Billy the barkeep has his life suddenly turned upside down by a few words neatly typed on a sheet of paper. Billy is the main character in Dean Koontz’s Velocity. Billy walks outside after work to find a note on his car. The note reads,
“If you don’t take this note to the police and get them involved, I will kill a lovely blonde schoolteacher somewhere in Napa County.

If you do take this note to the police, I will instead kill an old woman active in charity work.

You have six hours to decide. The choice is yours.”
Over the course of this book, Billy receives several more of these mysterious notes.

I really liked this book, because I think that it is really thought provoking and suspenseful. Velocity really makes you think about whether or not Billy makes the right choice, or what you would do if you were in Billy’s shoes. Since you are thinking about the choices made in the book, you are always kept guessing about what will happen next. I also thought that the author did a great job of being descriptive. I could really envision in my mind what was going on, and never got lost. I think that because of these qualities, this is a perfect book for eighth graders. Any one that reads it could love it.