Mr. Murder

by Dean Koontz Narrated by Jay O. Sanders

Overview

Martin Stillwater has a vivid imagination. It charms his loving wife, delights his two little daughters, and gives him all the inspiration he needs to write his highly successful mystery novels. But maybe Martin's imagination is a bit too vivid⿦ One rainy afternoon, a terrifying incident makes him question his grip on reality. A stranger breaks into his house, accusing Martin of stealing his wife, his children-and his life. Claiming to be the real Martin Stillwater, the intruder threatens to take what is rightfully his. The police think he's a figment of Martin's imagination. But Martin and his family have no choice but to believe the stranger's threat. And run for their lives.But wherever they go-wherever they hide-he finds them⿦

Editorial Reviews

George Stade

"Mr. Murder" is no post-modernist comment on itself, no exercise in camp. Mr. Koontz plays it straight: there are no sly winks to the reader, no signals that although someone wrote the novel and someone is reading it, they are both above this sort of thing. . . . Mr. Koontz plays on this good story. -- New York Times

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The formula Koontz ( The Bad Place ) uses here is a familiar one: an overpowering evil stalks an innocent family that remains unaware of the menace until isolated from all help and forced to run for their lives. But enhanced by Koontz's lean prose and rich characterization, this fearsome tale summons up new frissons of horror. Marty Stillwater's second horror novel is bestseller-bound; he's the subject of a People magazine feature article; and his wife, Paige, and their two young daughters complete the perfect family. Then he begins having blackouts and paralyzing panic attacks that lead him to hide guns around the house. The weapons prove handy when an armed stranger--Marty's Doppelganger --breaks into the house to kill him and reclaim the life, family and destiny that he swears Marty stole. A fierce battle leaves the stranger dead but when Paige and the police arrive, the body is gone. Unable to trust the cops, the family runs for the hills to try to evade the seemingly indestructible ``Other.'' Meanwhile, sinister agents are desperately tracking The Other for their own less-than-ethical ends. Playing on every emotion and keeping the story racing along, Koontz masterfully escalates the tension. He closes the narrative with the most ingenious twist ending of his career. Literary Guild & Doubleday Book Club main selection; Mystery Guild alternate selection. (Oct.)

Library Journal

For reasons Marty Stillwater can't fathom, a man with superhuman recuperative powers-who has been trained and conditioned as a killing machine and who is Marty's exact double-is psychically drawn to his house one afternoon, claiming that Marty has ``stolen his life.'' This doppelgnger proceeds to terrorize Marty and his family with relentless violence. After many narrow escapes, Marty and his nemesis meet for a final showdown in an abandoned church. Like many of Koontz's works (e.g., Dragon Tears, Audio Reviews, LJ 3/1/93), Mr. Murder is hard to classify, containing elements of the mystery, suspense, horror, and sf genres. Veteran reader Jay O. Sanders skillfully heightens the work's rising suspense without succumbing to overdramatization. This is a very good choice for fiction collections, although the light cardboard packaging won't withstand library use.-Kristen L. Smith, Loras Coll. Lib., Dubuque, Ia.

Kirkus Reviews

Koontz's earliest thrillers (Night Chills, etc.) were stripped-down vehicles designed for speed and suspense, nothing more. In its terrific visceral energy, this latest, with the author's simplest plot in years—one long chase involving a Frankenstein-like monster, his guardians, and his victims—harkens back to those early affairs; but Koontz is a literary phenomenon now and feels free to load his writing with all sorts of sermons about modern-day woes. The title itself is polemical: "Mr. Murder" is the hated sobriquet that People magazine gives to Marty Stillwater, a rising mystery writer who might as well be called Dean Koontz for his California address, stable family life, and strong opinions about the nobility of storytelling and the corruption of American society. At first, Koontz seems to be aping Stephen King here, not just for his put-upon writer-hero but also for the malevolent, perhaps not quite human, twin of Marty's who blows into town, shades of The Dark Half. Koontz is his own writer, however, and it's soon clear that Alfie is no figment made flesh but a wonderfully creepy organic killing machine with a surprising origin and astounding recuperative powers (fueled by Slim Jims and Big Macs) who wants only to take over Marty's life—his wife, daughters, and writing career—and will squash him to do it. Also, Alfie's moral code comes from films he's seen—including porno films in which severe discipline alone brings females into line. Meanwhile, the top-secret federal agents in charge of Alfie—as well as of the experiment that produced him—are desperately hunting their charge, who's gone AWOL and beserk.... Blood pours; children shriek;Alfie makes like a werewolf on steroids while Marty acts like a lion—and Koontz nails the reader to the page once again, despite the soapboxing. (Literary Guild Dual Selection for December)

From the Publisher

Koontz is a terrific what-if storyteller...the narrative pace is breathless.”—People

“The resounding variations Mr. Koontz plays on this good story, here craftily retold...allow him to counterpoint the new horrors about us with the old horrors already inside us.”—The New York Times Book Review

“A superb work by a master of the thriller at the top of his form.”—The Washington Post Book World

“Koontz is in fine form...dragging the reader along through an intricate series of twists and exciting turns.”—Chicago Tribune

More Praise for Dean Koontz

“Dean Koontz is a prose stylist whose lyricism heightens malevolence and tension. [He creates] characters of unusual richness and depth.”—The Seattle Times

“Tumbling, hallucinogenic prose....‘Serious’ writers...might do well to examine his technique.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Lyrical writing and compelling characters...Koontz stands alone.”—Associated Press

“In every industry there exist ‘artists’ that are not only unforgettable, but know their craft better than the rest. Dean Koontz...is among these artisans.”—Suspense Magazine

“[Koontz] has always had near-Dickensian powers of description, and an ability to yank us from one page to the next that few novelists can match.”—Los Angeles Times

“Perhaps more than any other author, Koontz writes fiction perfectly suited to the mood of America...novels that acknowledge the reality and tenacity of evil but also the power of good...[and that] entertain vastly as they uplift.”—Publishers Weekly

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169348675
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	03/02/2010
Edition description:	Unabridged

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