Koontz mixes the techniques of the amateur detective story, the psychological thriller, the tale of horror and suspense, the political thriller, and the social protest novel. Koontz's attack on academic frauds and his portraits of wealthy Californian types verge on satire, and his characters' analysis of and reflections on haiku are a twisted form of literary criticism. His villain stalks his victims and gloats over their bizarre and twisted deaths; he cuts off body parts, communes with coyotes, and reverts to a childish personality when in the midst of depraved acts. The narrator unveils a variety of phobias, of drug responses, and of obsessions that warp character and deed. His victims and heroes are afflicted by grotesque night mares, waking compulsions, fear and loathing, psychotic fugues, and suicidal impulses.

The brainwashing strategies he explores are straight out of the spy story and, in this tale, are used, in...