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By Dean Koontz 

ISBN-13: 9780804180672
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Publication date: 6/3/2014
Series: e-short story (The City)
Format: eBook
My Rating: 5 Stars

Dean Koontz’s THE NEIGHBOR, a novella, e-short story to prepare- tantalize, readers for the exiting upcoming book, THE CITY.

PS. Just finished THE CITY, as received an ARC (it is like no other book-5 stars). Had to go back and read, the e-short story, (as did not want to miss a thing)!

THE NEIGHBOR gives you a little background of Malcom Pomerantz, a little OCD, a musician, and saxophone child prodigy, and very inquisitive young boy of twelve.

Malcom is white and his best friend, Jonah is black, also a musician and a piano prodigy.

They met in 1967, when Jonah and his mom moved in with Jonah’s grandfather, across the street from Malcom’s family. THE CITY is more about Jonah, even though Malcom and his sister are part of the book, as well.

Jonah is eccentric, talented, smart, intuitive and Malcom is a talented, comedian, and geek misfit. Together they make a dynamic duo of music, mischief, and dreams---you cannot even imagine. They meet when Jonah is ten and Malcom, twelve.

They grow up friends, and at age fifty-seven and fifty-nine, Jonah tells his story into a tape recorder—his story will become THE CITY, starting back before age seven.

Along with this incredible, suspenseful, an engaging, story and a big part of THE CITY, is Amalia, Malcom’s big sister, age seventeen. They were very close—she is smart, talented, a writer, and an old soul.

In early June, nearly a month before Jonah moved across the street, some strange things began happening one door west of him, at the former Rupert Clockenwall place (who died of a massive heart attack the month prior). Is there a story here about this guy, and was he really Teacher of the Year material?

The late Clockenwall’s only surviving relative was a brother who lived far away and the house is empty with ghosts and much more, as they discover a past and evidence which proves this guy was very disturbed.

Of course, having the usual fantasy life of a twelve-year-old there was sometimes imagined dramas when none existed. Rupert seemed to have been too bland a soul to come back from the grave on a haunt? Who was Melinda Lee—a middle school girl who three months before her thirteenth birthday, went missing? What does this guy have to do with his sister and the cross she began wearing at age fifteen?

Read both books. Mesmerizing. You will not be disappointed!

The City

7/1/14

#1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz is

at the peak of his acclaimed powers with this major new novel.

5 Stars!

The city changed my life and showed me that the world is deeply mysterious. I need to tell you about her and some terrible things and wonderful things and amazing things that happened . . . and how I am still haunted by them. Including one night when I died and woke and lived again.

Here is the riveting, soul-stirring story of Jonah Kirk, son of an exceptional singer, grandson of a formidable “piano man,” a musical prodigy beginning to explore his own gifts when he crosses a group of extremely dangerous people, with shattering consequences. Set in a more innocent time not so long ago, The City encompasses a lifetime but unfolds over three extraordinary, heart-racing years of tribulation and triumph, in which Jonah first grasps the electrifying power of music and art, of enduring friendship, of everyday heroes.

The unforgettable saga of a young man coming of age within a remarkable family, and a shimmering portrait of the world that shaped him, The City is a novel that speaks to everyone, a dazzling realization of the evergreen dreams we all share. Brilliantly illumined by magic dark and light, it’s a place where enchantment and malice entwine, courage and honor are found in the most unexpected quarters, and the way forward lies buried deep inside the heart.