Velocity, Book Report 2: Choices

The book I am reading is Velocity by Dean Koontz. I really like the book so far. There’s this unknown, unseen, elusive psycho killer sending Billy Wiles, the main character, these notes. The first note that Billy gets says, “If you don’t take this note to the police and get them involved, I will kill a lovely blonde school teacher. If you do take this note to the police, I will instead kill an elderly woman active in charity work. You have six hours to decide. The choice is yours.” He chose to not do anything about the very first note because he thought it was just a really sick joke executed by a coworker. It was not. Billy was really having trouble with deciding whether to act or not on the second note. He was debating with himself on the second note because the “choices” were between a young mother of two and an unmarried man who wouldn’t be missed much by the world. The choice was obvious to him; don’t go to the police so the mother would be saved. But little did he know, the killer had one of Billy’s friends, Lanny, in mind. I agree with Billy for making the choice that he did because Lanny had said to him about the note, “Are you going to choose to make two orphans?” I think that it is really twisted of the killer to have a person choose who dies, when there is not an obvious right and just choice. I hope that Billy eventually finds out something about the psycho killer to stop him so he doesn’t have to continue choosing life or death for people the killer picks.

Theme/Lesson: Frankenstein: book two, City of Night

In Frankenstein: book two, City of Night, there seriously was not a theme. So, I thought that if I finished the third and final installment in the series I would find some sort of theme. How the storyline of the Frankenstein series is, is that the series is a compilation of related stories all told alternating in different chapters. The alternating stories all come together at the end of the series. The Frankenstein series, all three books are really just one story starting in the first book, continuing on through the second and then finishing in the third. Book two, the one I read, was really just a continuation of the first book leading to the second, without a real ending until the last book. The weirdest thing about the series was that since I thought that the end of the series would bring me a theme or lesson, it didn’t. The first and second books in the trilogy did not either. I’m not going to give away the ending of the series. Right when I was reading the ending climax of the book, I was sure there would be a theme or lesson. Now, after reading the climactic part of the end of the last book (where the theme should be, IF there is one at all), it finished without the real main character, Victor Frankenstein, learning anything at all.
Keep in mind that there wasn’t really a theme in my book-report book and that I’m getting my “theme” from the last book in the series. If the series had ended like I thought it was going to end, the theme would be this: if you create or do something really, really terrible, eventually people will try to stop you, and you will get what’s coming to you for doing what you did. Victor was creating a New Race. His New Race was malfunctioning and no longer being obedient to him, so Victor was going to do something about it. He went to where his cruel and twisted experiments on his New Race went when they went wrong. He went to the dump. The workers at the dump were all created by Victor and of the New Race, and since their program within them was malfunctioning, they began to hate Victor. When he went to the dump, he got what was coming to him. That happened, but that’s not quite how the series ended.

Setting- Frankenstein: book two, City of Night

The Frankenstein series takes place in hot and humid New Orleans, Louisiana in present time. Victor Helios Frankenstein’s parts mostly take place in his mansion and in his laboratory. His laboratory used to be an old Catholic mental hospital, The Hands of Mercy. Victor Frankenstein had revamped The Hands of Mercy, on the inside, to make it so he can create his people, the New Race.
Frankenstein’s mansion is almost like a palace. To him, it is his kingdom and he is the ruler. The mansion is very large and lavish with mountains of luxuries and rare historical pieces. Victor’s mansion is very technologically advanced and very tasteful and expensive. Even his bathroom is fit for royalty. His master suite has two bathrooms, one for him and one for the current edition of his wife, Erika Five. Victor’s bathroom is over sixteen hundred square feet of extravagance, with a steam room, spa, two under the counter refrigerators, an icemaker, a fully stocked bar, a microwave, three plasma screen televisions with Blu-Ray, and a cabinet full of whips. The faucets and other fixtures were gold plated, as was the flush handle on the toilet. The rest of his bathroom retreat is covered in mirrors. All that, and it’s just one bathroom.
There are many, many rooms, passageways and hallways in the Helios’s mansion. There is a library stocked with fine literature from over the centuries. All the furniture in the mansion is fancy, expensive and/ or a priceless antique. Victor has also acquired some famous, valuable artwork and paintings from some well-known artists. Many rooms and hallways are also adorned with huge, beautiful, intricately woven rugs. The maids, butlers and housekeepers all maintain the grandeur of Victor’s immense manor.
The Hand’s of Mercy, Victor’s New Race manufacturing lab, is also very large. Mercy’s externals to the naked eye are just a broken down and boarded up, long forgotten old hospital. On the inside, The Hands of Mercy is highly technological, spotless and uncontaminated, and swathed in machines and computers. There are several creation tanks from which most of the New Race was birthed. Some of Victor’s other creation are submerged into a nutrient supply bath and hook up to machines so they can survive.
The setting is a very important part in the story. In Frankenstein, the setting really helps create a picture in your mind’s eye. Another city and state wouldn’t change the story too drastically, but it helps in conveying the atmosphere and the mood.

Conflicts: Frankenstein, book two, City of Night

There are a whole big bunch of conflicts in Frankenstein: book two, City of Night. Some of the main conflicts are: Victor Helios Frankenstein and the Old Race (humans), Deucalion and Victor Frankenstein, Randal Six and himself, Benny and Cindi Lovewell and Carson O'Connor and Michael Maddison, and Benny and Cindi The gist of the conflicts are described below.
Victor versus the Old Race; Victor wants to infiltrate, and has a little already, the Old Race by terminating some humans and replacing them with New Race copies made by Victor. He also creates unique New Race members, too. Some for experiments, some for his employment, and some for replacement. Victor sends some of them into the world to live amongst the Old Race.
Deucalion versus Victor Frankenstein; Deucalion, Victor's first, failed attempt to make the perfect person, has different ideas. Deucalion wants to kill Victor so that he doesn't create any more New Race people so he doesn't take over and rule the world and command with his iron fisted malevolence.
Randal Six versus himself; Randal Six is of the New Race and Victor had programmed him to be a severe agoraphobic and severely autistic. Randal found a newspaper clipping of Carson O'Connor's autistic brother, Arnie, smiling with her. Randal has never smiled or been really happy before. He sets out of the Hands of Mercy, and old Catholic mental hospital that Victor turned into his laboratory. Randal is waging war against his autism and agoraphobia so he can venture all the way outside of Mercy to learn Arnie's secret to his happiness. He used his love of crossword puzzles to “spell” his way out of Mercy with each step he took.
Benny Lovewell and Cindi Lovewell versus Carson O'Connor and Michael Maddison; Victor Frankenstein had created Benny and Cindi to be ruthless killing machine assassins. Frankenstein had sent them out to exterminate Carson and Michael so the Lovewells can help Victor nix Carson, Michael and Deucalion's plan to terminate Helios and his New Race. Carson and Michael's conflict was solved by the elusive Deucalion showing up and giving the Lovewells a hardcore beating.
Benny Lovewell versus Cindi Lovewell; Since they both really like their jobs, the were the perfect choice for assassinating Carson and Michael. All Benny wants is to get the job done quickly, and gruesomely. Cindi likes killing very much, too, but she wants something else,to have a baby with Benny, but they both know she can't. Now, the way the New Race was engineered, they were not created to be able to reproduce, or with the instinct that they had to. The New Race doesn't need to procreate. Cindi buys baby clothes in secret with a reluctant Benny, who doesn't understand what the fuss is all about and they argue. They try to solve their conflict by Cindi looking up Voodoo fertility rituals so that they can have a baby, and by Benny's giving in to Cindi's irrationality.

Main Character Pt. 2: Frankenstein, book two City of Night

There are a few characters that show up quite often, so I choose another one of my favorite characters, Carson O'Connor. Carson O’Connor is a police homicide detective with her partner and very good friend, the joker Michael Maddison. Carson is very dedicated and determined. She also really likes to kick some butt, because that is her reputation. She lives with her twelve year old autistic little brother, Arnie, and his caretaker, Vicky Chou. Carson is confident, intense and focused and always gets the job done right. She also really likes big, door busting guns and shooting people (when it's necessary.)
She really likes Michael a lot and had thought about having a romantic relationship with him, but she has not acted on her thoughts so far because she thought that would mess up their professional, perfect partnership. If you put Carson O’Connor in any sort of vehicle, you better be equipped with a helmet, health insurance and some good luck, because she is a maniac. She practically never obeys speed limits and Michael is always BS-ing her about it. She also banters back and forth with Michael about how she can't fathom how he can actually follow the speed limit. She does that on the rare occasions when she does let him get behind the wheel. Carson and Michael work amazingly together, just like peanut butter and jelly.
“She was not a frills and roses kind of girl. She was a blue jeans and guns kind of girl,” was the description of Carson when she was handed a beautiful rose by her elderly custom gun supplier and criminal has-been in his rose garden. Carson is strong, independent and no-frills. She knows street slang and has used her knowledge to bag some thugs who were extorting money from innocent passersby. She is very tough and can hold her own in a fight or shoot out. Carson O’Connor lives in New Orleans, Louisiana where she also works in the NOPD.
Carson’s brother, Arnie lives upstairs in his room in their house building his expansive Lego castle. She is very protective over her little brother. Carson and her partner, Michael had shot dead the man who would have tried to kill Arnie and get something from the kid. She really wants the best for him and to keep him safe. Carson had to let Deucalion, an ally to the humans, take Arnie to Tibet so he could be secure until Frankenstein and his empire are destroyed.

Frankenstein: Like/Dislike, recommendations

I really liked this book, a lot. The Frankenstein series, in my opinion, is one of the best stories ever. But, if you want to read it, you should read the first Frankenstein book in the series beforehand. I only have one tiny issue with this book and series so far; it’s that you have to read them all consecutively or else the whole story will not make any sense because when you finish one book, it’s not the end of the story line in that book. It continues into the next book. It isn’t a real problem, though, because the series is amazing. I have never read anything like this before, and I thought it was really, really cool and also very creepy.
I would recommend this series to anyone that likes Dean Koontz. If you have never read any of his books before and you like weird, then Frankenstein is a fabulous start. The Frankenstein series would also be ideal for people who like suspense, murder, gore, cloning, sci-fi, dark humor and guns. I would definitely read more books by Dean Koontz, and I already have read some. He has sort of a crazy, twisted imagination that produces insane and great novels. Somehow, if there are any more books with a related topic I would gladly find them and read them.
I think a lot of people would like to read this book because it’s very different. Then again, some might be hindered by my description of why others would like this book or series. Even if you don’t like blood, guts and gore, the creating people and direct to brain data downloading part is cool. The Frankenstein series is very engrossing and they are really difficult to put down. It has a few stories all going on at the same time and they are all connected in a way. The main characters in each part of the story are Carson O’Connor and Michael Maddison, Deucalion, Randal Six, Victor Helios (Frankenstein), Helios’s wife Erika Five, Benny Lovewell and Cindi Lovewell, and Nick Frigg and his garbage dump crew. The topic of this series is very interesting and unusual, it’s about one man creating the perfect race of people via tanks and vats to kill and replace humans, or the Old Race, with the people Victor has created to essentially take command over the world.

Main Character Pt. 1: Frankenstein, book two City of Night

Deucalion was Victor Frankenstein's first, failed attempt to create a perfect race of people some two hundred years ago. His flesh was the flesh of many criminals' bodies that have been plucked from a prison graveyard immediately following their burial. His two hearts, one from a mad arsonist who burned churches, and the other from a child molester. Deucalion's hands were harvested from a convicted strangler. His brain had once filled the cranium unknown, violent miscreant. His gray eyes had been taken from an executed ax murderer. Occasionally a soft luminous pulse flickered through them, reminiscent of his day of birth brought about by the lightning.

Immense and fearsome, Deucalion was of intimidatingly towering size with an exquisitely beautiful face. Half of that face was ruined by his maker over a hundred years ago. Deucalion had camouflaged the extent of the damage with an elaborate, geometric pattern tattoo given to him by a friend, and Tibetan monk in a monastery in which he stayed there for a very long period of time.

Deucalion was brought to life by lightning, one of Frankenstein's more primitive methods of creating life. All of Victor Frankenstein's creations have been programmed without free will, a proscription against suicide, killing their master and killing without their master's consent. Deucalion only has the second and third proscriptions within him He feels he needs to kill his maker because Frankenstein is trying, and beginning to succeed in killing and then replacing the human race (the Old Race) with his race (the New Race).

Deucalion is stoic, but everything he says is serious and has great meaning. He also has a gentler or softer side- if you could call it soft or gentle. A child of Mercy, Mercy born and Mercy raised, a New Race pastor was sent to blend in with the Old Race. (The Hands of Mercy was an old Catholic hospital that Frankenstein converted into his lab where he creates New Race people.) This New Race pastor was malfunctioning and was begging to Deucalion, saying he wants to kill or to be killed. Deucalion relieved him of his suffering, via an begged for mercy killing .Out of all of the New Race creations, Deucalion is really the only ally to the Old Race to help them stop Frankenstein.

Memoir

A couple of days before my twelfth Christmas, something pretty depressing occurred. Lady, the cocker spaniel at my dad's house was probably 14 years old, and I knew her for about four or five of those years. She was kind of small and about 25-30 pounds. Her fur was a pretty dull gold color, her ears were floppy and the fur on her ears was wavy. Lady had become ill and skinny and was not getting better. She couldn't really control her bodily functions that well anymore, and had trouble walking up and down stairs. My dad's girlfriend had to buy her diapers, which she cut a little hole in each one for Lady's tail. At the end of the first week of December, my dad's girlfriend went outside in Arctic tundra that is Minnesota in the winter to go check on her poor dog. (I wasn't at their house at the time, but I was told what had all happened.) She finds Lady outside in the dog yard laying on the ground, motionless. She picks her up, hoping the worst hasn't happened, but it had. Something else unfortunate had happened, too: the door to outside was locked. She was out there with Lady for a while, but she eventually got help.

"I have some bad news, Lady died," my dad said dully when he picked my brother and I up for the weekend. I cried in the car all the way to his house. Lady was laid to rest in the backyard next to their other deceased pet, a cat named Tommy.