(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Sometimes the jacket copy on a book is so succinct, so scintillating in its simplicity that it's absurd to try to rewrite it in my own clumsy way.  I'm not much for reinventing the wheel, so I give you the professionally-written plot summary for Innocence, Dean Koontz's newest mystical thriller:

He lives in solitude beneath the city, an exile from society, which will destroy him if he is ever seen.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   She dwells in seclusion, a fugitive from enemies who will do her harm if she is ever found.                                                                                                                                           But the bond between them runs deeper than the tragedies that have scarred their lives.  Something more than chance—and nothing less than destiny—has brought them together in a world whose hour of reckoning is fast approaching.

Lovely, right?  I think the text offers a perfect boiling-down of a novel that's actually very difficult to describe.  Like Koontz's popular Odd Thomas books, Innocence is a mix of mystery, mysticism and otherworldly suspense.  It's a strange tale, confusing at times, beautiful at others.  Overall, it held my interest while making me very curious to see just what made the main characters so repugnant to society.  The answer was one I really did not see coming.  At all.  I loved the big reveal—it surprised and delighted me, while making me ponder my own beliefs.  I didn't adore every aspect of this novel, but overall, I enjoyed it.  

(Readalikes:  Reminded me of Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz)

Grade: