Cold Fire by Dean Koontz

Dean Koontz has been one of my favorite authors since I first picked up Watchers over 30 years ago. He is generally good for an interesting, scary and often thought-provoking read. Based on the description of this book, I expected more of the same. The beginning of the book was great – it had excitement, suspense and mystery – unfortunately it didn’t last. By about two-thirds of the way through, things fell apart for me.

As the book opens, the reader is introduced to Jim Ironheart, a man who is experiencing a ‘premonition’ of sorts. He knows he has to go to the airport but doesn’t know where he’s going until he gets a pull from a location on the departures board, and realizes he needs to fly to Portland. Once in Portland, Ironheart arrives just in time to save the life of Billy Jenkins. Unfortunately, one of the witnesses is Holly Thorne, a journalist.

Jim is able to make his escape and leaves Holly wondering who he is and how he came to be in Portland in the nick of time. Then, she sees a report of another miraculous rescue – this time a mother and daughter in the Mojave Desert – and the savior’s description fits Ironheart. From there Holly is able to piece together a series of similar events and decides that she needs to investigate further.

Jim’s history and personality are revealed through Holly’s investigation and the reader receives more information on his supernatural abilities. There are religious undertones as well as potential for alien involvement. The excitement builds as Jim and Holly face off and she tries to figure out what makes him so special.

And then… things went wrong. Suddenly, Holly became an amateur psychiatrist and is trying to “fix” Jim. Jim’s personality becomes unpredictable – at one moment, excited and wanting to know more, then petulant and childish. The reveal was a letdown after the build-up of the first half of the book and doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of the story.

I'm giving this 3 stars for the first two-thirds of the book. This is definitely not one of Koontz's best but it also won't keep me from reading more by him.

Rating: 3 stars