Life Expectancy
Published: 2004
Author: Dean Koontz
Genre: Comedy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Literature, Metaphysical, Occult, Psychological, Supernatural, Suspense, Thriller, Visionary Fiction
Check out the review of this book here:
Summary
James Tock was born at Colorado's Snow County Hospital at the same time his grandpa, Josef Tock, a pastry chef, died of a stroke.
Though incapacitated by a stroke earlier in the week, Josef unexpectedly recovers to give his son Rudy 10 cryptic prophecies, including that his grandchild would be named James—but that everyone will call him Jimmy. Josef also foresees five dreadful days in his grandson's future. Despite his coherent statement, Josef Tock does not recover from this catastrophe and dies immediately before the baby is delivered.
Earlier in the evening, Rudy Tock met a weird man named Konrad Beezo. Beezo is a clown for the same circus that Tock's pass is for, and he is a fitful, nasty, frightening, chain-smoking guy partially dressed as a clown.
Natalie, a well-known trapeze performer from a decent family, is said to be in labor, and her relatives have nearly shunned her for marrying him. He speaks glowingly about his soon-to-be-born kid, who will be named "Punchinello" and will continue on the family clowning legacy. He uses several colorful epithets to describe his father-in-law.
Tock is overjoyed to be leaving Beezo. However, his mourning over his father's death was brief. Beezo goes wild after learning Natalie died during childbirth, shouting about her family sending assassins to assassinate her and opening fire, killing a doctor and a nurse.
Tock, in arguably the only heroic moment in his modest baker's life, convinces the furious clown that his foes have fled, temporarily quelling his rage.
On the eve of his fifth and final awful day, Jimmy Tock creates the book, a vague autobiography of personal experience, reminisces, and second- or even third-hand recollections of events, transcribing it from a series of recordings.
The story is told in a self-deprecating, humorously restrained tone. Certain experiences, however, stand out sharply, most notably blundering into a terrifying, yet almost strange, bank robbery by a trio of plastique-wielding crazed history buff clowns led by none other than Punchinello Beezo — during which Jimmy gradually realizes he's falling for a comely fellow hostage—and a huge gamble of chicken with a severely disturbed predator on an icy road the night his wife Lorrie (on the second predicted date).
Konrad Beezo is the guy after the Tocks, seeking vengeance for his imprisoned and accidentally-gelded son. Beezo's insatiable yearning for a male Tock kid as his treasure, a new son to nurture in the good clown tradition, frames both this horrible day and the following prophesied day.
The maniac will go to any length to recover what he feels is owed to him, even many facial plastic procedures to assume new identities and evade the authorities.
Jimmy believes that everyone and everything in the universe is tenuously yet inextricably linked to one another, just as his toes were at birth. This phenomenon is sometimes referred to as "six degrees of separation."
Punchinello, who is presently incarcerated, is urged by Jimmy and Lorrie, who assisted in his conviction and punishment, to donate one of his kidneys to help save Annie Tock, Jimmy, and Lorrie's daughter.
Punchinello only agrees to the gift in exchange for several favors that are little in contrast to the valuable kidney.
As the arrangement nears completion, Punchinello requests that Jimmy assassinate Virgilio Vivacemente as a final favor.
Jimmy learns a lot about himself as the prophecies come true one by one, as do Konrad, Natalie, Punchinello, and Konrad's father-in-law, Virgilio Vivacemente, the pompous, cruel patriarch of the world-famous acrobatic dynasty who throws a long shadow over both the Tocks and the Beezos' lives.
Some of Jimmy's findings are lovely; others are terrifying; and still, others rattle his quiet, lumbering pastry chef's existence to its core, forcing him to consider the actual meaning of syndactyly—as both a disease and a life philosophy.
Useful Search Related Words & Keywords
Ever Read, Highly Recommend, Jimmy Tock, Koontz Books, Page Turner, Prepare To Be Enchanted, Stephen King, Story Line, Terrible Days, Twists And Turns
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