What a difference one book makes. After finding Book 1 of Dean Koontz' Frankenstein series, despite its far-out premise that Victor Frankenstein and his monster were still alive and well and roaming New Orleans today, steered clear of farce I have to declare Book 2, City of Night, a horrible bit of writing.
Only 7 CDs in duration (I listened to the audiobook version), the first CD and a half were consumed in establishing the basic plot and introducing characters for readers who skipped Book 1. And while Book 1 ended with some resolution but obviously unfinished plot points, Book 2 might as well have ended in mid-sentence - completely, totally, irrevocably unsatisfying.
Without giving away too much of the plot, Book 2 finds us dealing more with Dr. Frankenstein's current crop of "machines of meat" and specifically with how they are starting to behave in ways contrary to their construction and programming. In doing so, the authors make a mockery of what could've been an examination of what it means to be human and instead create characters that are (unintentionally?) comedic, failing to rise above Saturday morning standards.
Most damning of all is the fact that not a single plot point is resolved - not a single one. And there's no way I'm proceeding to Book 3 let alone all the way to Book 5. Making my experience with Book 2 a complete. Waste. Of. Time.
To be fair, this is one of those books where the author's name is in the book's title and he has a co-author (i.e. the guy who wrote most of it), in this case Ed Gorman. Perhaps it's Mr. Gorman's work that I don't appreciate. Also, Book 1 was read by one of my favorite voice actors, Scott Brick, whereas Book 2 was read by John Bedford Lloyd who sounded like a guy practicing accents.
Dean Koontz, whose work I usually enjoy, has a website at www.deankoontz.com.
You can read my review of Book 1, Frankenstein: Prodigal Son here.
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