Would of been 5 stars but it is a 4.5 because of the ending. ( )

USA, Californien, ca 2008
Indeholder "Første del: Penny Boom siger: Lad det ligge", "Anden del: Jeg er min broders tugter", "Tredie del: Zazu, Hvem er hvem, Her, hund, Dér, hund, Undergang, Zoom, Boom.".

Forfatteren Cullen Greenwich (kaldet Cubby) har skrevet fem bestsellers og lige udgivet den sjette One O'Clock Jump. Han er gift med Penny Boom, der skriver og illustrerer børnebøger. De har en søn Milo og en hund, Lassie, der er en hyrdehundekrydsning af en slags.

???

En forfatter, der bor i Sydcalifornien, har skrevet en bog om en forfatter, der bor i Sydcalifornien. Oversættelsen halter. Flog kan betyde "sell or offer for sale" foruden at piske. Så "Hvis man aldrig har prøvet at være i mediernes søgelys og hudflette sit værk som en tombolasælger i et omrejsende tivoli, virker denne må-først-udgives-efter-min-død-klausul muligvis temmelig ekstrem." er en dårlig oversættelse af "If you have never been in the public eye, flogging your work like a carnival barker pitching a freak show to the crowd, this publish-only-after-death pledge may seem extreme.". ( )

Inane blather. Not remotely suspenseful. Avoid. ( )

I am still shocked Koontz wrote this terrible book where he takes potshots at his literary critics in book form. And we get a special dog, kid, and a super wife. I feel like there should be a Koontz bingo card and you can start marking off all of the things that he always does in his books and at the end you get a beer. Or maybe three beers.

"Relentless" was one of the worst Koontz books I have ever read. I hoped my re-read would have some saving grace to it, but nope. Still among the worst. I didn't care at all about the characters, but the whole thing with the mysterious and evil critic (whose name was Shearman Waxx) made zero sense and had me ready to fight. The plot made no sense and then we go sliding into a whatever the hell that was ending.

"Relentess" is about successful author Cubby Greenwich. Cubby apparently writes books that can stop wars and shit like that. Oh wait, that was the plot to "Lady in the Water". Either way, Cubby's book has attracted the attention of a critic that everyone fears named Shearman Waxx. Well Waxx ends up uttering a word and then Cubby and his whole damn family is on the run. Maybe I could have made allowances for this stupid book if the rest of the characters had been fleshed out, but nothing doing. Besides Cubby, we have Cubby's wife Penny who is also a successful children's author. And they have a precocious son named Milo who would make Einstein apparently look stupid. It was just too much in this book to even deal with at once.

Koontz does that thing where the main characters past is hidden from readers for reasons until revealed. We have Penny being a super woman with a family with a damn stronghold and of course her ability to shoot any type of freaking weapon. Milo and his dog...I can't even right now. Koontz pulls a deus ex machina out of his ass in this one with the kid and the dog and I freaking booed after having more wine and trying not to scream about still having no kitchen or basement.

Waxx is hilariously terrible as a character. I cannot even get into the why behind this character and why he is after Cubby.

The dialogue is typical new Koontz a la no one speaks like actual human beings but fortune cookies that are somehow sentient.

The flow was awful and as other reviewers have noted there are some Easter eggs in this one if you have read Koontz's backlist before. The story that Cubby writes that angers Waxx so much is an alternate title to a prior Koontz book. He (Cubby) talks shit about critics and I think that was much of Koontz shouting down his critics to his newest works.

The ending when it comes will not be a relief. It was just terrible and beyond stupid. I am still mad about it. ( )

I have been a fan of Koontz for 20 years now, and have read everything he has written. This book is not one of his best books. Waxx was crazy & kooky enough to keep me reading. But as usual- as of late, Koontz characters seem to fizzle out, and their plots launch into unbelievable twists that even he cannot bind up right, at the end.. And again, I was disappointed. What is his obsession with magical/other-worldly dogs? The witty repartee' was nice, though. But I no longer buy his books, since The Taking, and will continue to borrow them from the library.. :-
( )