Product Description

The new thriller from Dean Koontz is an emotional rollercoaster telling the story of five days in the life of an ordinary man -- a story that will challenge the way you look at good and evil, life and death. Jimmy Tock comes into the world on the very night his grandfather leaves it. As a violent storm rages outside the hospital, Rudy Tock spends long hours walking the corridors between the expectant fathers' waiting room and his dying father's bedside. It's a strange vigil made all the stranger when, at the very height of the storm's fury, Josef Tock suddenly sits up in bed and speaks coherently for the first and last time since his stroke. What he says before he dies is that there will be five dark days in the life of his grandson -- five dates whose terrible events Jimmy will have to prepare himself to face. The first is to occur in his 20th year; the second in his 23rd year; the third in his 28th; the fourth in his 29th; the fifth in his 30th. Rudy is all too ready to discount his father's last words as a dying man's delusional rambling. But then he discovers that Josef also predicted the moment of his grandson's birth to the minute, as well as his exact height, weight, and the fact that Jimmy would be born with syndactyly -- the unexplained anomaly of fused digits on his left foot. Suddenly, the old man's predictions take on a chilling significance. What terrifying events await Jimmy on these five dark days? What nightmares will he face? What challenges must he survive? As the novel unfolds, picking up Jimmy's story at each of these crisis points, the path he must follow will defy every expectation. And with each crisis he faces, he will move closer to a fate he could never have imagined. For who Jimmy Tock is and what he must accomplish on the five days his world turns is a mystery as dangerous as it is wondrous -- a struggle against an evil so dark and pervasive only the most extraordinary of human spirits can shine through.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #492711 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 416 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Life Expectancy confirms that one of the pleasures of reading Dean Koontz is that he is never especially likely to do the same thing twice in a row. Here he gives us a suspense novel with a supernatural element--Jimmy's dying grandfather prophesies at his birth that he will have five really bad days in his twenties and we watch these with real concern that he may not survive them. Even on the day of Jimmy's birth things go badly--a mad clown loses his wife in childbirth and massacres hospital staff; a bizarre feud between clowns and aerialists is a significant part of what follows. One of the strengths of Koontz's writing is that he works out in finely-blocked detail precisely how his average characters get themselves out of desperate situations by ingenuity and pluck, and without suddenly becoming super-powerful; even at his most wildly inventive, he remembers to be plausible. And this is one of his best books for a while simply because he has fewer axes to grind--this is pure story-telling of the smoothest kind. --Roz Kaveney.

Review
'Dean Koontz straddles the genres, and pretty successfully, too ! Odd Thomas is a short-order cook in a restaurant in Pico Mundo, a small town in the Mohave Desert. He also has an instinct for people who are going to cause mayhem. And when one of them turns up and orders breakfast, the novel kicks into gear ! Odd Thomas is certainly a page-turner -- this is a read-at-a-sitting novel -- with a terrific final twist' The Observer on Odd Thomas 'Dean Koontz is not just a master of our darkest dreams, but also a literary juggler' The Times 'Koontz has near-Dickensian powers of description, and an ability to yank us from one page to the next that few novelists can match' Los Angeles Times

About the Author
Dean Koontz was born and raised in Pennsylvania. He is the author of eight New York Times #1 hardcover bestsellers and eleven paperback #1 bestsellers. He lives with his wife Gerda and their dog Trixie in Southern California.

Customer Reviews

Very Very Good and Highly Entertaining!
Well this is my second outing with the novels of Mr. Koontz. To be precise, my second and a half if you count The Face, which I failed to finish (hence the half),then Odd Thomas (brilliant read though unfortunately I failed to write a review tho I'd have given that 5 stars for sure), and now Life Expectancy.

I was unsure at first how to categorise this story, certainly not a chiller, not a horror possibly dark humour? My library has the book shelved as an 'adventure' and I'd guess they're not far out there really as the characters in this book certainly have some amazing adventures.

As you'll know by now the story is based upon Jimmy Tock, a Baker and five key dates throughout his life. These all involve elements of horror and violence (surprise surprise!) as prophesised by his dying grandfather only moments before Jimmy is born and his granfather dies...almost simultaneously in the same hospital .The adventure and horror starts in those first few minutes of this tale.

All of the five dates are very cleverly interlinked from the first and as the book progresses there are a good few twists and turns that will take you by surprise.

As I have already mentioned, the book is filled with good humour. One thing that really kept me smiling was the constant reference throughout to sumptous cakes and pastries and savouries. I can honestly picture Mr.Koontz penning this novel over a series of Saturday afternoons whilst cooking in the kitchen with his good Lady Wife!

As for rating, I've given it a full five. When I first started out I'd expected to go about 3 to 4. I normally reserve 5 stars to absolute page turners. As the book progressed the pages were turning quicker and quicker therefore I believe it is well deserving.

If you want to have a nice easy going happy read togther with some scarey then this should be right up your street!

Amazing Collage of Life, Love and Hope
This novel is unusual in its focus and approach, quite a departure from the previous novels I read by the author [The Taking, The Watchers]. It begins with two haunting themes simultaneously presented: birth and death ... both are so creatively intertwined that to provide too much detail would possibly ruin the pleasure of the reading experience. The impact, scope and magnitude of this book is enormous. It leaves the reader anticipating and wanting more ...

Essentially, the main character, Jimmy Tock was born in the hospital at exactly the same time that another mother was undergoing labor but sadly, complications occured and the other mother died in childbirth. Both fathers were pacing in the waiting room ... anxious to learn the outcome for their hopes and dreams to start a family. One father went beserk after learning of the death of his wife ... he went on a murderous rampage in the obstetrics ward. He was literally a clown in the circus and his wife had been an aerialist, the daughter of one of the most famous trapeze artists. During these fateful events, the grandfather of Jimmy Tock was dying. Shortly before his demise, he unexpectedly recovered concsiousness ... just long enough to make five predictions about Jimmy's future, complete with dates and forewarnings. These haunting predictions become the cliff-hanger that keeps the reader flipping page after page as fast as possible ... wanting to know what happens next. The artistic merits of this book surpass expectations ...

The book exaggerates emotions and events in what seems like a schizophrenic and surrealistic manner ... but this is exactly what captures the reader's attention. It keeps one glued on the spot, reading every page, feverishly desiring to know the nature of future developments. The grand finale, in the last two chapters, brings together mind-blowing secret events from the fateful day when two babies were born ... whose lives were inextricably tied together. It is amazing how all the predictions of Jimmy's grandfather transpired, leaving the reader quite dizzy and breathless but totally satisfied. The ultimate message is clear: hope and love can overcome the most bizarre and twisted threats that life can offer. This was proven in the lives of Jimmy Tock and his wife, Lorrie. After finishing this book, the question begs to be answered, can Dean Koontz top this one? One thing is certain ... I will *definitely* read the next book to find out! Erika Borsos (erikab93)

Koontz at his best!
If you are a huge Koontz fan, just like me, then you'll agree that this book is probably his best yet. For me, he just seems to get better! I didn't think Koontz could surpass Odd Thomas, but as hard as it is for me to say, Life Expectancy certainly did, as well as achieving so much more. Overall - a fantastic read.