Ticktock

by Dean Koontz

1997

Status

Available

Genres

Horror

All Topics

Fiction

Collection

Standard Shelves

Publication

Ballantine Books (1997), Edition: First Edition

Description

Fiction. Horror. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:Tommy Phan is a 30-year-old Vietnamese-American detective and novelist living in Southern California, and a chaser of the American Dream. He drives home his brand-new Corvette one day to discover a strange doll on his doorstep. It's a rag doll made entirely of white cloth, with no face or hair or clothes. Where the eyes should be, there are two crossed stitches of black thread. Five sets of crossed black stitches mark the mouth, and another pair form an X over the heart. He brings it into the house. That night, he hears an odd little popping sound and looks up to see the crossed stitches over the doll's heart breaking apart. When he picks up the doll, he feels something pulsing in its chest. Another thread unravels to reveal a reptilian green eye �??and not a doll's eye, because it blinks. Tommy Phan pursues the thing as it scrambles away into his house �?? and then is pursued by it as it evolves from a terrifying and vicious minikin into a hulking and formida… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Spiceca

A nice fast paced story which left me wondering about the "monster", that is until the ending. The ending which was hastily thrown together with two many outrageous additions. Koontz was good until he had to create a believable/plausible ending. Sometimes mixing genres can be fine but in this

instance it simply doesn't mesh very well and the last couple of chapters should have been done without. Not one of Koontz great stories. Only mediocre story at best with a very poor ending.

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LibraryThing member fingerpost

A Chinese immigrant finds a rag doll on his porch, which hatches into a little monster which rapidly becomes a big monster, chasing him and the lunatic heroine who rescues him all over the city. The preposterous storyline would give this only 2 stars, but I'll give it a third for its frequent

humorous elements.

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LibraryThing member dcoward

A rare funny story from Koontz. A Vietnamese American conflicted about his heritage runs into a madcap heiress/waitress and, with her weirdly smart dog, goes on the run from a doll.

LibraryThing member Scoshie

Tommy Phan finds a small rag doll on his doorstep. It's a simple doll, covered entirely in white cloth, with crossed black stitches for the eyes and mouth, and another pair forming an X over the heart What does it mean and what happens after he hears a tearing noise and then finds the dolls

stitching town. Follow Detective Novelist Tommy Phan as he tries to figure out whats going on with the clock ticking down

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LibraryThing member Mumugrrl

Like all of Dean Koontz's books this one was fast-paced and the tension built as the protagonist, a Vietnamese-American author and a strange young waitress that he's just met, are thrown together on the lam from an evil supernatural rag doll that chases them through the night. Koontz deliberately

mixed the thriller genre with the screwball comedy genre to come up with this entertaining novel, and while I enjoyed it, I think the wackiness of the waitress and her uncannily smart dog just didn't really work for me.

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LibraryThing member melydia

Your typical Koontz story: Ordinary Man finds ordinary life turned upside down out of nowhere by Pure Evil, in an event that is usually inexplicable and/or random. Most of book involves Ordinary Man being chased by Pure Evil. Along the way he finds or confirms his True Love. In the end, Pure Evil

is destroyed, Ordinary Man is (re)united with his True Love, and everything ends happily.In this particular novel, Vietnamese-American Tommy Phan discovers a strange ragdoll on his doorstep which turns into a demon trying to kill him. Most of the book is spent on Tommy and his newfound love Del fleeing from said demon. Del is extremely mysterious in what I suppose was meant to be an amusing way, but I thought she was really obnoxious, and I couldn't figure out what Tommy saw in her. On the other hand, I loved Tommy's mother.Yes, the story is a tad silly (Del's secrets, when finally revealed, are even sillier), but it's Koontz. If you like Koontz, you'll like this one. It's a fun, light read.

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LibraryThing member Michelle9436

Ticktock is a book like all the others that Dean Koontz has written: a normal person leading a normal life that gets his/her life changed by an evil source. I really enjoyed this abnormal, love story. The book is about a novelist, Tommy Phan, who is encountered with and evil rag doll that is trying

to kill him. Along his journey of trying to save his own life he meets the love of his life, Del Payne. Throughout the story Tommy is constantly reminded of how seperated he is from his family and Vietnamese culture and of how differently Del sees the world compared to everyone else. Ironically, Del is the last person Tommy's mom would like him to marry. At the end of the story the demon doll is defeated and Tommy is reunited with his one true love and the story ends happily.

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LibraryThing member TheBooknerd

An overall lame and underwhelming book, but it does have some dark humor to it. Worth a chuckle or two, but that's all.

LibraryThing member junesong

This book was so weird...and gave me nightmares. I guess that was the point?

LibraryThing member wrongwayhome

You have to read this as comedy, then you'll get your pleasure.

LibraryThing member Ti99er

It has been a long while since I picked up a Koontz novel. Back in high school I remember attempting to read one of his books, but never finished it. I guess I just couldn’t suspend my beliefs enough to enjoy a horror novel. Well I thought I’d give it another try, when I saw Tick Tock in the

book isle in the grocery store. Thinking it was a newer novel but later realizing it must simply be a re-release under a new publisher (copyright 1996). In any case, I psyched myself up and settled in for what I hopped would be an enjoyable horror read. What I found instead was a sort of pseudo sci-fi comic relief adventure. But I must say that is was well done. The characters were engaging, witty, and believable; to the extent that you can believe people who are being chased by a summoned demon from the underworld. I certainly enjoyed the story for what it was, an entertaining read.

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LibraryThing member gma2lana

This was a good/strange/weird book. HOWEVER, I did enjoy it, it was fast paced, a little out there, but a good story with the exception of the weird ending.

LibraryThing member JHemlock

I thought this was a pretty good little story. Koontz changed his drive and decided to channel some Lovecraft. This book has been reviewed as being racist. That is malarkey. There is nothing racist whatsoever about this story. First of all. Using ethnic dialog IS NOT RACIST. I have been to many

Southeast Asian countries....this is how many speak. Other than things that are penned for the purpose of plot there is no hatred towards any race or culture in the pages of this book. It is a story plain and simple. A fictional suspense story with some horror thrown in. Koontz is not trying to hurt anyone in this story. As for the story itself....it is quick, simple and to the point. After reading so much Koontz and usually knowing what to expect; this one left me guessing until the end. Not a bad read at all. Thumbs up Mr. Koontz.

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LibraryThing member harpua

It's actually been a bit since I read a Koontz book. Feeling the need to fill some time in between other larger books, I chose a Koontz at random. Tick Tock, as with many of his novels, is a quick and easy read. There is nothing that truly stands out or is completely memorable, but I did enjoy

this. It was a fun read. An interesting idea that took me some time to figure out what was going on. It wrapped up nicely, in fact it had a happy ending, though there were a few questions I still had and would be interested in reading more of the back story on this.

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LibraryThing member Carol420

Dean Koontz is one of my many favorite authors. I haven’t been disappointed in any of his books and this one is certainly no exception. While it doesn’t seem to be typical of Koontz other books…it does have some supernatural elements and a few tense scenes but overall it's not as “heavy”

as many of his others. I didn’t care much for Tommy to start with but he does grow on you and before long you find him to be a great character. He’s a Vietnamese-American… a struggling author that finds himself pulled into strange events beyond his understanding and certainly out of his control. The entire book is a semi-scary story with a lot more humor than Koontz fans are accustomed to…but absolutely worth the time to read it.

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LibraryThing member PaulaGalvan

This book was a crazy ride inside Dean Koontz's wild imagination. When Tommy Phan buys his dream car—an aqua Corvette—he's convinced it's the best day of his life. Nothing could have prepared him for what was coming…like a demonic rag doll and a night of pure terror. Throw in a beautiful,

magical girl with a dog who's the most intelligent person in the room, and you have one heck of a wild tale.

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LibraryThing member TheTreeReader

Amazing! This book has everything you could possibly want. It has incredible characters, an interesting plot, creepy moments, funny moments, action, and on top of all that, it’s well written.

This was my first Dean Koontz book. I had been wanting to read something by him for a long time but just

never got around to it until I picked up this book. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much while reading a book. Del is by far my favorite fictional character. I love her so much.

This may have been my first Koontz book, but it wont be my last. You need to read this one.

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LibraryThing member andyray

i love the imagination of this author! this is a chiller mixed with comedy. You must have an open mind, though. I doubt many Republicans read Koontz.

LibraryThing member SharonMariaBidwell

Mingle a devil doll, an unexplainable creature, a mad headlong dash to escape its deadly intent, a woman who seems more capable than any secret agent, and a dog with more abilities than your most intelligent canine and to some this book may seem ridiculous. The author explains his reason for

writing this, but on this re-read, all I can say is it’s a lot of fun. Suspend belief and go along for the ride and the book reaches a satisfying if extraordinary conclusion. Some books are purely there to entertain.

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