Life Expectancy - Dean Koontz

Life Expectancy

By Dean Koontz

  • Release Date: 2004-12-07
  • Genre: Mysteries & Thrillers
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 442 Ratings

Description

With his bestselling blend of nail-biting intensity, daring artistry, and storytelling magic, Dean Koontz returns with an emotional roller coaster of a tale filled with enough twists, turns, shocks, and surprises for ten ordinary novels. Here is the story of five days in the life of an ordinary man born to an extraordinary legacy—a story that will challenge the way you look at good and evil, life and death, and everything in between.

Jimmy Tock comes into the world on the very night his grandfather leaves it. As a violent storm rages outside the hospital, Rudy Tock spends long hours walking the corridors between the expectant fathers' waiting room and his dying father's bedside. It's a strange vigil made all the stranger when, at the very height of the storm's fury, Josef Tock suddenly sits up in bed and speaks coherently for the frist and last time since his stroke.

What he says before he dies is that there will be five dark days in the life of his grandson—five dates whose terrible events Jimmy will have to prepare himself to face. The first is to occur in his twentieth year; the second in his twent-third year; the third in his twenty-eighth; the fourth in his twenty-ninth; the fifth in his thirtieth.

Rudy is all too ready to discount his father's last words as a dying man's delusional rambling. But then he discovers that Josef also predicted the time of his grandson's birth to the minute, as well as his exact height and weight, and the fact that Jimmy would be born with syndactyly—the unexplained anomal of fused digits—on his left foot. Suddenly the old man's predictions take on a chilling significance.

What terrifying events await Jimmy on these five dark days? What nightmares will he face? What challenges must he survive? As the novel unfolds, picking up Jimmy's story at each of these crisis points, the path he must follow will defy every expectation. And with each crisis he faces, he will move closer to a fate he could never have imagined. For who Jimmy Tock is and what he must accomplish on the five days when his world turns is a mystery as dangerous as it is wondrous—a struggle against an evil so dark and pervasive, only the most extraordinary of human spirits can shine through.

This ebook edition contains an excerpt of Dean Koontz’s The Silent Corner.

Reviews

  • Wow

    5
    By Not So Good..yuck
    Excellent!
  • An ok read

    4
    By Naplesnut
    Interesting story but a bit slow.
  • Brilliant

    5
    By Camahan
    Brilliant funny suspenseful and hopeful koontz at his finest you’re happy to have read this book when you finish it
  • A series of unfortunate dates

    3
    By MpPierce
    While it was an entertaining read, I couldn’t help but feel the entire book was lifted from the Series of Unfortunate Events books. The family’s banter, over-the-top villains, never ending tragedies, literary references...just with adult protagonists. I’m surprised that Count Olaf never appeared.
  • Simply fantastic!

    5
    By Schnurbleton
    This is the title that introduced me to Koontz, and it will forever remain one of my favorite books.
  • Fan of Dean Koontz? You won't be dissapointed!

    5
    By Skjkcjksjksjckj
    Many twists. Nobody who is sane can say that this book is predictable. Even though it is a little complicated, it makes perfect sense at the end. You may not like the end, being it is the typical lovable strangeness that is infused in all Koontz books, but their is no way you can say the book was disappointing. I don't see anyone not likening this book, so no need to add this section. Truly Yours, A Big Fan
  • Easily one of his best!

    5
    By DustinHonch
    I have been an avid reader of Mr. Koontz's book for years now. This is without a doubt one of my new favorites. Exceptional story telling.
  • One of my favorites

    5
    By Petunia Valentine
    This book was my first exposure to Koontz and I have been a fan ever since. "Life Expectancy" was wonderfully entertaining.
  • Brilliantly written

    5
    By Puckdaddy
    Prepare to be enchanted. Hold on to you seat! I simply loved this book.
  • I hate to read, but...

    5
    By Bunnydurden
    I absolutely love this book!!