In terms of excellent reading, Dean Koontz can be very hit or miss, as much as I love the man’s work. Sometimes he can keep me turning the pages on a quest to stay engrossed in the tale and sometimes I find myself cringing quite frequently at awkwardly inserted ideas that don’t fit the story or needlessly obtuse wording that’s more showy than effective. Having said this, Koontz remains one of the authors I respect most simply due to his work ethic, story telling prowess and vast offering of books he’s produced. If I like an author I find it frustrating if they’ve been publishing for 20 years and only have four books. Koontz offers us plenty of worlds to explore and in this way is akin to Stephen King or maybe Elmore Leonard. Koontz is simply one of those mainstay writers that you can turn to if you want something that’s not going to be utterly terrible even if it is often not superb, either.

When it comes to Dead and Alive, the third book in Koontz’s trilogy to re-imagine Frankenstein, we get an interesting cast of characters as is the case with most of his books. While the book is billed as a thriller or suspense novel, it’s got strong elements of science fiction and horror throughout. Doctor Frankenstein himself is completely reconstructed and presented as a megalomaniac named Victor Helios who is something of a cross between Albert Einstein and Adolf Hitler with the narcissism of a top ranking Hollywood leading man. Since I haven’t read the first two books of the series yet, I can only tell you that by this point in the tale, Helios is rather comical in his outright egotism and as a result, a bit one dimensional. Vain, self-absorbed villains seem to be a Koontz favorite and Helios isn’t too much different from the hit man in Watchers or the serial killing Oregon sheriff of Intensity.

Our heroes are multiple and they include a genetically engineered (by Helios) wife/masochistic sex toy, two cops, a frolicking genetic aberration that is probably a troll and finally, the series ultimate hero, Deucalion. This last fellow is a hulk of a man assembled from the bodies of varies criminals hundreds of years ago, once again by Helios. He is the force for everything that’s good and right in the world, etc. In short, these heroes must work together to stop Helios from bringing about a super-engineered hi-tech version of the Fourth Reich. That’s the premise and you can probably guess how it ends up, but I still won’t spoil it for you.

While I can be a fan of decent sci-fi, I would not count myself among the hardcore fan base of that genre. This means when I say I was impressed by Koontz’s imaginative use of creepy science, if you read a lot of futuristic literature you may find the same technologies that entertained me to be run of the mill. Our author does blend science and the paranormal in an interesting way and the mistakes that Helios make do lead to horrors, but more of the Hollywood variety rather than anything seriously disturbing.

What annoyed me in the book was Koontz’s rather ham-fisted application of (what I assume to be) his own political ideals. There are plenty of mentions of green technology being for “idiots” and thinly veiled messages against socialism. When it comes to politics, I prefer that they stay part of what the characters think or, even better, in books about politics. I don’t like political or religious messages inserted into fiction when it’s clear that the author is soapboxing for his own purposes. It distracts from the reading even if I agree with the message. These brief interruptions really knocked the book off kilter, I felt, and consequently I found it much harder to enjoy because it ruined the bubble of the story itself.

In the end, Dead and Alive was a mediocre read with loads of imagination, a well made setting, a handful of small thrills and mostly interesting characters. I really don’t like the criticism aspect of reviewing a book, but if you don’t have much time on your hands I say you can safely skip this latest work from Koontz in favor of something that will deliver the goods more effectively.

I guess that means my final analysis is that the title of this book really does describe the quality of the novel, sadly.

Visit Dean Koontz’s website to find out more about his books: http://www.deankoontz.com/

Click here to get your hands on “Frankenstein: Dead or Alive”

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1. TICK TOCK by Dean Koontz
2. EMPRESS by Karen Miller (Godspeaker – Book One)
3. THE FOUNTAINHEAD by Ayn Rand
4. DARKFALL by Dean Koontz