A friend to die for

A friend for dying (original: The Voice of the Night ) is a psychological thriller by Dean Koontz , which he published in 1980 under the pseudonym "Brian Coffey".

“A Friend to Die” is one of the few novels by Dean Koontz that does not contain any elements of fantasy or science fiction . It is a fairly simply structured psychological thriller. The knitting pattern on which almost all of this author's works are based is also clearly evident here: A good but weak person is almost defenseless against an overpowering evil.

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The focus of the story is on two fourteen-year-old boys: the handsome and self-confident Roy, sports cannon and crush of all girls, and the shy loner Colin. Roy of all people seeks the friendship of the boring Colin by all means. He is excited to have a boyfriend for the first time in his life. He only slowly realizes that behind the eloquent and sociable Roy is a sadistic psychopath who tortures animals and has already killed two people. In order to put his murder and rape plans into practice more easily, he is looking for a friend. His choice falls on the outsider Colin, who seems to be an easily manipulable victim.

Only late does Colin see through the real intentions of his supposed friend. He turns away in horror and thus incurs the bitter hatred of the psychopath. He tries by all means to kill those who know about his crimes. Nobody, not even their own mother, believes him. Colin faces the far superior Roy alone.