I am still in a reading slump, going on three years now. Covid changed my reading habits. For this article, I considered several books but just could not settle on one to review. I even went through my “To Read Some Day” pile. After discarding several ideas, I have decided to revisit a book I consider a classic – Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz. I first published this article in July 2020.
The love and admiration I expressed in this article still hold true today. This book is a ‘feel good’ story for me. Any time I feel depressed or down or unable to keep up with what I think people expect of me, I can read this book and it lifts my spirits. (I do much better with fiction than with self-help books.) It even has a creepy clown! Honestly, this clown is much creepier than Stephen King’s Pennywise. Pennywise is a fictional supernatural alien who can shift into multiple forms. Conrad Beezo, the antagonist of this novel, is fictional as well. But he could be the person standing next to you in the grocery line. He could be filling his gas tank at the pump next to you. He could be in the hospital waiting room with you, pacing himself into a fury.
So let’s take a step back in time to the summer of 2020. If I didn’t convince you the first time to read Life Expectancy, maybe I will now!
Previously published – I have a literary crush. Mister Darcy is a classical favorite of many readers, but I am smitten with James “Jimmy” Tock. The narrator of the book, Jimmy is born the same night his grandfather dies. Before grandpa Josef passes, he sits up and clearly states that the new child will have five dark days in his life, including dates and years. His statements could be dismissed as stroke-induced ramblings, but he also predicts Jimmy’s exact weight, height, and time of birth. Most startling, he predicts that the baby will be born with a condition known as syndactyly – the fusing of digits on hands or feet.
While Josef and Jimmy are saying goodbye and hello to the world, Jimmy’s father is pacing the waiting room with a clown. An honest-to-goodness clown from a local traveling circus, complete with grease paint and a porkpie hat. His name is Konrad Beezo and will play an important role in the lives of Jimmy and his family. I know many people love clowns, but I am a full-fledged member of the “Clowns are Creepy!” tribe. And Konrad Beezo does not change my mind.
This starts a crazy tale narrated by Jimmy, a self-proclaimed lummox. Told in the first person, you feel like you are sitting in a cozy cafe listening to your best friend reminiscence about his life. Jimmy takes us through the surreal events he experiences, in particular the five dark days predicted for him. There is violence and darkness, but there is also joy and love, and goodness.
I cannot say this enough: I love Jimmy Tock. His understated humor and self-deprecating sense of self make you root for him while infusing the novel with a comic vibe. Not laugh-out-loud funny (though I chuckled often at Jimmy’s views) but one of this – life is good, even if bad things happen; so we must take the joy and laughter we are given and live fully each and every day.
Originally published in 2004, Life Expectancy is available in e-reader format, paperback, and hardback. Get this book! You will love Jimmy also!
From Amazon –Before he died on a storm-wracked night, Jimmy Tock’s grandfather predicted that there would be five dark days in his grandson’s life—five dates whose terrible events Jimmy must prepare himself to face. The first is to occur in his twentieth year, the last in his thirtieth. What terrifying events await Jimmy on these five critical days? What challenges must he survive? The path he follows will defy every expectation and will take all the love, humor, and courage he possesses. For who Jimmy Tock is and what he must accomplish on the five days his world turns is a mystery both dangerous and wondrous.
