Editor Reviews:

Product Description:
Timothy Carrier, having a beer after work at his friend’s tavern, enjoys drawing eccentric customers into amusing conversations. But the jittery man who sits next to him tonight has mistaken Tim for someone very different—and passes to him a manila envelope full of cash.

“Ten thousand now. You get the rest when she’s gone.”

The stranger walks out, leaving a photo of the pretty woman marked for death, and her address. But things are about to get worse. In minutes another stranger sits next to Tim. This one is a cold-blooded killer who believes Tim is the man who has hired him.

Thinking fast, Tim says, “I’ve had a change of heart. You get ten thousand—for doing nothing. Call it a no-kill fee.” He keeps the photo and gives the money to the hired killer. And when Tim secretly follows the man out of the tavern, he gets a further shock: the hired killer is a cop.

Suddenly, Tim Carrier, an ordinary guy, is at the center of a mystery of extraordinary proportions, the one man who can save an innocent life and stop a killer far more powerful than any cop…and as relentless as evil incarnate. But first Tim must discover within himself the capacity for selflessness, endurance, and courage that can turn even an ordinary man into a hero, inner resources that will transform his idea of who he is and what it takes to be The Good Guy.


From the Hardcover edition.

Rating : - The Good Guy might just be a little too "goodie goodie"
3.5 stars

As a long time fan of Dean Koontz's novels, I was drawn into The Good Guy because of the intriguing premise: a nice guy in a bar gets mistaken for a hired assassin and is shown a picture of a woman that someone wants dead. The opening definitely grabbed my attention, as did the promise of more insight into Tim Carrier, the main protagonist, whose life is a bit of a mystery throughout most of the novel.

While the premise remained interesting, I'm afraid I started to lose interest in the characters. I craved to know more about Tim and Linda, the woman with the target on her back, and to feel some emotion from them. There wasn't enough back story to satisfy me and I just didn't care about them.

The constant witty banter between all the characters made everything seem like a joke or something to be made fun of. I don't see people reacting this way in real life. It took away from the believability of the novel. The most interesting character was the killer, a very sick and twisted man who gives the reader insight into the secret society that has hired him.

While The Good Guy won't be my favorite Koontz novel, it is a decent read. There is enough action and suspense to keep you reading. It doesn't compare, however, to most of Koontz's earlier works, such as Watchers or The Taking. It also misses out on the supernatural element that we usually think of when we think `Dean Koontz'.

He is one of my idols and a writer I greatly respect, so writing a review like this is difficult for me, but I pride myself on being honest. All reviews are personal preference and I give this book 3.5 stars. I am however looking forward to reading more Dean Koontz novels.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys suspense.

Cheryl Kaye Tardif
author of The River and Divine Intervention