“I might be a writer someday.” — Joe

“Oh, I hope not. You seem so nice.” — Portia


It’s deadly serious as this wonderful little novelette from Dean Koontz begins, but in telling how young Joe Mandel reached that moment in time — so to speak — the narrative is filled with sweetness and charm. There is almost a whimsical tone to Ricochet Joe which is quite refreshing. Joe lives in the small town of Little City, population around twenty-thousand. His life there is pretty good, and he considers himself average. His kind and wise grandmother, Dulcie Rockwell reminds him, however, that there are dedicated practitioners of evil.

Joe is good though, innocent in many ways. One of these includes picking up trash along the roadside with a group of volunteers, and it is there he meets a lovely girl named Portia, who happens to be the police chief’s daughter. Something happens to Joe as he’s picking up trash, and soon he is swept up in the fight between good and evil. The evil is like a puppeteer, and the one trying to stop him, the Seeker, has chosen Joe to be the new paladin. And oh, Portia knows all about this, as does her father, and it’s their dog the Seeker has chosen to inhabit.

Many familiar yet enjoyable elements make up the story, including parallel universes, young love, guns, sacrifice, and of course, innocence. As the story takes on a more serious bend it manages to maintain its charm, for which Koontz must be credited. There is unexpected heartbreak, and a resetting of things which give this little bauble a bittersweet flavor in the end. To say more would ruin it for the reader, but it is an incredibly enjoyable short read.

Because I have a Kindle Keyboard I cannot comment on the illustrations which move and all the bells and whistles those with a Kindle Fire or other similar device can experience with this one. Considering how wonderful the actual story is, however, any and all of that would just be icing on the cake. I loved Ricochet Joe, and highly recommend it. I’ll end my review with this wonderful quote from the book:

“In the momentous night, however, he knew far more sadness than grief, and while deep sadness bruises the heart, it doesn’t leave the enduring scars of profound grief.” ( )

Joe Mandel is an average guy. He leads a normal life, has normal friends, a normal family and normal life plans, if wanting to be a writer is normal. He even volunteers to help his comunity. The day he heads out to pick up trash on the side of the road with a local group, Volunteers for a Better Future, turns out to be the last day his life will be normal. The weird feeling he gets about an elderly woman being mugged.....the weird feeling he gets about a business owner being threatened by thugs.......he runs headlong into danger without thinking twice. It's as if he isn't in control of his own body anymore. Because he isn't. And the daughter of the local police chief, Portia Montclair, is there to tell him exactly why his life will never be the same.

This short novella by Dean Koontz is an interesting read -- definitely classic Koontz (supernatural forces, normal people put in supernormal situations, a magical golden retriever, etc). I was curious about the Kindle-In-Motion illustrations and I like most of Koontz's books, so I paged through the ebook while listening to the audiobook version (came along with the kindle ebook). The actionn moves along quickly since it is a shorter story, with a nice building of suspense and some great action. Nice story! I found several other shorter Koontz stories that I think I will read too since this one was enjoyable.

The Kindle-In-Motion illustrations were ok -- they move a bit. It added an interesting depth (comic book or cartoonish artwork though) to the story. I'm definitely going to look to see what other books they have using the animated artwork.....reminds me of an Edgar Allan Poe app I have on my phone where the art moves just like that. It doesn't work on my PC version of the kindle software though....only on my Fire and my iphone. Drat! The Kindle for PC app just sucks....can't load docs on it so I can't read my e-galley review books on my PC and no animations on Kindle-In-Motion. Why?? I'd sure like to see the movement a little larger than on my iphone 6S or my Kindle Fire screen. *rabble rabble complain moan* :) But back to the story I'm supposed to be talking about.....

Great story! Had to laugh when the required Golden Retriever appeared. So Koontz. :) Woof! ( )

Ricochet Joe
By: Dean Koontz
Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
This tells about an average Joe that sudden acts strange, unique powers. The sheriff's daughter is with him. What she tells him blows his mind! Time, space supernatural, aliens, parasites, and powers. Twists and turns! Awesomeness.
Great narration. ( )

A short story by one of my most favorite authors! Made a long trip very enjoyable! ( )

La verdad es que no quiero abundar mucho hablando de un libro de corta extensión. En resumen, me gustó el principio y no puedo decir lo mismo de las últimas dos partes. Es una obra que se puede terminar de una sentada. Me tomó tres días. El autor describe al personaje principal como un tipo bastante promedio y lo repite tanto que hace que el lector lo crea y no importa los ‘poderes sobrenaturales’ que obtenga o que tan bien parado pueda salir de una batalla cósmica, Joe siempre será un Average Joe. Y sí, el autor es Dean Koontz; pueden esperar la aparición de un perro Golden Retriever. ( )