I started into this book with high hopes, being an avid reader of Dean Koontz as a kid. I have to say, this was pretty terrible. I’m quite disappointed. Then again, it’s not the first time one of his books has turned out this way. As Stephen King put it, Koontz is a bit hit or miss.

But, who cares, right? I fell in love with his book Lightning. The characters, the story line, the action – that story was an epic for me. I remember turning page after page, thinking how wonderful it all ways. It’s really stayed with me all these years. Prodigal Son was the exact opposite.

First off, the plot line is flat. Boring. The idea is interesting. What would happen if Frankenstein was a real story, how would it develop? Add a splash of genetics to it and WAMMO! But, you still have just a boring story, in my opinion. The characters, from the cardboard cut-out detectives to the Flatworld carbons of the evil scientist creating attractive women so he could have sex slaves. It really just screamed dismal to me.

The thing that really bugged me throughout the book was its jerky, robotic writing style. It certainly wasn’t what I remember from Lightning, but maybe that story has taken on a life of its own. This book seemed to be starchy, stiff, stiffled by its stilted prose. I don’t know, maybe he was just phoning it in on this one. I can’t imagine that the others in the series would get any better.

Very disappointed.