Review: Quick spooky read
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 18, 2014
Malcolm and his sister Amalia have a less than idyllic childhood, filled with secondhand smoke and TV dinners. Their father is cold and emotionally distant, while their mother lives to watch television and gossip with the (other) neighbor. The two children, although five years apart, are very close. The strength of the love between the siblings ends up being of utmost importance to the resolution of the story.This is a short-story prequel to Dean Koontz's upcoming novel "The City," which will be coming out on July 1st. Whereas "The City" is the story of musical prodigy Jonah Kirk, "The Neighbor" is the story of Jonah's lifelong best friend, Malcolm Pomerantz and the strange events that happened a few weeks before the two men met as young boys. From what I can tell, this is a standalone story – you can read it even if you don't plan to read "The City," and/or you can read "The City" without reading this story. But if you like ghost stories, "The Neighbor" is worth grabbing. It's a great quick and spooky read with both human and supernatural scariness. The characters of Malcolm and Amalia are very likeable, and I'm curious to read more about them in "The City" (even though it's not *their* story).