ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 11, 1996 TAG: 9602090120
SECTION: BOOKS PAGE: F-4 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: BOOK REVIEW
SOURCE: REVIEWED BY PAUL DELLINGER
INTENSITY. By Dean Koontz. Alfred A. Knopf. $25.
Dean Koontz may yet topple Stephen King as king of horror writers. His latest novel, "Intensity," shifts viewpoints between serial killer Edgler Vess and potential victim Chyna Shepherd, a college student visiting a friend's family during the weekend Vess has targeted them for extinction.
Shepherd is an admirable young woman who has overcome a dysfunctional childhood, but she cannot save her best friend from the killing machine that has invaded their abode in the night. She only barely escapes detection herself by hiding in the killer's van in which the mutilated corpse of her girlfriend is being carried back to the killer's home for his further amusement.
The rest is a series of more killings and narrow escapes leading inevitably to a showdown between the two characters. Most of the showdown occurs on the killer's home ground, which is patrolled by vicious Dobermans and where another young woman is being held prisoner. Shepherd is determined to save this woman, partly in atonement of being unable to save her college friend, but she soon finds it may no longer be possible to save even herself.
Vess, who is able to conceal his psychopathic tendencies from others, lives for the intensity of the book's title, whether experiencing pain himself or inflicting it on others. While not one of the movie-style super-killers able to bounce back from beatings and bullets, he is clearly more than a physical match for Shepherd. But the young woman has inner resources on her side.
As must be obvious by now, the book has its share of blood and gore. What sets it apart from other splatter punk is how Koontz never loses sight of the value of life's potential. The in-depth characterization of the two antagonists elevates "Intensity" to something more than an exercise in mayhem.
The entire story takes place in roughly 24 hours. And a very intense 24 hours it is.
Paul Dellinger covers Pulaski County and Southwest Virginia for this newspaper.
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: headshot of Dean Koontzby CNB