Bestselling author Dean Koontz’s career spans nearly 60 years. During this time, he has crossed genres while staying mainly in the horror, sci-fi and thriller realms. Over the past couple of decades, his writing and subject matter have taken a different turn with several titles that offer more introspective and character-driven stories, some of a highly spiritual nature.

THE FRIEND OF THE FAMILY is a historical thriller with a keen sense of purpose in telling the story of an individual who was a true outcast by society’s standards. The book opens in 1930 during the Great Depression, and we are introduced to the traveling circus and sideshow run by Captain Forest Farnam. The highlights are the human oddities featured in the Museum of the Strange, where we meet our protagonist, 17-year-old Alida.

"THE FRIEND OF THE FAMILY is an interesting and uplifting character study during a special time in history that makes for quite the entertaining read."

Readers immediately will feel for Alida in much the same way as anyone who heard the true stories of the infamous Elephant Man, Joseph Merrick, who was rescued from the cruel treatment he experienced as a sideshow “freak” in Great Britain. Alida’s saviors are a Hollywood movie-making couple, Franklin and Loretta Fairchild, who personally witness her being abused during a live show and purchase her from Farnam to give her a new life with them.

It’s difficult for Farnam to let go of Alida, and she can’t rest easily until she sees how the Fairchilds intend to adopt her and never allow her to return to the exploitation and degradation that she suffers with him. She immediately takes to their three children, all of whom are younger than her: Isadora, Gertrude and Harry. They are a dynamic and inquisitive trio who invite Alida into their self-made investigative club, the Clyde Tombaugh Club, which is named for the famous astronomer. They seek out adventures and mysteries that allow their active imaginations to run wild. Alida connects so well with them that when their personal tutor leaves, the Fairchilds give the job of teaching them to her.

Koontz infuses the novel with famous figures from this era in Hollywood history. Seeing interactions with celebrities like Laurel and Hardy, Groucho Marx, Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn was such a treat. Time goes by quickly here, and we are taken beyond the end of Prohibition and eventually reach a point where Alida and her young charges are adults. During these spans of time, we get to experience the dreams and nightmares that trouble Alida, some of which seem to be indicative of potential terrors that might threaten the Fairchilds. Alida is so much more than the mere oddity she once was labeled as and exhibits certain powers that will allow her to intervene when necessary to protect her adoptive family.

Keeping Alida’s deformity concealed until the last part of the novel is a clever and insightful move by Koontz as it allows readers to experience Alida as a person and not someone reduced to the differences that never really defined who she was. THE FRIEND OF THE FAMILY is an interesting and uplifting character study during a special time in history that makes for quite the entertaining read.