Reader's Corner
Fear Nothing
by Dean Koontz
by TaoPhoenix
Are you afraid of the dark? Christopher Snow Fears Nothing ... except
the light of the sun. He has xenoderma pigmentosum, which is "A
deficiency in the genes participating in the NER mechanism leads to the
known human syndrome xenoderma pigmentosum (XP), marked by a 2000-fold
increased incidence of skin cancer..." according to Tania Wyss, Barbara
Orelli, and Orlando Schaerer at the Department of Pharmacological
Sciences, SUNY Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY. Put simply, all skin
receives micro damage during every day activities, but it repairs itself
over the normal life span. If Christopher Snow went outside without
special protection, he would have skin cancer within a week.
Thus, his life is spent in shadows cast by flickering candles, and
moonlight. By his side is his faithful dog, a black retriever named
Orson in honor of the shadowy actor Orson Welles. He lives in the small
town of Moonlight Bay, California. All told, he is at peace with his
genetically inherited condition. However, as the story opens with his
father on his deadbed, clues emerge which begin to drag him out of the
comforting shadows into encounters with the light.
The plot is less linear than many of Koontz' works, and this may be
received well or poorly depending upon the reader's tastes. This
reviewer will add the clue that Dean Koontz has written another book
about a faithful retriever, and this is no accident. In a book which
explores Death in its many stylistic incarnations, Dean Koontz asks all
the dog lovers out there to ... Fear Nothing.
© 2007 TaoPhoenix
TaoPhoenix is the Archives Editor of Aphelion, and a regular contributer to the
forums.
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