The Other Emily

Today’s post is on The Other Emily by Dean Koontz. It is 362 pages long and is published by Thomas and Mercer. The cover is an illustration of white lilies. The intended reader is someone who likes mystery fiction with a surprising science fiction twist at the end. There is mild foul language, mild sexuality, and some violence in this novel. The story is told from first person close of David , the main character. There Be Spoilers Ahead. 

From the dust jacket- A decade ago, Emily Carlino vanished after her car broke down on a California highway. She was presumed to be one of serial killer Ronny Lee Jessup’s victims whose remains were never found.

Writer David Thorne still hasn’t recovered from losing the love of his life, or from the guilt of not being there to save her. Since then, he’s sought closure any way he can. He even visits regularly with Jessup in prison, desperate for answers about Emily’s final hours so he may finally lay her body to rest. Then David meets Maddison Sutton, beguiling, playful, and keenly aware of all David has lost. But what really takes his breath away is that everything about Maddison, down to her kisses, is just like Emily. As the fantastic becomes credible, David’s obsession grows, Maddison’s mysterious past deepens—and terror escalates.

Is she Emily? Or an irresistible dead ringer? Either way, the ultimate question is the same: What game is she playing? Whatever the risk in finding out, David’s willing to take it for this precious second chance. It’s been ten years since he’s felt this inspired, this hopeful, this much in love…and he’s afraid.

Review- This novel sounds like a horror novel with maybe a fantasy twist but it is not. This is a  mystery novel with a very surprising sci-fi twist at the end, that in my opinion totally jumps the shark and almost ruins the whole novel for me. David is looking for his lost fiancée, who is thought to be a victim of a serial killer living in the area. So for ten years David has been trying to discover what happened to Emily. Then he meets a woman who looks just like her, down to her birthmark. But who is she really and what does she want? Very promising start and for most of the novel, it is very compelling but then Koontz pulls out one heck of a twist at the very end. It was from so far out of left field that it changed how I interacted with the novel. Good novel until the end but the ending is just very odd, I would cautiously recommend with the knowledge that everything will change when you get to the ending. 

I give this a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this novel from my local library.