Dean Koontz virtually invented the cross-genre novel, and in One Door Away from Heaven he mixes an action thriller with post-X-Files alien paranoia to remarkable effect. Micky Bellsong is a young woman at a crisis point in her life, using a stay at her Aunt Geneva's to sort things out. Then the precocious and deformed Leilani Klonk walks into her life, telling stories of her stepfather and drugged-up mother, who believe aliens will beam the girl into their mothership and heal her deformities before her 10th birthday. But tales of the stepfather's vicious past, including his hand in several murders, leave Micky believing that a far more terrible fate awaits her friend. So when the parents take off with Leilani, Micky pursues.

As is typical with a Koontz novel, nothing turns out to be what it seems, and the meticulously crafted plot tightens like a noose with every turn of the page. His characters are exceptionally drawn, driving the novel forward with realism and warmth. Micky is one of his more attractive young heroines, but the real star is Leilani, a mature young girl whose plucky nature and sparkling dialogue instantly make her Koontz's most memorable creation. She embodies his belief that despite violence, pain, and suffering, there is always goodness to be found in every person and situation. Koontz has once again proven why he is one of the premier novelists of his generation. --Jonathan Weir, Amazon.co.uk


From Publishers Weekly
Koontz's latest is powered by an impassioned stand against utilitarian bioethics, and it's chock-a-block with trademark characters vulnerable kids, nurturing parental substitutes, a dog of above-average intelligence and a villain of insuperable nastiness sure to provoke a pleasurable conditioned response from his readers. The discursive story coalesces from two converging subplots steeped in the weirdness of fringe ufology: in one, loser Michelina Bellsong struggles to save crippled nine-year-old Leilani Klonk from an evil stepdad planning to pass off her imminent disposal as a benevolent alien abduction; in the other, a strange boy who goes by the alias Curtis Hammond is the quarry of two cross-country manhunts, one led by the FBI and the other by mass murderers who, like the messianic Curtis, may not be what they seem. En route to a pyrotechnic finale in rural Idaho, Koontz shoots bull's-eyes at target issues that shape his theme, including assisted suicide, substance abuse, the irresponsibility of the counterculture and the goofiness of true-believer ET enthusiasts. Koontz's once form-fitting style has gotten baggy of late, however, and readers may find themselves wishing he had better filtered the flights of fancy his characters sometimes indulge at chapter length. For all that, the novel is surprisingly focused on its inspirational message "we are the instruments of one another's salvation and only by the hope that we give to others do we lift ourselves out of the darkness into light" and conveys it with such conviction that only the most critical will demur. (Dec. 26)Forecast: A terrific cover, depicting two female figures on a country path beneath a star-filled night sky, will alert browsers to the awe and mystery within the novel; Koontz's name and Bantam's promo machine will do the rest. Koontz could hit #1 with this one.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
A disabled child, a life-worn private detective, an innocent ex-con, and a mysterious orphan find themselves drawn together in a dawning awareness of the sanctity of life and the need to protect it from the efforts of those practicing utilitarian bioethics. In sharp contrast to her gently hypnotic narrative passages, Anne Twomey's soft voice explodes into Koontz's countless and complex characters. Each springs to sparkling life, with his own unique humor, horror, or quirkiness. Twomey misses not one shade of Koontz's ironic intent, and the moments of laughing out loud at text and performance equal those of recoiling in horror and choking back tears of sympathy. Overlying the listening experience is a developing awareness of our own responsibility to question, not only moral values, but the values of those charged with safeguarding them. R.P.L. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
Koontz's latest is a tale of redemption from fallen lives and of faith in the universe--nothing we haven't seen before. Not to say it isn't entertaining. It will enthrall readers. But nothing extraordinary awaits them at the end. The writing is baroque, and there seems to be no reason for much of Koontz's elaborateness. Micky, just emerging from a nasty period in her life, is living with her kooky Aunt Geneva when she meets bright, witty Leilani--Lani for short--who despises the pity people feel for her when they see her mutant hand and braced leg. She would rather they remembered her wit. Micky finds meaning in her own life when she discovers the horrible truth of Lani's, and, finally given something other than anger to focus on, rides to the rescue. Interwoven with this story is that of a boy fleeing the FBI and creatures far, far worse, who killed his mother and will stop at nothing to kill him. The book's revelations, while not exactly predictable, are not earth shattering. Suffice it to say that the tale is told well enough to satisfy, besides Koontz's faithful fandom, the less jaded and more hopeful among us. Regina Schroeder
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
“Dean Koontz is not just a master of our darkest dreams, but also a literary juggler.”
— The Times (London)


From the Hardcover edition.


Review
?Dean Koontz is not just a master of our darkest dreams, but also a literary juggler.?
? The Times (London)


From the Hardcover edition.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
For decades, Dean Koontz has been a forerunner in the art of merging genre material in order to create unique thrillers strewn with elements of fantasy and science fiction. In recent years though, he's taken on greater moral and spiritual themes, and in One Door Away from Heaven, he touches on bioethicism, a belief system that includes euthanasia of the disabled and infirm.

A woman in her late 20s, Micky Bellsong is beginning to feel the pressures of not having her life sorted out. She drinks too much, has no romantic relationship, and still lacks stable employment. While staying in the trailer home of her Aunt Geneva, Micky meets the hyperintellectual but physically deformed Leilani Klonk, a nine-year-old whose wild personal stories involve aliens and a murderous stepfather called Dr. Doom who preys on the frail and the elderly. Initially, Micky believes Leilani is just an imaginative child, but she soon realizes that there may be some truth to the tall tales. Before she can clearly understand what's going on at the trailer home next door, Micky must make a choice when Leilani's family packs up and hits the road: Forget everything she's heard, or pursue the girl and learn the facts, no matter what the cost.

Simply put, this is Koontz as his best. His narrative voice is graceful and inviting, and the tension of the plot slowly grows taut, leaving the reader unsure of what the reality of the story is. The protagonists are all wonderfully eccentric, sympathetic, and droll. In the Koontz canon of irresistible and beloved characters, Einstein, the intelligent dog from Watchers, probably ranks the highest, but the spirited and spunky Leilani Klonk will surely become just as unforgettable.

With One Door Away from Heaven, Koontz hasn't only given us a masterpiece of suspense; he's also written one of the wittiest, most humane and heartfelt novels of his career. You deserve to treat yourself to this book. (Tom Piccirilli)

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"In a dusty trailer park on the far edge of the California dream, Michelina Bellsong contemplates the choices she has made. At twenty-eight, she wants to change the direction of her troubled life but can't find her way - until a new family settles into the rental trailer next door and she meets the young girl who will lead her on a remarkable quest." "Despite the brace she must wear on her deformed left leg, and her withered left hand, nine-year-old Leilani Klonk radiates a buoyant and indomitable spirit that inspires Micky. Beneath Leilani's effervescence, however, Micky comes to sense a quiet desperation that the girl dares not express. Leilani's mother is lost in drugs. The girl's stepfather, Preston Maddoc, is educated but threatening. He has moved the family from place to place as he fanatically investigates UFO sightings, striving to make contact, claiming to have had a vision that by Leilani's tenth birthday aliens will either heal her or take her away to a better life on their world. Slowly, ever more troubling details emerge in Leilani's conversations with Micky. Most chilling is Micky's discovery the Leilani had an older brother, also disabled, who vanished after Maddoc took him into the woods one night and is now "gone to the stars."" Leilani's tenth birthday is approaching. Micky is convinced the girl will be dead by that day. While the child-protection bureaucracy gives Micky the runaround, the Maddoc family slips away into the night. Micky sets out across America to track and find them, alone and afraid but for the first time living for something bigger than herself. She finds herself pitted against an adversary, Preston Maddoc, as fearsome as he is cunning. Yet Micky pursues her quest, and her passion, her courage, draw a burned-out detective to her side. Hundreds of miles away, a motherless boy and a homeless dog begin an even more astonishing journey. Ahead for them all lie incredible peril, startling discoveries, and paths that will draw them

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Koontz's latest is powered by an impassioned stand against utilitarian bioethics, and it's chock-a-block with trademark characters vulnerable kids, nurturing parental substitutes, a dog of above-average intelligence and a villain of insuperable nastiness sure to provoke a pleasurable conditioned response from his readers. The discursive story coalesces from two converging subplots steeped in the weirdness of fringe ufology: in one, loser Michelina Bellsong struggles to save crippled nine-year-old Leilani Klonk from an evil stepdad planning to pass off her imminent disposal as a benevolent alien abduction; in the other, a strange boy who goes by the alias Curtis Hammond is the quarry of two cross-country manhunts, one led by the FBI and the other by mass murderers who, like the messianic Curtis, may not be what they seem. En route to a pyrotechnic finale in rural Idaho, Koontz shoots bull's-eyes at target issues that shape his theme, including assisted suicide, substance abuse, the irresponsibility of the counterculture and the goofiness of true-believer ET enthusiasts. Koontz's once form-fitting style has gotten baggy of late, however, and readers may find themselves wishing he had better filtered the flights of fancy his characters sometimes indulge at chapter length. For all that, the novel is surprisingly focused on its inspirational message "we are the instruments of one another's salvation and only by the hope that we give to others do we lift ourselves out of the darkness into light" and conveys it with such conviction that only the most critical will demur. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews