Chase : Roman

''Strange Highways'' is the title story in Koontz's (e.g., The Servants of Twilight, Audio Reviews, LJ 2/1/94) new collection of short stories. Joey Shannon, an alcoholic whose life has been going nowhere for 20 years, returns to his hometown for the funeral of his father. As he leaves town, he gets a mysterious second chance to relive the night in 1975 when his life began its downward spiral: to both literally and figuratively take the road that he didn't originally take. On this road he is supremely tested by conflict with his successful and charismatic older brother P.J., by conflict between his cynicism and his lost faith, and by conflict between the ultimate good and evil. Actor James Spader's reading is somewhat uneven, often invested with the right measure of blas cynicism but occasionally too rushed and monotonal. Nevertheless, this audiobook will be popular. Recommended for fiction collections.-Kristen L. Smith, Loras Coll. Lib., Dubuque, Ia. A frightening novella from the #1 New York Times master of suspense Ben Chase is a war hero, but a reluctant one. He struggles with bitter memories and feels alienated from the culture to which he has returned. When he claims that a psychopath is stalking him, he has by then made such an outsider of himself that no one believes him. He must resurrect the repressed warrior within to save himself and a woman he comes to love. Heroes need monsters to slay, and they can always find them—within if not without. Der junge Vietnamveteran Ben Chase ist ein gefeierter Held - man rühmt seine Kriegstaten und die Medien reißen sich um ihn. Doch als Chase zufällig einen brutalen Mord beobachtet, wird sein Leben plötzlich zum Alptraum, weil die Berichte in der Presse dem Killer seinen Namen verraten. Eine gnadenlose Jagd beginnt Ben Chase is a war hero with bitter memories. Vietnam left him with a hard drinking habit, a mental breakdown -- and massive guilt. So who will believe him when he swears a psychopath is out to get him? When society is sick, the mad are sane -- and persecution is a killer's game!