Velocity (32 page)
Authors: Dean Koontz
note
In moments of stress and indecision, words of wisdom enter Billy Wiles’s mind, and he is guided by them. Although Billy does not make an attribution, these words are from the work of T. S. Eliot.
Chapter 9:
Preserve me from the enemy who has something to gain, and from the friend who has something to lose.
Also in that chapter:
Teach us to care and not to care. Teach us to sit still.
Chapter 13:
The only wisdom we can hope to acquire is the wisdom of humility.
Chapter 17:
May the judgment not be too heavy upon us.
Chapter 33:
There is one who remembers the way to your door: Life you may evade, but Death you shall not.
Chapter 66:
In order to possess what you do not possess, you must go by way of dispossession. And what you do not know is the only thing you know.
Chapter 71:
In order to arrive at what you are not, you must go through the way in which you are not.
Chapter 72:
The world turns and the world changes, but one thing does not change. However you disguise it, this thing does not change: the perpetual struggle of Good and Evil.
Chapter 77:
I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope, for hope would be hope for the wrong thing.
The Napa County Sheriff’s Department in this fiction bears no resemblance to the superlative law-enforcement agency of the same name in the real world, nor is any person in this story based in any way whatsoever on any real person in Napa County, California.
Barbara’s most mysterious statement—
I want to know what it says, the sea. What it is that it keeps on saying
—is from
Dombey Son.
about the author
DEAN KOONTZ, the author of many #1 New York Times bestsellers, lives with his wife, Gerda, and the enduring spirit of their golden retriever, Trixie, in southern California.
Correspondence for the author should be addressed to:
Dean Koontz
P. O. Box 9529
Newport Beach, California 92658
Also by DEAN KOONTZ
The Good Guy • Brother Odd • The Husband • Forever Odd
• Velocity • Life Expectancy • The Taking • Odd Thomas •
The Face • By the Light of the Moon • One Door Away From Heaven
• From the Corner of His Eye • False Memory • Seize the Night •
Fear Nothing • Mr. Murder • Dragon Tears • Hideaway
• Cold Fire • The Bad Place • Midnight • Lightning •
Watchers • Strangers • Twilight Eyes • Darkfall
• Phantoms • Whispers • The Mask • The Vision •
The Face of Fear • Night Chills • Shattered
• The Voice of the Night • The Servants of Twilight •
The House of Thunder • The Key to Midnight
• The Eyes of Darkness • Shadowfires • Winter Moon •
The Door to December • Dark Rivers of the Heart
• Icebound • Strange Highways • Intensity • Sole Survivor •
Ticktock • The Funhouse • Demon Seed
DEAN KOONTZ’S FRANKENSTEIN
Book One: Prodigal Son
• with Kevin J. Anderson
Book Two: City of Night
• with Ed Gorman
NOW ON SALE
FOREVER ODD
by
DEAN KOONTZ
#1
New York Times
Bestselling Author
The long-awaited sequel to
Odd Thomas
the magical bestseller beloved by readers and acclaimed by reviewers:
“Once in a very great while, an author does everything right—as Koontz has in this marvelous novel [which] features electrifying tension and suspense, plus a few walloping surprises. This thriller also stands out for its brilliant tightrope walk between the amusing and the macabre. Koontz has created a hero whose honest, humble voice will resonate with many. This is Koontz working at his pinnacle, providing terrific entertainment that deals seriously with some of the deepest themes of human existence: the nature of evil, the grip of fate and the power of love.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Odd Thomas [is] exactly the kind of hero that’s needed.”
—South Florida Sun-Sentinel
“Odd Thomas is another name for courage, truth, and devotion to fellow man.”
—The Baton Rouge Advocate
THE HUSBAND
by
DEAN KOONTZ
#1
New York Times
Bestselling Author
Available Now
What would you do for love?
Would you die? Would you kill?
VELOCITY
A Bantam Book
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Bantam hardcover edition published June 2005
Bantam export mass market edition / January 2006
Published by Bantam Dell
A Division of Random House, Inc.
New York, New York
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved
Copyright © 2005 by Dean Koontz
Title page photograph © CORBIS
Cover art copyright 2005 by Ashton Franklin
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2005298939
Bantam Books and the rooster colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
eISBN: 978-0-307-41430-4
v3.0