The Bad Weather Friend

I got the Kindle edition via Prime First Reads. Prior to this, I had read some of the Odd Thomas books, but so long ago that I don't remember much about them, other than they were better than expected.Concurrently, I have a paperback copy of Gustav Meyrink's "Golem" which is written in German, and I have to force myself to read it. I was so intrigued by the description of "The Bad Weather Friend" because it sounded like it was going to be about a Golem. There are some indications that the Spike character might have somewhat of the role of a Golem...a few hints here and there, but really, it is its own type of entity. Frankly, when I started this book, I had to force myself to keep reading it, as it truly was more cumbersome to read this, which is written in English that I use everyday, than it is to read something in a language I was somewhat raised with, but no longer use everyday! There's a ton of very uncommon and unusual words in this book. I highly recommend getting the Kindle copy of this because you can highlight the word and get a definition--usually the definition included "(archaic)" or "(dated)". So its full of archaic and outdated words, but in a sense, that it refreshing and I appreciate it. Almost all of the pop culture references were Midcentury. There's tons of little references to old songs, art, and bizarre names that mean things in other languages, or almost mean something in another language. There's little jokes or Easter eggs that reinforce the true meaning of the name, but for a lot of the readers, even with the reinforcements, I think the joke/ reference will be missed. An example was a character named Theron who is described as "beast," with that name, or rather Therion meaning beast in Greek. Usually, when a foreign phrase is used in dialog, the translation is given later in the dialog; its just the names that go untranslated, but accompanied by hints, like they are insider's jokes for the initiated.It reminds me of 1940s sci-fi in the way it is written. That was my earliest impression, even before much that could be considered sci-fi had happened. Very retro. Even has omniscient narrator sequences. By the end, there's a lot of really retro sci-fi stuff along with an undercurrent of politics (specifically anti-capitalism). Talk of secret societies that use algorithms to repress nice people. Really the closest thing I can compare this book to would be "Illuminatus! Trilogy" by Wilson and Shea. Bizarre, weird, highly intelligent, odd yet meaningful names, politicized, sci-fi, historically rooted, occult, eschatological. Bad Weather Friend is an easier read in comparison, and I did get into it by the final third of the book.Despite the dated cultural references and vocabulary, there are some very current themes in this book, including individuals being targeted via algorithms, and the dangers and consequences of EVs. There are several other themes in this book, including home design and origami (of metals, money, and space-time) but I am not trying to write a book here in this review!One little incident from the book nags at me, I will try to describe it in a way that doesn't spoil anything for a prospective reader, and in hopes that it will help inform at the time it is read. There's an incident where a character gives himself an antidote to a very specific toxin. Something we don't really work with much these days. Back when we did, if the rabbit died, the worker took the antidote. But suppose that the rabbit died of natural causes, not a toxic leak. If that happened, and the worker took the antidote, he would die unless exposed to the toxin. I assume the author is aware of all this, but was afraid to spell it out, or maybe the author had the correct intuition of what happens in these circumstances but didn't know as a matter of absolute fact. Either way, the characters were unaware and assumed incorrectly in regards to the means of a death.Bottom line: this book is superbly well written, sometimes in the same way that TV commercials for big insurance companies are well written, but it was initially difficult for me to get interested in it. Its difficult in the way it is difficult to read some older sci-fi stuff. It is very clever and I loved it for what it is. A lot of smart humor. Many deep insights. Kitschy at times. One of those rare books that I found myself highlighting with various colors, and typing notes into. One of those rare books that I surely will reread in the future. One that will stick with me.

The Bad Weather Friend is the first book that I've read by Dean Koontz, and, as a result, I'm not sure if I'll read another. It wasn't a *bad* book, and I'm sure that anyone who is a Dean Koontz fan will enjoy this read...I just haven't yet decided if it's my cup of tea or if I'm even intrigued enough to invest the time to read another in order to decide when there are definitely other authors whose writing I enjoy more (as well as those for which I have so little appreciation as to not be able to finish the book...this was not one of those). In this book's defense, it kept me wanting to read it enough that I was able to (eventually) complete it even though I did *not* find it a "page turner" that I could not put down. With that being said, I had mixed feelings from the start because my husband, who's even more of a reader than I am, reacted with such distaste when I showed him what I was reading and wished me luck explaining that he had only attempted to read something by Dean Koontz once and was only able to get a few pages in before losing interest. I decided to give this title a chance despite that and don't regret it even though I'm not sure that I'll read another by this author.I enjoyed the development of the three, main characters in this book who were likeable and kept me invested in the read because I wanted to find out what happened to them. The story itself was *not* at all what I was expecting because I was under the impression that it was going to be a thriller but was left settling into rather than sitting on the edge of my seat. There were aspects of the story that were just...strange (while trying to avoid any "spoilers", not just strange concepts, but I, personally, found the parenthetical kind of side-lined comments off-putting), for lack of a better description, and would have turned me completely off of the book had I not taken the bait with the main characters. On the other hand, other aspects of the story were intriguing enough to make it worth my while to hang in there for the characters. Overall, I'm glad that I read this book and enjoyed it enough to finish the read even though there were aspects that turned me off enough to leave me confused as to whether or not I have any desire to read another book by the same author to find out if this is his normal style of writing or if it gets better...

It's been almost 6 years since I read a story book and I really enjoyed this one. It was fun, playful, sometimes surprising, and always interesting; it felt like the author had fun with it.

I read a lot of Dean Koontz books, he's not as dark as Stephen King and a nice easy read plus he has a lot of dogs in his books which I thoroughly approve of.This book was a very different style, still easy to read, still had a dog...and a rabbit but it was different. I really liked it...However be warned there are some weird sidebars to people reading as part of a book club and it pulls you out of the narrative, breaks the spell and adds nothing to the story! It's like the editor added in notes that the author had made by accident. Very odd and fortunately not too intrusive.The story was upbeat, off beat and often funny. I would like to read more with the same palladian and the focus on the nice guys for a change.

I enjoyed this. Another one of Dean’s conspiracy theory books with a sense of fun added. He is a rampant petrol head - which is strange when you remember how liberal he is otherwise - and obviously adores massive gas-guzzlers! Fun book!

Well written. Great prose. Anyone who reads it will feel both sad and happy.It's an important book to read because it is both very serious and also frivolous and fun and a bit scary.It's also a look at the super wealthy of this world and is a warning to them and to the rest of us.I do take issue with Dean's thoughts about electric vehicles, wind farms and solar panels. He needs to suggest a viable alternative. Are internal combustion engines, coal fired power stations or nuclear reactors better?It's a great inspiring read, a beautiful love story, and a treatise about the nature of friendship!Thank you Dean.

I really enjoyed this story! What a fun read into a completely fun dimension; it doesn't take long before we realize we're not dealing with playing old earthly forces. The fantasy that emerges in this tale of a Chase is quite spectacular and I would love to see the special effects in a movie! Message of the story is very strong and very poignant in today's climate of pessimism and anger so it was really nice to read about people who are just nice people battling not so nice situations and people who were definitely not very nice. I didn't care for the occasional author comments that were woven into the actual story, for me it seemed that they sort of snapped me out of the storyline where I probably would have enjoyed staying put.