"Dean Koontz at his best"
Though nearing thirty, Micky Bellsong feels like her life
is stuck in California quicksand with no future and
wondering "is that all there is"? She has a boyfriend and
lacks steady employment forcing her to live in her Aunt
Geneva's trailer. Micky's life changes when she meets her
new trailer neighbor brilliant nine-year-old Leilani Klonk,
a preadolescent suffering from physical deformities. The
precocious Leilani tells Micky wild stories involving alien
abductions, UFOs, her crazy stepfather, and her missing
brother. Though she finds the youngster entertaining,
Micky disbelieves the tales assuming they are the work of a
fertile imagination. However, Micky begins to believe that Leilani's stepfather
plans to kill the little girl if he fails to contact the
aliens whe he belives has the cure for her deformities.
She turns to the authorities to keep her friend safe, but
they write her off as a nut case. Making matters worse,
Leilani and her family vanish into the night. Micky
decides to pursue them because she believes the crafty
stepfather will murder Leilani soon. The dean of suspense writers may have written his best tale
to date with the incredibly insightful taut thriller, ONE
DOOR AWAY FROM HEAVEN. Dean Koontz allows the tension to
slowly boil by fully developing the key cast members so
when the pot overflows with action, readers understand why,
yet remain unsure of what is really happening. The
audience will adore Leilani and root for Micky on her quest
to not only save a little girl, but to find and save
herself too. Dean Koontz is typical Dean Koontz with this
tale, only better than ever. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted January 13, 2002
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