Velocity
Author	Dean Koontz
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Suspense, Mystery novel
Publisher	Bantam Publishing
Publication date	2005
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	496 pp
ISBN	ISBN 0-553-58825-7

Velocity is a novel by Dean Koontz first published in 2005. Dean Ray Koontz (born July 9 1945 is an American Author. Best known for his Novels that could broadly be described as Suspense thrillers Koontz The United States of America —commonly referred to as the English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Suspense is the Feeling of uncertainty and Anxiety about the outcome of certain actions most often referring to an audience's perceptions in a dramatic work Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of Literature or Information &ndash the activity of making information available for public view Bantam Books is a major US publishing house owned by Random House and is part of the Bantam Dell Publishing Group Paperback, softback, or softcover describe and refer to a Book by the nature of its binding. Dean Ray Koontz (born July 9 1945 is an American Author. Best known for his Novels that could broadly be described as Suspense thrillers Koontz The year 2005 in literature involved some significant events and new books Set in Napa County, California, it is about a man in his thirties who takes the law into his own hands when, out of the blue, he is threatened by an anonymous adversary. Napa County is a County located north of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U The "words of wisdom" with which the novel is interspersed are direct quotations from the writings of T. S. Eliot. Thomas Stearns Eliot, OM (September 26 1888 – January 4 1965 was a poet Dramatist, and Literary critic.

Plot summary

Not so long ago a promising young short story writer, Billy Wiles has not even turned on his PC since his fiancée Barbara fell into a coma several years ago. In Medicine, a coma (from the Greek koma, meaning deep sleep is a profound state of Unconsciousness. Leading the life of a recluse who spends his spare time alone at home doing woodwork, he only leaves his secluded house when he goes to work as a bartender. A recluse is someone in isolation who hides away from the attention of the public a person who lives in Solitude, i Woodworking is the process of building making or carving something using Wood. A bartender ( barman, barkeeper, barmaid, mixologist, tapster among other names serves Beverages An orphan, he only associates with few people, and he considers them acquaintances rather than friends.

Wiles's life takes a dramatic turn when he finds a piece of paper stuck to his windshield which contains an ultimatum (see book cover, below). An ultimatum (the last one is a Demand whose fulfillment is requested in a specified period of time and which is backed up by a threat to be followed through in case He decides not to go to the police and to consult someone he knows who happens to be in the police force instead. Together, although not thoroughly convinced, the two men decide that the note must have been some sick joke.

However, on the following day a cruel murder is reported which exactly fits the description given in advance by the alleged joker. Two more notes follow in quick succession, and only when they become increasingly personal does Wiles realize that he has not been chosen at random by the person he comes to think of as "the freak". In contemporary usage the word freak is usually used to refer to a person with something unusual about their appearance or behaviour For example, shortly after receiving a cryptic message saying Are you prepared for your first wound? he is physically assaulted by the mask-wearing killer. Assault is a Crime of Violence against another person. In some Jurisdictions including Australia and New Zealand, When Wiles recovers from the shock and the pain he realizes that the psychopath has driven three large fish hooks under the skin of his forehead. Psychopathy ( is a psychological construct that describes chronic immoral and Antisocial behavior A fish hook is a device for catching Fish either by impaling them in the mouth or more rarely by snagging the body of the fish In Human anatomy, the forehead or brow is the bony part of the head above the Eyes Cultural Aspects A popular Stereotype

Acts of violence like the one depicted above lead the third person narrator to reflect on the society we live in:

The first ultimatum set by "the freak"

"Not long ago in the history of the world, routine daily violence—excluding the ravages of nations at war—had been largely personal in nature. Violence is the exertion of force so as to injure or abuse The word is used broadly to describe the destructive action of natural phenomena like Storms and Earthquakes Grudges, slights to honor, adultery, disputes over money triggered the murderous impulse.

"In the modern world, more in the postmodern, most of all in the post-postmodern, much violence had become impersonal. Postmodernism literally means 'after the modernist movement' While " Modern " itself refers to something "related to the present" the movement of modernism Post-postmodernism is a term applied to a wide-ranging set of developments in Critical theory, Philosophy, Architecture, Art, Literature Terrorists, street gangs, lone sociopaths, sociopaths in groups and pledged to a utopian vision killed people they did not know, against whom they had no realistic complaint, for the purpose of attracting attention, making a statement, intimidation, or even just for the thrill of it. Sociopathy is a loosely-defined term that may be used to refer to Psychopathy Antisocial personality disorder Dissocial

"The freak, whether known or unknown to Billy, was a daunting adversary. Judging by all evidence, he was bold but not reckless, psychopathic but self-controlled, clever, ingenious, cunning, with a baroque and Machiavellian mind.

"By contrast, Billy Wiles made his way in the world as plainly and directly as he could. His mind was not baroque. His desires were not complex. He only hoped to live, and lived on guarded hope. " (Chapter 14)

Although Wiles does check on each of the few acquaintances he has, he cannot at first decide which of them, if any, might be the freak. Eventually he focuses his attention on Steve Zillis, one of his workmates. However, it soon turns out that Zillis has a watertight alibi for the time when some of the crimes were committed, and Wiles ends up none the wiser. An alibi is the Plea or mode of defense under which a person on trial for a crime proves or attempts to prove that the person was in another place when the alleged

Wiles has very clear reasons for not involving the police. Right from the beginning of his nightmarish adventure, he has a hunch that circumstantial evidence, possibly planted by the killer, would turn him into the prime suspect: In the eyes of the police, he would be the perpetrator rather than one of the victims. Circumstantial evidence is a collection of Facts that when considered together can be used to infer a conclusion about something unknown In the Parlance of Criminal justice, a suspect is a known person suspected of committing a Crime. Also, as more murders are committed, he realizes that he might endanger Barbara's life.

In the end Wiles finds out that the psychopath sees his crimes as a work of art rather than, say, a game (cf. Art refers to a diverse range of Human activities creations and expressions that are appealing to the Senses or Emotions of a human individual for example Gentlemen & Players). Gentlemen & Players is a novel by Joanne Harris first published in 2005. He discovers that the freak is the artist, Valis, and confronts him. After a short discussion, Billy sprays Valis with Mace and shoots him dead. Mace is a Tear gas in the form of an Aerosol spray which propels a Lachrymatory agent mixed with a volatile solvent Returning home, Billy mistakenly assumes that he and Barbara are safe; however, when he replays the video camera, he sees Zillis in his house, and realises that Valis and Zillis were working together. He manages to catch up with Zillis before he can kill Barbara, and after driving him out into the country, kills Zillis.

The book ends with Billy (now called Bill) caring for Barbara in his own home. At the very end of the book, Barbara's eyes open and she comments on a flock of Barn Swallows flying past. While her eyes close again, the ending seems promising for her imminent recovery.

External links

• Review of Velocity at AllReaders.Com
• Review of Velocity at The Levee Breaks
• Review of Velocity at PopOpinions.com