Dark Rivers of the Heart by Dean Koontz

This is another tale of the possibilites that one's heart is willing to take.

Spencer Grant is haunted by his past. He despises it yet he stubbornly clings to it, waiting for an opportunity to understand a part of himself that he's afraid to explore. When he met valerie Keene, everything changed for him. He could not explain why he was drawn to that woman but he just knew that if he could just talk to her, he'll know the answers. But Valerie's gone and now he's being pursued by an unknown group of people. People with power and influence. And they won't stop.

Dark Rivers of the Heart is divided into two parts: On a Strange Sea and To the Source of the Flow. Like most of Dean Koontz's books, the characters have dark pasts that they somehow had to accept and overcome. But unlike the usual Koontz protagonists, Roy Miro isn't well-educated, smart and wealthy. But he's overly confident and merciless. Although he himself was not blessed with good looks or a high I.Q., he believes he's entitled to the the privileges he's getting. Coupled with Eve Jammer, they make an annoying and formidable opposition.

For the first time, I hated one of Koontz's protagonists. Waiting for Miro's punishment kept me going. I didn't like what he did to Harris Descoteaux.

The ending was a bit disappointing to me. I was expecting Miro to die a painful death, but I guess bringing down the secret government agency in which he belongs is just too complex. Besides, the ending showed that Grant and the others were willing to fight and to save victims like themselves.

I liked the tension between Spencer and his father near the end of the book. I also did not anticipate Spencer's father, Steven Ackblom, to turn things around. Readers will also get to compare which character is crazier: Miro or Ackblom?

I recommend this to any Koontz fan who wants to see some slight changes in the type of characters. Miro is an effective nemesis. You'd love to hate him.