Product Description

Every city has its secrets, but none as terrible as his. His name is Deucalin, a tattooed man of mysterious origin, a sleight-of-reality artist who's traveled the centuries with a secret worse than death. He arrives as a serial killer stalks the street, a killer who carefully selects his victims for the humanity that is missing in himself. Detective Carson O'Connor is cool, cynical, and every bit as tough as she looks. Her partner Michael Maddison would back her up all the way to Hell itself - and that just may be where this case ends up. For the no-nonsense O'Connor is suddenly talking about an ages-old conspiracy, a near immortal race of beings, and killers that are more - and less - than human. Soon it will be clear that as crazy as she sounds, the truth is even more ominous. For their quarry isn't merely a homicidal maniac - but his deranged maker.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5051 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-11
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 496 pages

Review
'A modern Swift ! a master satirist.' Entertainment Weekly 'If Stephen King is the Rolling Stones of novels, Koontz is the Beatles.' Playboy 'Dean Koontz writes page-turners, middle-of-the-night sneak-up-behind-you suspense thrillers. He touches our hearts and tingles our spines.' Washington Post Book World 'Tumbling, hallucinogenic prose. Serious writers might do well to study his technique.' New York Times Book Review 'Fast-paced and dark ! Koontz knows we live in a world where evil delights in justifying itself ! Classic literature that deserves a place on the bookshelf beside Orwell's 1984 and Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.' California Literary Review 'Koontz is writing right where popular culture swells into something larger, just as it did for Homer, Shakespeare, and Dickens. He's got the gift.' Australian 'Koontz is a superb plotter and wordsmith. He chronicles the hopes and fears of our time in broad strokes and fine detail, using popular fiction to explore the human condition.' USA Today 'Inspires both chills and serious thought ! has the power to scare the daylights out of us.' People 'The poet laureate of paranoid pop fiction.' Denver Post 'Koontz achieves a literary miracle ! stunning physical description, unique turns of phrase.' Boston Globe 'Near Dickensian powers of description.' Los Angeles Times

About the Author
Dean Koontz is an international household name, a brilliantly gifted storyteller whose books have been bestsellers in many countries, selling seventeen million copies each year. Born and raised in Pennsylvania, he lives with his wife Gerda and their dog Trixie in southern California. Kevin J. Anderson is the author of many bestselling books, including books in the X-Files, Star Wars and Legends of Dune series.

Customer Reviews

The Best Dean Koontz Book in Ages
I am a big Koontz fan and this is possibly the best of his books I have ever read, bar the second one in this series. I could not put this book down. Its just a shame that I now have to wait until Summer 2006 for the next one in this series!

Koontz is OK!
'Prodigal Son' is the first book in a modern trilogy about Frankenstein and his monster. It is 200 years after the monster has been created and it turns out that Mary Shelley's book was based on near fact. The monster has retreated to a monastery, but he must leave his sanctuary when he discovers that the man he knew as Frankenstein is still alive and that young women are being found murdered with body parts missing. Can the monster survive in modern day New Orleans to hunt down his former master? With the police on the hunt for a serial killer a 6ft 4 man made out of corpses could be their prime suspect!

I was not too sure about this novel before I read it, but it actually contains some interesting ideas that move the Frankenstein story on. The Doctor is now interested in creating cloned creatures and this fits with modern knowledge. I really enjoyed the storylines that followed the master, the monster and the police. If the book had only followed these paths it could easily be a 4 star book. However, we are also given a couple of additional storylines that are not as strong and detract from the action.

I also have an issue with the increased sexualisation of the story with Frankenstein being particularly at fault. I know that living over 200 years could make you a bit mad, but I thought that Koontz and Anderson took this madness in the wrong direction. Despite this, the book is fast paced and full of interesting ideas. As long as the next books follow the interesting storylines and do not descend into the poor action similar to the end of this book, they should be worth a read.

It's a waste of time reading enything else.
I started reading Book one when my supplies of tacky crime thriller/who dunnit's went dry.

I tend to go for authers that link novels together keeping the same characters, Karin Slaughter, Michael Connelly etc... which is the main reason I picked up Koontz' book 1 of 3.

Wow! Im so glad I did. Gone is the urge to read mind numbing bilge with no real strength to the characters and no substance to the plot.

This is intelligent, interesting and eye opening stuff.

With Book 1 finished in 6 days, Book 2 page 1 looks just as promising.