Review: The Funhouse – Dean Koontz

SYNOPSIS: Once there was a girl who ran away and joined a traveling carnival. She married a man she grew to hate–and gave birth to a child so monstrous that she killed it with her own hands. Twenty-five years later, she has a new life and two normal children. But her past still haunts her–and now the carnival is coming back to town… – via Goodreads

So this was one of the novels I picked up on sale the other day, and started it one quiet afternoon at work, and breezed through it and was done that evening. It was a fast read. I understand that this was initially released under a pseudonym (Owen West). I haven’t actually really read any Koontz novel aside from The Bad Place, and I thought this was not the worst place to pick up after that (though I am gearing up to get to the Odd Thomas books). Reading The Funhouse, the novel never really gives too much meat to anything, which is alright. This doesn’t come across as a heavy read. It is entertaining, and keeps you engaged, and flows well, and when I read the afterword the style totally made sense to me (seeing how it was a novel adapted from a script for a movie). I cannot say that I was a fan of Liz’s character at all, she grated on me, and there weren’t any characters you really rooted for. It’s like you feel sorry for Amy, but she made her choices. I think the one character that does stick with you is Joey, and that is due to the immense amounts of pity I felt for that kid. Shame. I loved reading about the carnival, I always find it fascinating, and wish there was more of that. However, as I understand it, there is another novel from Koontz that focuses more on that, so I will have to get my hands on it. There was nothing revolutionary about the characters, and I liked how the whole story wasn’t really revealed, just enough, though I really would have appreciated more of a wrap up at the end of it all. I see the book gets a lot of flak, which I don’t get, because it is just a breezy, fun, quick novel to take in. I suppose if people went in expecting more bang for their buck, they would be disappointed. But really. I must say, that while the book barreled along and it was unbelievable yet entertaining, I was really disappointed by the rush job ending that was tacked in here. I mean really, things had been alluded to and this epic conclusion was building, and it was handled in a few pages. I knew it couldn’t bode well when all the dramatics were in full swing and there were only a few pages left. Oh well. There were plenty little things that I could quickly and easily refer back to other horrors, but like I say, this isn’t a read that needs to be taken too seriously or thought on too much. It feels like a long short story, if you catch my meaning, so not everything is as fleshed out as it could be. Just go with the flow, and you will have a quick filler read.