The Bad Weather Friend

I loved this book written in the usual knock your socks off style Koontz established in his writing. It moves fast and main character Benny has always been too nice for his own good which leads to the adventures as a boy and then again as a man. Without giving too much away, book is quite scary, and I don’t scare easily. I was reading it on kindle in parking lot at VA where husband was in with a doctor. It was cold and raining and as I sat in car reading, I begin to have chills moving down my neck into my back. I looked up, and the entire VA campus began to look forbidding. I’ve never had to do this, and I had to close the kindle so I could watch around me more carefully. So, book will scare you too.

This is sort of Young Adult, meaning its themes are straightforward enough for pretty much any age although the reader should be not given to nightmares. It’s classic Koontz formula, with protagonists so nice that one can’t help but love them and villains so evil as to be inexplicable, except that Koontz does explain them according to their own beliefs and morals. It reminds me of Deadpool (the first two, not the current version that Disney hopes will save them from themselves yet is also utterly determined to destroy because, well, Disney) because of the irreverent humor and repeated breaking of the fourth wall. This novel carries for the evil ISA (so easily believable in today’s world) of Quicksilver so it’s not completely self-sufficient, although a reader unfamiliar with that volume would have no sense of incompleteness or confusion. Highly recommended for everyone with a pulse as well as those without pulses but retaining the desire for a good book.

What a fun ride!!! Not sure what the goal was for Dean Koontz but he covered so much more than was seen on the surface. It was filled with old-fashioned life lessons, my favorite being the value of being nice. The world has become hateful and hostile and I had begun to buy into the attitude of meanness, sarcasm and negative attitudes about everything. Reading this book was heart-changing. I used to be a nice person and it made me want to be one again. No way I can say “thank-you” enough. As for other less obvious lessons was the light that was shined on just how deep the evil goes … we are inundated with it. It thrives on hate and the higher the echelons, the uglier it gets. We need to look at it squarely in the face, understand it, reject it wholeheartedly, and turn away. Thank you, Dean Koontz, for reminding us in such a humorous, unique and delightful way that we can be “in the world” without being “of the world”. More please. GENIUS!!!

Oh my word! First off I just wanted to say I love the way Dean Koontz writes. I read a lot and have never found an author in his genre to be better. I’ve read all his books and have never been disappointed. This one doesn’t disappoint either.It’s an adventure or a group of people fighting against evil trying to take over the human race.Mrs. Baneberry-Smith was bitten by a dying extraterrestrial that injected her with all the knowledge of its race. When she got back to Briarbush Academy, she started doing transspecies experiments. Calling themselves “The Better Kind”. Creatures like insects that are evil.This is such an entertaining story that will catch and hold your attention through out the book.I feel in love with young Benny, (Well, all Benny!) Jurgen’s and Mengistu and adults Benny, Bob, Harper and Spike. Oh and the bunny, Whippit and “Brother Sunshine”!!😁. The Craggle Anthem!🥰🥰(Spike,Stone and Mace).Their characters and others are so well developed, I hated for the story to end. Has everything, love, comedy, drama, betrays, protagonist, etc…with a happy ending. I highly recommend this good vs. evil to read. You will not be disappointed!👍🏻🥰

I got the Kindle edition via Prime First Reads. Prior to this, I had read some of the Odd Thomas books, but so long ago that I don’t remember much about them, other than they were better than expected.Concurrently, I have a paperback copy of Gustav Meyrink’s “Golem” which is written in German, and I have to force myself to read it. I was so intrigued by the description of “The Bad Weather Friend” because it sounded like it was going to be about a Golem. There are some indications that the Spike character might have somewhat of the role of a Golem…a few hints here and there, but really, it is its own type of entity. Frankly, when I started this book, I had to force myself to keep reading it, as it truly was more cumbersome to read this, which is written in English that I use everyday, than it is to read something in a language I was somewhat raised with, but no longer use everyday! There’s a ton of very uncommon and unusual words in this book. I highly recommend getting the Kindle copy of this because you can highlight the word and get a definition–usually the definition included “(archaic)” or “(dated)”. So its full of archaic and outdated words, but in a sense, that it refreshing and I appreciate it. Almost all of the pop culture references were Midcentury. There’s tons of little references to old songs, art, and bizarre names that mean things in other languages, or almost mean something in another language. There’s little jokes or Easter eggs that reinforce the true meaning of the name, but for a lot of the readers, even with the reinforcements, I think the joke/ reference will be missed. An example was a character named Theron who is described as “beast,” with that name, or rather Therion meaning beast in Greek. Usually, when a foreign phrase is used in dialog, the translation is given later in the dialog; its just the names that go untranslated, but accompanied by hints, like they are insider’s jokes for the initiated.It reminds me of 1940s sci-fi in the way it is written. That was my earliest impression, even before much that could be considered sci-fi had happened. Very retro. Even has omniscient narrator sequences. By the end, there’s a lot of really retro sci-fi stuff along with an undercurrent of politics (specifically anti-capitalism). Talk of secret societies that use algorithms to repress nice people. Really the closest thing I can compare this book to would be “Illuminatus! Trilogy” by Wilson and Shea. Bizarre, weird, highly intelligent, odd yet meaningful names, politicized, sci-fi, historically rooted, occult, eschatological. Bad Weather Friend is an easier read in comparison, and I did get into it by the final third of the book.Despite the dated cultural references and vocabulary, there are some very current themes in this book, including individuals being targeted via algorithms, and the dangers and consequences of EVs. There are several other themes in this book, including home design and origami (of metals, money, and space-time) but I am not trying to write a book here in this review!One little incident from the book nags at me, I will try to describe it in a way that doesn’t spoil anything for a prospective reader, and in hopes that it will help inform at the time it is read. There’s an incident where a character gives himself an antidote to a very specific toxin. Something we don’t really work with much these days. Back when we did, if the rabbit died, the worker took the antidote. But suppose that the rabbit died of natural causes, not a toxic leak. If that happened, and the worker took the antidote, he would die unless exposed to the toxin. I assume the author is aware of all this, but was afraid to spell it out, or maybe the author had the correct intuition of what happens in these circumstances but didn’t know as a matter of absolute fact. Either way, the characters were unaware and assumed incorrectly in regards to the means of a death.Bottom line: this book is superbly well written, sometimes in the same way that TV commercials for big insurance companies are well written, but it was initially difficult for me to get interested in it. Its difficult in the way it is difficult to read some older sci-fi stuff. It is very clever and I loved it for what it is. A lot of smart humor. Many deep insights. Kitschy at times. One of those rare books that I found myself highlighting with various colors, and typing notes into. One of those rare books that I surely will reread in the future. One that will stick with me.