Shadow Fires by Dean R. Koontz (unabridged audiobook read by Jonathan Marosz): As Rachel and Eric leave the offices of their divorce lawyers, they are arguing viciously about the settlement. Eric gets so angry he storms off directly into oncoming traffic, where he is killed by a garbage truck. After the initial shock wears off, Rachel gets incredibly paranoid and hangs out with her boyfriend Ben, actively not telling him things. When Eric’s body disappears from the morgue, her paranoia becomes a reality: Eric’s not really dead! It gets a little silly from there, blending unlikely genetic theory with bizarre theology on the afterlife. It’s a chase story through and through, with Ben and Rachel spending the bulk of the book not telling each other things while fleeing Eric, the local cops, and the feds. Koontz is usually good for quirky characters having bizarre adventures, but this time he was a little short on the adventure part. It was really nothing more than one big chase scene, that didn’t even tie up the majority of the issues it raised by the end (namely, the consequences of the characters’ actions, the mental waffling over which had been a big part of the plot). So yeah: dig Koontz, not so big on Shadow Fires. (Interestingly, this is the last novel he wrote using a pseudonym. Maybe that should have been a clue.)
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