RELENTLESS (Dean Koontz) - July 18/10

This typically uneven effort from Koontz admittedly does pick up towards the end, but it's a hell of a slog getting there. The storyline - in which a book critic attempts to savagely murder a writer and his family - is simply far too ludicrous to ever completely buy (until the epic conspiracy is made clear, anyway) and Koontz has infused the characters with an unreasonably quirky sensibility (ie the kid is super smart and super sassy, the wife's survivalist family members, etc). I'll admit I was surprised by the sci-fi stuff that cropped up towards the end - the teleporting dog and the time rewinder - but really, I can't help but wonder what it was that I used to love so much about Koontz's work. **1/2 out of ****