Yet another good one.

I can’t wait to read the last book in this entertaining little series. Love the quick reads, but I’m going to hate to see this one end. ( )

Nameless visits an assisted living facility where a doctor and nurse perform “mercy killings” of their residents at the family’s request. Their behavior is pretty repulsive and Nameless handles his business in a diabolical way. Of course the story ends with a bigger glimpse into Nameless’ forgotten past. ( )

The fifth story in the “Nameless” series. Nameless is a vigilante nomad who gets his assignments from the mysterious Ace of Diamonds. This time he goes after Dr. Pennyman, who owns an exclusive assisted-living community called Oakshore Park, in Michigan. The wealthy residents, who seem to be doing quite well, are dying. And they are all from families who are eager for their inheritances. I really liked this story. The characters were interesting, and the storyline was captivating. A fast and fun read. ( )

Spoilers for events from Nameless #1, "In the Heart of the Fire".

Had to go to the gym to workout, which was a welcome break from this series. Honestly this is just boring. At this point what is the purpose of Nameless. The guy barely does anything. He does kill someone in this story, but other than that, why would someone need to have amnesia to do this. His "powers" are not in play in this one either. We hear more about the purple blue eyed woman and I now hate the colors purple and blue.

"The Mercy of Snakes" has Nameless getting introduced to a man who suspects the doctor at the elderly care facility he stayed at is in cahoots (I like that word) with shiftless heirs and helping to bump people off. There's another problem I now have, why does Nameless need to even go and talk to these freaking people? Just throw cash in the mail. Anyway, Koontz then shifts over to the doctor and nurse and shows how ruthless they are. Of course Ace and associates have special plans for everyone involved.

The writing at this point feels forced. I just didn't care at all what was happening. I really wish that Koontz had thought this through better. We keep hearing the same things over and over. The only things that changes is the people who Nameless and friends have plans to take out. Also Nameless in this one starts some special kind of bullshit (sorry for the swearing) about three sets of people in this world and I am having flashbacks to some of Koontz's more sanctimonious books and my eyes hurt from rolling.

"First are those for whom the words right and wrong have no meaning other than for such as traffic directions:"

Uh huh.

"Second are those who recognize right and wrong, a natural tao, and who try to live by what is right, as much as they can. These people are aware that real and implacable evil exists in the world; however, as a psychological defense mechanism, many of them grossly underestimate the prevalence of it."

You know I get that there's evil in the damn world. So do many people. Turn on the freaking news. Read about what we are doing to kids on the border. Read about hate crimes and how some people go oh well. Ugh. I hate that Koontz acts like he cracked a damn code or something.

"Third are those who, busy with their lives, haven’t given much thought to right and wrong. When encountering profound evil, they are not sure what to think about it, and they seek to understand it as a complex phenomenon when in fact it’s simple."

If there's a dog in this damn book I am going to break something.

At this point I can't even say the doctor and nurse in this one are profoundly evil. I am going to save that for the sheriff from story one who murdered whole families in order to rape children. These people just seem greedy for greed's sake.

The flow was off in this one. I just felt like the whole thing was a slog. I wanted it to be over.

The ending of course now has Nameless still super concerned about the three people he keeps seeing. ( )

Edoardo Ballerini is the narrator. ( )