The Eyes of Darkness by Dean Koontz

Description from Amazon:

In the year since her son Danny’s tragic death, Tina Evans has suffered incredible heartache. But now, with her Vegas show about to premiere, Tina might be ready to put her grief behind her and start over.

Until a shocking message appears on the chalkboard in Danny's room: NOT DEAD. Those two words send her on a terrifying journey from the bright lights of Las Vegas to the cold shadows of the High Sierras, where she uncovers a terrible secret.

 

I knew Dean Koontz had written under the pseudonym Leigh Nichols before, but I hadn’t read any of them or realised how old they were. This one had been rereleased and updated and the story worked relatively well.

 

I found it very quick and easy to read and the story felt more solid, as though the older works focused on the plot itself and didn’t need bells and whistles. It almost felt like the seed for so many new books today that have tried to twist exactly this.

 

When Tina gets the message, she thinks someone is out to deliberately spook her and initially blames her ex-husband. She still misses her son immensely, but is in a better space in her head and her work is going well, so when the messages start, she is torn between going forward or back to the bad place in her life.

 

At one of her shows she meets Elliot and they hit it off. When she shares with him that she thinks Danny might be trying to get hold of her after a few more odd coincidences occur, he refuses to believe it. Until two men show up at his house with nefarious intentions.

 

Using any methods they can, they are able to locate an area they think Danny might be and head off. Where they find coverups and secrets galore.

 

This is a bit dated in that it’s a simplistic plot but it feels like an “original” and a precursor so was just putting the bones out there for the time. The ending was the ending but could have been done so much better. There was scope for so much more yet it was abrupt. And yes, there are questions – which would give away a lot of spoilers, so I won’t go into them. The tie-in with the 2020 worldwide disaster is ominous considering when this was written, so having read it now, I guess back then it wouldn’t have made the same impact.

 

I did enjoy the book. Wasn’t fabulous and I wouldn’t read it again, but it delivered a simple story with a supernatural lean to it and a good take on never giving up.