Ashley Bell

by Dean Koontz

[Beth C.]

I'm a long-time reader of Dean Koontz, starting from many years ago. Lighting has always been among my favorite books of all time. So I was excited to read this, having heard that it was one of his better books from the last few years. Unfortunately, it seems I will continue to appreciate his older works better.

The biggest issue I had with this book was simply how long it dragged on. Had the book been culled by about 1/4, the story would have felt much tighter than it did. I had to stop and take breaks simply because it started feeling like it was never going to end.

The story itself was interesting, though there needs to be a *heavy* suspension of disbelief in parts. Some things just seemed way to easy and convenient. As for the ultimate outcome, well...it just didn't strike a chord.

The characters were ok, but I particularly liked Pax and Pogo. Having said that, I'm not sure if Pogo would have been that likeable had I not read the two prequels first. He was much more developed in those, so for anyone not having read them, he's not going to mean much to them.

Overall, I wouldn't say my reading time was wasted exactly...but on the rare day that I got to spend most of it reading, I think I would have rather read something else.