Lightning by Dean Koontz

Laura Shane was born on a night of a freakish lightning storm. Her life since then has been filled with both despair and mystery. Despite losing her mother and later her father at an early age, Laura grew up to be a strong and positive woman. Through most of the trying times of her life, from her birth then an incident with a store robber and more, Laura feels like she's being watched over by someone. This guardian appears during some of her life-threatening encounters and what's more puzzling is that he does not seem to age even as years pass. Ever since his last appearance however, Laura begins to doubt the existence of this blond, blue-eyed, gun-toting guardian.

Lightning's pace is consistent from start to finish even when the timeline jumps from days to years sometimes. Laura's fantastic experiences may be a bit exaggerated but they are consistent with the idea in which the story revolves. The technical details explaining the guardian's appearances is explained well but the book will not drown the reader in unnecessary information. It is partly historical fiction and sci-fi, both of which were handled just enough not to make me cringe with embarrassment. The last part seems protracted though.

The book has some excellent lines. This passage in particular is my favorite:

"... there are two things that different kinds of people believe that are the worst... some people believe the best way to solve a problem is with violence... 

Pacifism... pacifists believe you should never lift a hand against another human being no matter what he has done or what you know he's going to do.

You try to avoid violence. You never start it. But if someone else starts it, you defend yourself, friends, family, anyone who's in trouble."

Like most of the author's books in the 1980s, Lightning has vivid action scenes, the skillful choice of words to get his points across, witty humor, and unforgettable characters. The book has all the familiar Koontz trademark that fans of his earlier books love.

Rating: 8 out of 10