Dead and Alive

July 27, 2009
In this fast-paced third installment of his Frankenstein series, Koontz continues, without necessarily concluding, his modern-day reimagining of Mary Shelley's horror classic. Leaving his co-authors behind, Koontz makes the most of previous developments, which set the stage for an epic showdown in storm-soaked New Orleans between Victor Helios and the high-tech, artificial beings he created to destroy the human race. Many members of the unhappy, soulless "new race," created by Helios to kill his enemies, have turned their hatred back on their master. Deucalion, a centuries-old giant who was the madman's first, flawed human creation, leads an uprising of creatures that includes a naked troll and a slithering chameleon. Though big developments await fans, Koontz hints that he may not be done with this violent monster tale, a project that has taken him deep into sci-fi territory. Witty characters provide relief from the story's dark undercurrent, though Koontz knows, perhaps better than ever, how to scare his readers without resorting to gory details.

Starred review from July 1, 2009
Slated for 2006 publication, the conclusion of Koontzs projection of Mary Shelleys iconic monster and his maker into the twenty-first century became another Katrina casualty when the hurricane devastated New Orleans, in which it plays out. There is a climactic catastrophe in the book that may have seemed pretty insensitive to bring up while the city was down for the count. Fortunately, that disaster is the haymaker before the knockout punch to the scientifically augmented, 250-year-old Victor Helios Frankenstein. Delivered by a device of his own making, the blow is launched by his initial creation, now self-dubbed Deucalion. Maker and monster arent the only characters highly active here. Detectives Carson OConnor and Michael Maddison are still tracking Victor. Showing signs of independence, Erika Five, Victors latest wife (a clone slightly improved over her immediate predecessor), finds the dwarfish creature that emerged, Alien-style, from downed New Racer Jonathan Harker and with it decides to thwart Victor, too. And Erika Four cell-calls Victor from the dump in which, supposedly dead, she was buried; she isnt pleased, and she wont obey Victor any more. What began as a noirish nail-biter becomes an openly allegorical polemic against the lust for power and the arrogance of scientism as it hurtles toward a highly theatrical end that is outlandish but true to the morally divided human spirit.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)