‘Going Home in the Dark’ by Dean Koontz

Published by Thomas and Mercer,
20 May 2025.
ISBN: 978-1-66250053-4 (HB)

Character remains at the heart of Dean Koontz’s latest book Going Home in the Dark. Emmy Award winning actress Rebecca Crane, successful novelist Bobby Shamrock and acclaimed portrait painter Spencer Truedove are horrified when they learn their childhood friend Ernie has slipped into a coma. They hurry home to the seemingly idyllic town of Maple Grove to rally around their comatose amigo only to find Ernie has died before they reached his hospital bedside. Their solution is to steal another patient’s wheelchair and remove Ernie’s body from the hospital and hide it in the window seat of a house on the off-chance that he is not really dead. Could he merely be suspended in a frozen state of animation? Complications set in when the body goes missing and they make a horrifying discovery in a cellar. Memories buried in the past also come back to haunt them.

Given Dean Koontz has sold over 500 million copies in 38 languages, the reader is left in little doubt that he or she is in the hands of a consummate storyteller with a penchant for suspense and the supernatural. He also has a very funny – if outright subversive – sense of humour. There are a number of laugh out loud moments throughout the book – such as when the reader learns Rebecca’s father once died in a bungee jump that went catastrophically wrong. Dean Koontz also adds depth and texture to the novel by repeatedly breaking the fourth wall to share his views on writing with the reader and to reveal why the novel is structured in the way that it is.

The fact that Going Home in the Dark is number 7 in horror suspense on Amazon ought to tell you everything you need to know. Dean Koontz is writing at the peak of his powers. From the intriguing opening to the jaw-dropping climax, he grabs the reader by the throat and doesn’t release his hold until the final sentence. This is vintage Koontz. If you are not into page turning, you will be delighted to know that actor BJ Harrison gives a brilliant reading of Going Home in the Dark on Audible.
Highly recommended.
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Reviewer Jared Cade

Dean Koontz is acknowledged as "America's most popular suspense novelist" (Rolling Stone) and as one of today's most celebrated and successful writers. He has earned the devotion of millions of readers around the world and the praise of critics everywhere for tales of character, mystery, and adventure that strike to the core of what it means to be human. He lives in Southern California with his wife, Gerda. 

Jared Cade is the Amazon number one bestselling author of Agatha Christie and the Eleven Missing Days as well as Secrets from the Agatha Christie Archives. He is a former tour guide for a bespoke luxury travel company, escorting parties around Agatha Christie’s former home Greenway, in Devon, which is open to the public courtesy of the National Trust. Jared Cade is also the award-winning creator of the crime-solving duo of actor Lyle Revel and cellist Hermione Bradbury. The couple take centre stage in a series of British cosy murder mysteries including The Elusive Dietrich, Murder on London Underground and Murder in Pelham Wood. Their most recent murder mystery Deadly Fortune is being published by Scarab Books on 9 August 2025. Readers can connect with Jared Cade on Facebook.