By Dean Koontz
ISBN-13: 9780804180672
Publisher: Random House
Publication date: 6/3/2014
Format: eBook
My Rating: 5 Stars
Series: e-short story (The City)
Every city has its wonders and mysteries. For the Pomerantz family, the most disturbing mystery at the moment is the identity and the intentions of their new neighbor, in this eBook original short story—a prequel to The City, the gripping and moving new novel by Dean Koontz.
The year is 1967. Malcolm Pomerantz is twelve, geeky and socially awkward, while his seriously bright sister, Amalia, is spirited and beautiful. Each is the other’s best friend, united by a boundless interest in the world beyond their dysfunctional parents’ unhappy home. But even the troubled Pomerantz household will seem to be a haven compared to the house next door, after an enigmatic and very secretive new neighbor takes up residence in the darkest hours of the night.
My Review
Dean Koontz’s THE NEIGHBOR, a novella, e-short story to prepare- tantalize, readers for the exiting upcoming book, THE CITY.
PS. Just finished THE CITY, as received an ARC (it is like no other book-5 stars). Had to go back and read, the e-short story, (as did not want to miss a thing)!
THE NEIGHBOR gives you a little background of Malcom Pomerantz, a little OCD, a musician, and saxophone child prodigy, and very inquisitive young boy of twelve.
Malcom is white and his best friend, Jonah is black, also a musician and a piano prodigy. They met in 1967, when Jonah and his mom moved in with Jonah’s grandfather, across the street from Malcom’s family. THE CITY is more about Jonah, even though Malcom and his sister are part of the book, as well.
Jonah is eccentric, talented, smart, intuitive and Malcom is a talented, comedian, and geek misfit. Together they make a dynamic duo of music, mischief, and dreams---you cannot even imagine. They meet when Jonah is ten and Malcom, twelve.
They grow up friends, and at age fifty-seven and fifty-nine, Jonah tells his story into a tape recorder—his story will become THE CITY, starting back before age seven.
Along with this incredible, suspenseful, an engaging, story and a big part of THE CITY, is Amalia, Malcom’s big sister, age seventeen. They were very close—she is smart, talented, a writer, and an old soul.
In early June, nearly a month before Jonah moved across the street, some strange things began happening one door west of him, at the former Rupert Clockenwall place (who died of a massive heart attack the month prior). Is there a story here about this guy, and was he really Teacher of the Year material?
The late Clockenwall’s only surviving relative was a brother who lived far away and the house is empty with ghosts and much more, as they discover a past and evidence which proves this guy was very disturbed.
Of course, having the usual fantasy life of a twelve-year-old there was sometimes imagined dramas when none existed. Rupert seemed to have been too bland a soul to come back from the grave on a haunt? Who was Melinda Lee—a middle school girl who three months before her thirteenth birthday, went missing? What does this guy have to do with his sister and the cross she began wearing at age fifteen?
Read both books. Mesmerizing. You will not be disappointed!
