world through filters that make it less daunting."
-Relentless, Chapter 26

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Jason :-), just wondering what you thought of this conversation in Relentless:

"You've gone off meat!" Clo declared. "Oh, girl, you've become a grazer!"
"No, Mom. I could never do that."
"Vegetarianism kills," Clo warned. "Your vital organs shrivel, your brain dims. Look in a mirror at your teeth. You have central incisors, lateral incisors, canines - all for the purpose of chewing meat. Vegetarianism is unnatural, it's not right, it's creepy."
"I eat plenty of meat," Penny assured her. "I eat it every chance I get. I live for meat."
"Eating it often isn't enough if you're eating small portions," Clo said....
-Relentless, Chapter 37

[Jaice]

Dustin wrote: "Jason :-), just wondering what you thought of this conversation in Relentless:

"You've gone off meat!" Clo declared. "Oh, girl, you've become a grazer!"
"No, Mom. I could never do that."
"Vegetari..."

It amused me. However, the arguments do nothing to convince me, as many of them are outright false, whereas others are easily countered. :-P

[Jaice]

Dustin wrote: "The Hawaiian shirt appears....

His bass voice lent an operatic quality to Grim's greeting: "Children! What a delightful surprise. Welcome to our stronghold."
As Usual, he wore a vibrant Hawaiian s..."

I noticed this when I read it also. :-)

[Vicky]

I had to laugh at the vegetarian conversation in Relentless too. I am a vegetarian and my sister is a vegan. Both of us are healthy as horses!! :)

Vicky

[Jaice]

Loofahcat2 wrote: "I am a vegetarian and my sister is a vegan."

Good for the two of you, Vicky! Veggie power!!! :-)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Do you peoples watch Veggie Tales cartoons?

[Jaice]

Dustin wrote: "Do you peoples watch Veggie Tales cartoons?"

What do you think? :-|

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Well, I think Bob the Tomato is pretty cool. Although the cucumber is cool too. :-) Is Larry the Cucumber? Actually, I don't watch the show (anymore :-) but I still have the soundtrack.

[Jaice]

Dustin wrote: "Well, I think Bob the Tomato is pretty cool. Although the cucumber is cool too. :-) Is Larry the Cucumber? Actually, I don't watch the show (anymore :-) but I still have the soundtrack."

I have never seen anything associated with Veggie Tales, though I have known of its existence for a while. I figured it was just another innocuous entertainment franchise for children. Imagine my surprise when I discovered from a friend here in grad school (who remains a big fan of it) that it is actually a ploy to inculcate children with Christian doctrine. :-/

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Your friend was right - which is probably why I haven't watched any Veggie Tales for quite a while :-) It's pretty clever/funny and the tunes are rather catchy :-)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Relentless will be released in paperback on April 27th, 2010. Check out the cover - do you think Dean & his publishers are putting too many dogs on the bookcovers? Do pictures of dogs on the covers help sell books?

[Jaice]

Dustin wrote: "...do you think Dean & his publishers are putting too many dogs on the bookcovers? Do pictures of dogs on the covers help sell books?"

No and yes.

[Maciek]

Lol I'd be the exact opposite. If I see a Koontz book with a dog on the cover, I'm automatically discouraged from reading it. (The Darkest Evening of The Year - arghhhh !)

[Jaice]

Maciek wrote: "Lol I'd be the exact opposite. If I see a Koontz book with a dog on the cover, I'm automatically discouraged from reading it. (The Darkest Evening of The Year - arghhhh !)"

You might not like having dogs on the cover, so I get your answer to his first question, but you must admit that, as a general rule, books with dogs on the cover will tend to sell better, at least in Western cultures.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

:-) Here's another question - What would you pick for the cover on relentless? A book critic wearing a bowtie? A boy genius working on science gadgets? Maybe a hunchback type character?

The original Hardcover just had the Word "Relentless" in shades of red, white background with water droplets.


Another cover (which I don't think actually got printed at least not in the US) had a bird/tree on the cover (I don't know why).


I guess Dean Koontz's book covers warrants it's own discussion :-) I might just start one.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

I actually like that bird soaring over the woods. I know the original title for Relentless was "The Other Side of The Woods"

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/3...
Here's the link to the book covers discussion - I might be the only one crazy enough to comment :-) but if anyone else wants to comment, please feel free.

[Maciek]

Jason "plasborgma" wrote: "Maciek wrote: "Lol I'd be the exact opposite. If I see a Koontz book with a dog on the cover, I'm automatically discouraged from reading it. (The Darkest Evening of The Year - arghhhh !)"

You might not like having dogs on the cover, so I get your answer to his first question, but you must admit that, as a general rule, books with dogs on the cover will tend to sell better, at least in Western cultures. ."

Is there any data to prove that ? I've never heard about such theory.
Personally, I wouldn't buy a book marketed as thriller or horror with a smiling dog on the cover - much too abstract for me.

Dustin wrote: "Another cover (which I don't think actually got printed at least not in the US) had a bird/tree on the cover (I don't know why)."

That one is pretty good.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Maciek wrote: "That one is pretty good. "

Have you seen it on any real bookshelves?

[Maciek]

No, and it's a shame. It's better than the original with the red letters.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

I think so too. I mean at first I started making fun of it, saying why does this have a bird blah blah blah - then I actually looked at the covers, and the bird soaring is better :-) out of the 3, I'd like to see this one.

[Jaice]

Dustin wrote: ":-) Here's another question - What would you pick for the cover on relentless? A book critic wearing a bowtie? A boy genius working on science gadgets? Maybe a hunchback type character?..."

I like the book critic idea for the cover. The subtitle should be "Attack of the Enema." :-D