Preston Maddoc thought it his mission in life to extinquish the lives of the infirm and disabled. . As a cover, he feined the life of one seeking aliens to explain his traveling lifestyle. His step-daughter Leilani, however, was not to be fooled. Late at night, Preston would visit the sleeping Leilani to tell of his mercy killings and bring her a trophy of the deceased. Not asleep at all, she would record these atrocities later, in code, in her journal. Having confided the contents of her journal to her neighbor, Micky Bellsong wasted no time to help the nine year old girl. Sensing the breach, Preston threatened Micky who found Leilani's home abandoned the next day. With the help of a hired detective, the search is on to save Leilani and bring Preston Maddoc down.
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The review of this Book prepared by Tracey Ray
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 eally happrning. 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
The review of this Book prepared by Harriet Klausner
