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Life Expectancy
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Life Expectancy (2004) (edit title/settings)

by Dean Koontz (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

Also published as "Trauma"

With his bestselling blend of nail-biting intensity, daring artistry, and storytelling magic, Dean Koontz returns with an emotional roller coaster of a tale filled with enough twists, turns, shocks, and surprises for ten ordinary novels. Here is the story of... read more

Summary edit see section history

Jimmy Tock comes into the world on the very night his grandfather leaves it. As a violent storm rages outside the hospital, Rudy Tock spends long hours walking the corridors between the expectant fathers' waiting room and his dying father's bedside. It's a strange vigil made all the stranger... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Jimmy Tock comes into the world on the very night his grandfather leaves it. As a violent storm rages outside the hospital, Rudy Tock spends long hours walking the corridors between the expectant fathers' waiting room and his dying father's bedside. It's a strange vigil made all the stranger when, at the very height of the storm's fury, Josef Tock suddenly sits up in bed and speaks coherently for the frist and last time since his stroke. What he says before he dies is that there will be five dark days in the life of his grandson—five dates whose terrible events Jimmy will have to prepare himself to face. The first is to occur in his twentieth year; the second in his twent-third year; the third in his twenty-eighth; the fourth in his twenty-ninth; the fifth in his thirtieth. Rudy is all too ready to discount his father's last words as a dying man's delusional rambling. But then he discovers that Josef also predicted the time of his grandson's birth to the minute, as well as his exact height and weight, and the fact that Jimmy would be born with syndactyly—the unexplained anomal of fused digits—on his left foot. Suddenly the old man's predictions take on a chilling significance. What terrifying events await Jimmy on these five dark days? What nightmares will he face? What challenges must he survive? As the novel unfolds, picking up Jimmy's story at each of these crisis points, the path he must follow will defy every expectation. And with each crisis he faces, he will move closer to a fate he could never have imagined. For who Jimmy Tock is and what he must accomplish on the five days when his world turns is a mystery as dangerous as it is wondrous—a struggle against an evil so dark and pervasive, only the most extraordinary of human spirits can shine through.

Characters edit see section history

  • James "Jimmy" Tock: The hero of the book who lives the 5 terrible days and all the numerous wonderful ones in between. Mr. Koontz heros all have a common thread. They are all men of honesty and honor.
  • Lorrie Lynn Hicks: The girl at the library. Charming, witty and as brave, honorable and loving as her hero.
  • Huey Foster: Policeman & friend of Rudy Tock since they were children.
  • Dr. Macdonald: Doctor who helped Maddy Tock & Natalie Beezo to give birth to Jimmy Tock & Punchinello Beezo.
  • Charlene Coleman: Nurse working with Doctor MacDonald the night that Jimmy and Punchinello were born.
  • Virgilio Vivacemente: Patriarch of the Vivacemente family, aerialist & father of Natalie Vivacemente.
  • Grandpa Josef: Grandfather of Jimmy Tock, father of Rudy Tock, he made the prediction of the 5 terrible days for Jimmy on his death bed.
  • Natalie Beezo: Wife of Konrad Beezo, aerialist & daughter of Vivacemente. Mother of Punchinello Beezo.
  • Grandma Rowena: Grandmother of Jimmy Tock, Mother of Maddy.
  • Maddy Tock: Mother of Jimmy Tock.
  • Rudy Tock: Father of the hero, Jimmy Tock.
  • Punchinello Beezo: Mad son of the great Konrad Beezo.
  • Konrad Beezo: The mad clown, that cultivates his hate for the aerialists, father of the (non less) mad Punchinello Beezo.
Show all 13 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “Prepare to be enchanted.”
  • “The only way to kill a clown is to beat him to death with a mime.”
  • “There is always cake.”
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • We are born for wonder, for joy, for hope, for love, to marvel at the mystery of existence, to be ravished by the beauty of the world, to seek truth and meaning, to acquire wisdom, and by our treatment of others to brighten the corner where we are.
    Highlighted by 56 Kindle customers
  • Their love is deeper than desire, than affection, than respect, so deep that its wellspring is humor. Humor is a petal on the flower of hope, and hope blossoms on the vine of faith. They have faith in each other and faith that life has meaning, and from this faith comes their indefatigable good humor, which is their greatest gift to each other—and to me.
    Highlighted by 39 Kindle customers
  • Insanity is not evil, but all evil is insane. Evil itself is never funny, but insanity sometimes can be. We need to laugh at the irrationality of evil, for in doing so we deny evil’s power over us, diminish its influence in the world, and tarnish the allure it has for some people.
    Highlighted by 37 Kindle customers
  • I do not define life expectancy by the length of life, however, but by the quality of it, by what I expect from it and by how well my expectations are met. What I have learned from my true father, Rudy, and from my true mother, Maddy, and from my glorious wife, and from my beloved children is that the more you expect from life, the more your expectations will be fulfilled. By laughing, you do not use up your laughter, but increase your store of it. The more you love, the more you will be loved. The more you give, the more you will receive.
    Highlighted by 37 Kindle customers
  • No one can grant you happiness. Happiness is a choice we all have the power to make. There is always cake.
    Highlighted by 35 Kindle customers
  • Maybe it’s our free will misdirected or just a shameful pride, but we live our lives with the conviction that we stand at the center of the drama. Moments rarely come that put us outside ourselves, that divorce us from our egos and force us to see the larger picture, to recognize that the drama is in fact a tapestry and that each of us is but a thread in the vivid weave, yet each thread essential to the integrity of the cloth.
    Highlighted by 26 Kindle customers
  • Despair is the abandonment of hope. Desperation is energized despair, vigorous in action, utterly reckless.
    Highlighted by 25 Kindle customers
  • When balancing a bottle of nitroglycerin on the point of a sword, never complicate the task by trying to tap dance.
    Highlighted by 23 Kindle customers
  • My parents didn’t raise me to ask God for blessings or benefits. For guidance, yes. For the strength to do the right thing, yes. Not for a winning lottery number, not for love or health, or happiness. Prayer is not a gimme list; God isn’t Santa Claus. As they have taught me, I believe that without asking, we are given all we need. We must have the wit and wisdom to recognize the strengths and tools at our command, and find the courage to do what must be done.
    Highlighted by 22 Kindle customers
  • solipsism, and even a pastry chef like me has heard of it: the theory that only the self can be proved to exist, extreme preoccupation with and indulgence of one’s feelings and desires.
    Highlighted by 21 Kindle customers
Show all 13 quotes from this book

First Sentence edit see section history

On the night I was born, my paternal grandfather, Josef Tock, made ten predications that shaped my life.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Dean Koontz (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Bantam
Country: USA
Publication Date: December 7, 2004
ISBN: 0553804146
Page Count: 335

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PS3561.O55 L49 2004b
  • Dewey: 813/.54 22

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

Books That Cite This Book edit see section history

   
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