"Velocity" by Dean Koontz

Billy Willes, a bartender who wants to keep to himself, finds a note one night on his Ford Explorer: Take this note to the police and an old woman is killed, do nothing and, instead, a young school teacher is killed.

And this sets off a chain of events, each one more appalling to Billy, but each one Billy's decision.

Dean Koontz, known for his suspense and character-driven novels, does a so-so job, but at least he doesn't waste the pages to do so. In the paperback version, only 400+ pages are devoted to the story and although it's thrilling, it is a very predictable book, unlike his previous stories "False Memory" and "The Taking" which are a thrill-ride from start to end. The most unsettling thing about the book is, instead of going to the police, because he has a dark past since he was fourteen, he keeps taking the dead bodies and disposes them, hiding any evidence of murder. As an avid "CSI" fan, red flags were going up and bells and whistles were going off. "Just go to the police you idiot," I kept saying, but, oh no! circumstantial evidence was the scariest thing in Billy's life...

Whether the book should be called "Veocity" is something that could be debated.