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The Bad Weather Friend

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The Bad Weather Friend

By: Dean Koontz
Narrated by: Ray Chase
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About this listen

Benny is so nice they feel compelled to destroy him, but he has a friend who should scare the hell out of them in this breathtaking new kind of thriller by #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense Dean Koontz.

Benny Catspaw’s perpetually sunny disposition is tested when he loses his job, his reputation, his fiancée, and his favorite chair. He’s not paranoid. Someone is out to get him. He just doesn’t know who or why. Then Benny receives an inheritance from an uncle he’s never heard of: a giant crate and a video message. All will be well in time.

How strange—though it’s a blessing, his uncle promises. Stranger yet is what’s inside the crate. He’s a seven-foot-tall self-described “bad weather friend” named Spike whose mission is to help people who are just too good for this world. Spike will take care of it. He’ll find Benny’s enemies. He’ll deal with them. This might be satisfying if Spike wasn’t such a menacing presence with terrifying techniques of intimidation.

In the company of Spike and a fascinated young waitress-cum-PI-in-training named Harper, Benny plunges into a perilous high-speed adventure, the likes of which never would have crossed the mind of a decent guy like him.

©2024 The Koontz Living Trust. (P)2023 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Adventure Science Fiction Supernatural Thriller & Suspense Paranormal Fiction Exciting Suspense

Critic Reviews

“Ray Chase performs an unusual story of good versus evil centered on the nicest man in the world.… Chase's portrayal suits the jaunty character well, shifting between humorous and ominous to great effect. Even during dramatic violence Chase's depictions keep the story engrossing. Often Koontz breaks the fourth wall, but Chase never breaks character. With a performance that careens from funny to horrifying and back again, Benny's story is engaging and a wonderful deviation from Koontz's usual style.”—AudioFile Magazine
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I liked that it was quite humorous which I wasn’t expecting at all. From the picture and description of the book it seemed like it was going to be more of an action/horror story which I suppose some people would think it is. To me I found it to be more comedy/supernatural and I quite enjoyed it even though it was not at all what I was expecting to listen to. The narrator was extremely good too. Overall a good book.

Not what I was expecting

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I love Dean's story's but Alexa keeps responding to the book weather it'ssoething that sounds like Alexa it is annoying ...Thank you Dean for a nother
grate story

Alexa Turning on and of during story

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This was one of the best of Dean's novels. I love this style of story, the characters and their quirky names is brilliant. I read it in 2 days, couldn't put it down.

I love Spike - "little lady"

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In the current climate, where every day greets us with ugly headlines and frightening news, it’s quite a balm for the soul to read a light and airy story where the good guys win. This one is funnier than any other Koontz story I’ve read, and I thought the narrator did a great job of bringing out the humour, particularly in his voicing of Spike. It’s still got all the usual elements of any Dean Koontz book - a quirky line-up of characters, a good dose of sentimentality, a fair amount of supernatural - and there’s even the obligatory cameo from a dog (I’d be disappointed if there wasn’t). I only gave the narrator 3 stars because for some reason he gallops through the text and, as one who normally needs to speed everyone up, I had to slow him down to 0.9. But other than speaking too fast, his narration was excellent and I enjoyed his choices for how to voice each character.

A Feel-good Fable

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I have read and listened to 15 or more of Dean’s books, and having no idea that this one was a comedy, the humour that sneaked up on me while listening to the audiobook caused several loud guffaws. Several of these surprised workmates and family to the point of asking me what I was listening to.
I again spotted the word ‘susurration’ that turns up in pretty well every novel of Dean’s. I’ve never seen or heard it anywhere else.
I enjoyed this one as much as the Jane Hawk series, my previous favourite Koontz books.

Many laugh-out-loud moments.

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Was not bored once, not an extremely scary book but it had so much creativity with such loveable characters!

Loved this story

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Fantastic. Another faultless Dean Koontz story. Everyone could do with a Spike in their lives

I need a Cragle in my life!

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Maybe more for young adult listeners, the theme was basically good versus evil developed with interesting characters and told through an interesting journey. I had to dial the speed down by one point because Ray Chase, the narrator, spoke at 100 miles per hour. Once this was accomplished I started enjoying the story more.

narrator spoiled this.

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I love a good, imaginative, dark read . Murder, mystery and mayhem abound in this Dean Koontz novel. I thoroughly enjoyed being transported to a place where things are a little bit different…

Most entertaining

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Loved this story so much that I once I began listening, I had to clear my weekend and binge the whole thing. I’d love a sequel.

Interesting story with quirky, unique characters

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