Mr. Murder

by Dean Koontz, Frank Visser (Translator)

Overview

Jaloezie in combinatie met een verloren verstand is een levensgevaarlijke combinatie. Daar komen schrijver Martin Stillwater en zijn gezin angstvallig achter. Hun rustige leventje, en Martins succesvolle schrijfcarrière, worden ruw verstoord door een vreemdeling. Alles verandert wanneer een man, die als twee druppels water op Martin lijkt, op een dag verschijnt en beweert dat Martins leven eigenlijk van hem is - en dat hij alles zal doen om het terug te krijgen. Van schrik verliest Martin volledig de grip op de werkelijkheid. Ondertussen probeert het hele gezin, inclusief Martins jonge dochters Emily en Charlotte, van de krankzinnige indringer te ontsnappen. Zou de dubbelganger gelijk hebben of is het een verwarde man die een gevaar vormt voor de familie Stillwater? De Amerikaanse auteur Dean Ray Koontz (1945) staat bekend om zijn spannende thrillers die vaak een vleugje horror, fantasy, science fiction of satire bevatten. Veel van zijn werken bereikten de New York Times-bestsellerlijst, waarvan meerdere direct op nummer één binnenkwamen. Dit maakt hem tot een van de grootste New York Times-bestsellerauteurs ter wereld. In totaal heeft hij maar liefst 105 boeken geschreven waarvan er meer dan zestig in het Nederlands te lezen zijn. Zijn boeken zijn wereldwijd meer dan 500 miljoen keer verkocht.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9788726506709
Publisher:	Saga Egmont International
Publication date:	11/05/2021
Sold by:	De Marque
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
File size:	566 KB
Language:	Dutch

About the Author

Dean Koontz, the author of many #1 New York Times bestsellers, lives in Southern California with his wife, Gerda, their golden retriever, Elsa, and the enduring spirit of their goldens, Trixie and Anna.

Hometown:

Newport Beach, California

Date of Birth:

July 9, 1945

Place of Birth:

Everett, Pennsylvania

Education:

B.S. (major in English), Shippensburg University, 1966

Website:

http://www.deankoontz.com

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

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

“A master storyteller, sometimes humorous, sometimes shocking, but always riveting. His characters sparkle with life. And his fast-paced plots are wonderfully fiendish, taking unexpected twists and turns.”—THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE

“One of our finest and most versatile suspense writers.”
—THE MACON TELEGRAPH & NEWS

“His prose mesmerizes…Koontz consistently hits the bull’s-eye.”
—ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT

“An exceptional novelist…top-notch.”—LINCOLN JOURNAL-STAR

Editorial Reviews

"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

George Stade

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.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

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.

Library Journal

At some point, every successful novelist seems to come up with a book in which the main character is a writer. Here, Koontz introduces mystery novelist Martin Stillwater and his wife and two young daughters. "Mr. Murder" is the name bestowed on Martin by "People" magazine; his wife, Paige, is a wonderful woman, and their little girls are, of course, adorable. Unfortunately, into this idyllic world comes a superhuman hit man who coincidentally happens to look just like Martin and who's decided he wants the family for his very own and will kill Martin to get them. After 100 pages of exposition, the robotlike killer confronts the family, and they desperately try to escape, with no help from skeptical police who think Martin has invented the look-alike for publicity for his novels. Actually, the story is farfetched, but Koontz is a master at creating a situation the average person can relate to and then giving it a macabre twist and piling on nonstop action. Koontz also flexes his iambic muscles with huge chunks of poetry that Stillwater has composed for his children, and the juxtaposition of cuddly family scenes with brutal violence is quite jarring. Despite his considerable and admirable research and often charming sense of humor, the author's constant barrage of pop-culture references smacks of pandering, as if saying, "See? I've seen these movies and used these products, too. I'm a regular guy just like you, dear reader." Koontz fans are a loyal lot (this is his twenty-second book, and most of them have scaled the best-seller list), so the readership is there, but the tired "evil twin" device used here brings this effort in short of more inspired Koontz' books such as "Watchers" (date?) and "Cold Fire" (date?).

Joe Collins

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)

Kirkus Reviews

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

From the Publisher