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Book Review: Fear Nothing by Dean Koontz September 22, 2010

Christopher Snow may not be Dean Koontz’ best fictional creation (at this point, I’ll reserve that honor for the venerable fry cook from Pico Mundo, California, who sees the dead and does something about it), but the Snowman is definitely a close second to Odd Thomas.

I was thinking about shutting down the book review portion of this blog because even though I have still been reading, I haven’t had much time for writing reviews.  Even now, I’m several books behind.

What made me decide to get going again was I noticed some traffic on my Top Ten Dean Koontz Novels post.  When I looked back at the post, I saw three things.  First, the #2 book on my list (Fear Nothing) doesn’t have a review.  Second, Seize the Night was still listed on my “to read” list, so I needed to move it into the top ten.  Third, I needed a review for Seize the Night too.  So here I go, to fix all of the above.

Fear Nothing introduces us to Chris Snow and the rest of Moonlight Bay, California.  Chris is a 28-year-old forced to live in darkness due to a condition called Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP), which leaves his body unable to repair the damage caused by ultra-violet radiation.  Basically it means he can’t be exposed to sunlight and even has to be careful (and coated in sunscreen) under artificial lights.

Chris, much like Odd Thomas, leads a simple, although unique life.  His disease means he spends his days behind closed doors (and thick curtains), which limits his contact with the outside world.  In spite of the isolation caused by his XP, Chris has developed several friendships, none deeper than his relationships with best girl, Sasha, best surfer bud, Bobby, and best dog, Orson, a lab mix who was a gift from his mother and may be more than he appears to be.

Early on in the novel, it becomes obvious Chris has been kept in the dark in more ways than one.  After the death of his father, whose last words to him are the title of the book, Chris stumbles upon a plot to steal his father’s corpse and realizes this is part of a much larger conspiracy which seems to also involve his mother. 

With his quirky dog, Orson, at his side, the Snowman tries to figure out who would want to steal his father’s body and why, while trying not to get caught by gun-toting mercenaries.  He goes to people he should be able to trust, but he soon learns those who stay loyal to him will end up dead, while friends already entangled in the conspiracy refuse to help him.

After a strange, cryptic conversation with a close family friend describes a strange encounter with a vicious but frighteningly intelligent monkey, Chris begins to question his mother’s death in a car accident two years earlier, realizing her accident might have been on purpose.  He’s also pretty sure his dad’s cancer wasn’t a random occurance.

In the dark of night, Chris manages to put together pieces of the puzzle, including the strange origin and unexpected abilities of his dog and his mother’s involvment in genetic experiments (on rhesus monkeys and other animals) conducted at Wyvern, a mothballed military base which has turned into a ghost town in the last couple of years. 

While Chris and Orson are narrowly escaping harm after being stalked by a troop of vicious, Wyvern monkeys similar to the one his friend described, it is soon apparent something even more dangerous than monkeys has escaped from Wyvern.  Something is infecting the inhabitants of Moonlight Bay, causing physical and emotional changes, and there may be no way to put the genie back in the bottle.

Chris has two choices, Option 1:  risk his life and his friends lives to unravel the conspiracy or Option 2:  sit back and see what happens as the experiments at Wyvern run amok eventually spreading across the globe. 

Not to give any spoilers, but he wouldn’t be a great character if he chose Option 2, now, would he?  Can he unravel the Wyvern conspiracy and reconcile his parents’ involvement without losing those closest to him?

Rating 9.5 out of 10