Books by Jack Phillips Lowe

When bartender Billy Wiles finds the note tucked under his windshield wiper asserting that the choice to act or not to act will lead to someone's death, he figures it for a prank. His friend, an off-duty police officer, agrees. But six hours later, someone has been brutally murdered. So begins Dean Koontz's novel Velocity, and Billy's search for a diabolical killer.

Once again, Koontz has written a fast-paced novel that keeps the reader glued to the pages. At first, Billy must choose whether to involve the police, for which he has a guarded mistrust, or not. In doing so, he determines the category of the next victim, for as one note states, a "young mother of two" will die if the police are involved. If Billy avoids the cops, however, the killer will target a "single, middle-aged man no one will miss much." As the murders progress, however, Billy becomes more and more involved. Ultimately, he learns that evidence linking him to each murder exists, and he winds up covering up for the killer to keep himself out of the hotseat.

At the same time, Billy seeks to protect his comatose fiancée from the insanity around him. Surprisingly, the murderer reveals details to him about his loved one that Billy had missed, opening up her world to him and making him more determined to hang on to her. Although he had been out of touch with the world around him, although he had no friends but only acquaintances, Billy learns to let others into his life. By the close of the novel, he has reattached himself to the world he had previously dismissed.

As the novel progresses, we learn more information about Billy and why he is so determined to keep out of the police radar. The killer – or "freak", as Billy terms him – plays sick games, even calling the cops from Billy's house, keeping the bartender on edge. Ultimately, the two confront each other in a standoff before the grisly remains of previous victims, and wind up chatting amiably. Koontz will always surprise his readers.

Koontz keeps the reader gripped to the novel in a ferocious page-turner that hooks from the beginning. His witty, off-beat sense of humor and ability to create tension draw you in and keep you reading. The characters are realistically created, if not somewhat scary to behold, and the details are vivid in intensity. Velocity is yet another Koontz must-read.