Quicksilver

The latest stand-alone novel by perennial favorite Koontz (77 Shadow Street) combines the elements of a classic mystery with a little suspense and a twist of morality tale for good measure. Quinn, who was abandoned when he was three days old on a highway outside of a tiny town in Arizona, has a quirky sense of humor. He understands he’s lucky to be alive. Placed in an orphanage, he ponders what his parents might have been like but he has a relatively happy childhood until he starts experiencing something magical. The change upends his life, forcing him to find his people (a romance novelist and her grandpa) and create a family bond while trying to evade government agents who are pursuing them in the Sonoran Desert. Todd Haberkorn, who narrates and performs the novel, does a fine job of adjusting his voice as Quinn ages. A child’s simple gratitude, a young man’s wanderlust, a woman’s heartache, and an old man’s experience all give listeners a clear aural sense of which character is speaking.