The City: A Novel
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The City: A Novel Hardcover – July 1, 2014
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Praise for The City
“Beautifully crafted and poignant . . . The City is many things: serious, lighthearted, nostalgic, courageous, scary, and mysterious. . . . [It] will have readers staying up late at night.”—New York Journal of Books
“[Koontz] can flat-out write. . . . The message of hope and depiction of how the choices you make can change your life ring true and will remain with you once the book has been closed.”—Bookreporter
Acclaim for Dean Koontz
“Perhaps more than any other author, Koontz writes fiction perfectly suited to the mood of America: novels that acknowledge the reality and tenacity of evil but also the power of good . . . that entertain vastly as they uplift.”—Publishers Weekly
“A rarity among bestselling writers, Koontz continues to pursue new ways of telling stories, never content with repeating himself.”—Chicago Sun-Times
“Tumbling, hallucinogenic prose. ‘Serious’ writers . . . might do well to examine his technique.”—The New York Times Book Review
“[Koontz] has always had 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
“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
“Characters and the search for meaning, exquisitely crafted, are the soul of [Koontz’s] work. . . . One of the master storytellers of this or any age.”—The Tampa Tribune
“A literary juggler.”—The Times (London)
“Beautifully crafted and poignant . . . The City is many things: serious, lighthearted, nostalgic, courageous, scary, and mysterious. . . . [It] will have readers staying up late at night.”—New York Journal of Books
“[Koontz] can flat-out write. . . . The message of hope and depiction of how the choices you make can change your life ring true and will remain with you once the book has been closed.”—Bookreporter
Acclaim for Dean Koontz
“Perhaps more than any other author, Koontz writes fiction perfectly suited to the mood of America: novels that acknowledge the reality and tenacity of evil but also the power of good . . . that entertain vastly as they uplift.”—Publishers Weekly
“A rarity among bestselling writers, Koontz continues to pursue new ways of telling stories, never content with repeating himself.”—Chicago Sun-Times
“Tumbling, hallucinogenic prose. ‘Serious’ writers . . . might do well to examine his technique.”—The New York Times Book Review
“[Koontz] has always had 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
“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
“Characters and the search for meaning, exquisitely crafted, are the soul of [Koontz’s] work. . . . One of the master storytellers of this or any age.”—The Tampa Tribune
“A literary juggler.”—The Times (London)
About the Author
Dean Koontz, the author of many #1 New York Times bestsellers, lives in Southern California with his wife, Gerda, their golden retriever, Anna, and the enduring spirit of their golden, Trixie.
More About the Author
Dean Koontz, the author of many #1 New York Times bestsellers, lives in Southern California with his wife, Gerda, their golden retriever Anna, and the enduring spirit of their golden, Trixie.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
56 of 61 people found the following review helpful
By
TChris
TOP 100 REVIEWER on July 1, 2014
Format: Hardcover
2 Comments
Sending feedback...
All great cities have a soul. At the age of eight, Jonah Kirk meets a woman who tells him she is the soul of the city made flesh. Jonah calls her Pearl. He introduces the reader to Pearl when, at 57, he starts dictating the book we are reading. Jonah attributes the appearance of new piano in the community center (and thus the beginning of his career in music) to Pearl, whose connection to the supernatural is immediately apparent to the reader, if not to young Jonah.
Despite the supernatural elements that you would expect in a Dean Koontz novel, The City is not the kind of story that Koontz typically tells (a fact that may disappoint Koontz fans). The City is a tale of crime and conspiracy, but I liked it less for its moderately engaging plot than for its cast of fully developed characters. Among other topics, the early chapters of The City recount Jonah's love of his mother and grandparents and his difficult relationship with his (mostly) absentee father. The occasional appearances of Jonah's father build a sense of dread, as do the dreams that sometimes trouble Jonah's sleep. One is about a dead girl named Fiona Cassidy. Another is about Lucas Drackman, who murdered his parents. Not unexpectedly, both figures make threatening appearances in Jonah's life. Perhaps the dreams are prophetic, but prophecies are easily misinterpreted. Still, this is a novel that builds characters more than it builds suspense.
Courage and heroism are among the novel's driving themes. The City reminds us that those qualities are exhibited by ordinary people every day.Read more ›
Despite the supernatural elements that you would expect in a Dean Koontz novel, The City is not the kind of story that Koontz typically tells (a fact that may disappoint Koontz fans). The City is a tale of crime and conspiracy, but I liked it less for its moderately engaging plot than for its cast of fully developed characters. Among other topics, the early chapters of The City recount Jonah's love of his mother and grandparents and his difficult relationship with his (mostly) absentee father. The occasional appearances of Jonah's father build a sense of dread, as do the dreams that sometimes trouble Jonah's sleep. One is about a dead girl named Fiona Cassidy. Another is about Lucas Drackman, who murdered his parents. Not unexpectedly, both figures make threatening appearances in Jonah's life. Perhaps the dreams are prophetic, but prophecies are easily misinterpreted. Still, this is a novel that builds characters more than it builds suspense.
Courage and heroism are among the novel's driving themes. The City reminds us that those qualities are exhibited by ordinary people every day.Read more ›
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31 of 36 people found the following review helpful
By
Aurania
on July 8, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
4 Comments
Sending feedback...
Thank you to Netgalley and Bantam for providing me with an advanced review copy of this title.
This was an odd book for me. For a couple decades, I religiously purchased and devoured every title he published. I fell off the reading wagon some time after I finished the third Odd Thomas book, so it has been a long time since I read Koontz.
The first third of this book did not feel at all Koontzian. It was terribly slow and was almost like an historical novel about music. I almost abandoned it several times. Thankfully, it picked up with when I was about to give up for good.
The story opens with the narrator, whom we learn is Jonah Kirk, having a brief conversation with his friend, Malcolm, who urges Jonah to tell the story of his life - specifically, the dark time in his life. From that point forward, the story is told in first person perspective as Jonah relates events occurring in his life from the time he was 9 to about 11. What I found a little odd is that none of the dialogue sounded like that of a child, but in retrospect it makes sense since the story is literally a late-50s Jonah verbally telling his story to someone recording it.
Jonah is a musical prodigy who comes from a family of musically inclined people. His mother is a gifted singer, and his grandfather a gifted pianist. Unfortunately, the book spends the first third giving a long-winded history of their life before "The Event." (My characterization, not Koontz's). This led to some horribly slow pacing, and while I appreciated that Koontz wanted to move away from his typical formula, it caught me off guard because I went into this thinking I was reading a Koontz book.
Unfair, right?Read more ›
This was an odd book for me. For a couple decades, I religiously purchased and devoured every title he published. I fell off the reading wagon some time after I finished the third Odd Thomas book, so it has been a long time since I read Koontz.
The first third of this book did not feel at all Koontzian. It was terribly slow and was almost like an historical novel about music. I almost abandoned it several times. Thankfully, it picked up with when I was about to give up for good.
The story opens with the narrator, whom we learn is Jonah Kirk, having a brief conversation with his friend, Malcolm, who urges Jonah to tell the story of his life - specifically, the dark time in his life. From that point forward, the story is told in first person perspective as Jonah relates events occurring in his life from the time he was 9 to about 11. What I found a little odd is that none of the dialogue sounded like that of a child, but in retrospect it makes sense since the story is literally a late-50s Jonah verbally telling his story to someone recording it.
Jonah is a musical prodigy who comes from a family of musically inclined people. His mother is a gifted singer, and his grandfather a gifted pianist. Unfortunately, the book spends the first third giving a long-winded history of their life before "The Event." (My characterization, not Koontz's). This led to some horribly slow pacing, and while I appreciated that Koontz wanted to move away from his typical formula, it caught me off guard because I went into this thinking I was reading a Koontz book.
Unfair, right?Read more ›
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70 of 90 people found the following review helpful
By
Brian Reaves
TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on June 26, 2014
Format: Hardcover
Vine Customer Review of Free Product
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Dean Koontz seems to have in recent years decided to redefine what makes him a writer. His stories have always been just on the edge of "out there" with classics like "Watchers", "Phantoms", and "Lightning". When "Odd Thomas" came along, Dean seemed to lean heavily on that vein of writing but still branched out with stories like "77 Shadow Street". Then "Innocence" came along last year and it looked like Dean had reinvented himself again.
In this book, Jonah Kirk meets a woman throughout his life that he names "Pearl". She is there for key moments in his life, guiding him and protecting him. Dean tells us in one of the first chapters that she will one day claim to be the city in human form, watching over her people. This is told in the first 10 pages of the book, whereas it could have been a strong hook for the story if that bit of info had been held back and we'd tried to guess who she was.
"The City" is similar to "Innocence" in many ways. Jonah Kirk (the protagonist in "The City") is no Addison Goodheart (from "Innocence") but they are similar in that both are painted as basically good men in harsh circumstances. But where "Innocence" was flawed in constant back-story flashes throughout, "The City" seems more flawed in constant foreshadowing. A chapter will end with something like "And that was the first time I saw her. The next time I saw her my life would be in danger." or something similar, as if Dean was saying "I know this is starting slow, but stick with me because there's some good stuff coming." And true enough, the book does eventually pick up.
Is it as good as "Innocence"? Not to me.Read more ›
In this book, Jonah Kirk meets a woman throughout his life that he names "Pearl". She is there for key moments in his life, guiding him and protecting him. Dean tells us in one of the first chapters that she will one day claim to be the city in human form, watching over her people. This is told in the first 10 pages of the book, whereas it could have been a strong hook for the story if that bit of info had been held back and we'd tried to guess who she was.
"The City" is similar to "Innocence" in many ways. Jonah Kirk (the protagonist in "The City") is no Addison Goodheart (from "Innocence") but they are similar in that both are painted as basically good men in harsh circumstances. But where "Innocence" was flawed in constant back-story flashes throughout, "The City" seems more flawed in constant foreshadowing. A chapter will end with something like "And that was the first time I saw her. The next time I saw her my life would be in danger." or something similar, as if Dean was saying "I know this is starting slow, but stick with me because there's some good stuff coming." And true enough, the book does eventually pick up.
Is it as good as "Innocence"? Not to me.Read more ›
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