Sole Survivor (novel)

Sole Survivor

First US edition
Author Dean Koontz
Country United States
Language English
Genre Thriller, Mystery novel
Publisher Knopf (US)
Headline (UK)
Publication date
 1997
Media type Print
Pages 321
ISBN 0-679-42526-8
OCLC 45033157

Sole Survivor is a novel by the best-selling author Dean Koontz, published in 1997. It is about a woman named Rose, who is being pursued by a company called Teknologik.

Plot summary

The novel centers around Joe Carpenter, a man who lost his wife and two daughters in a plane crash the year prior. Joe has never been able to fully cope with their deaths, and on the one year anniversary, meets a strange woman named Rose, claiming to be a survivor of the crash even when none were reported. Rose promises to tell Joe the truth, but just not yet. Finally acknowledging that the story of the crash never fully made sense to him, Joe begins seeking answers as to what really happened on that night, discovering that some may be interested in stopping him even if it means taking his life.

There is a large number of suicides of family of the crash victims, which for a while convinces Joe that Rose is somehow getting them to kill themselves with a picture of a gravestone. This leads him to a development involving his dead daughter and a laboratory developed girl, CCY 21-21, with healing powers who looks like his daughter and who wants to live the life she was never able to. This girl can heal, and give hope to anyone she touches. The only weakness is that she cannot heal herself if she is hurt.

Rose had been keeping this girl safe until her healing powers and full potential have matured, until Rose gets shot by agents who are attempting to kill her, and the girl. Another experiment, SSW-89-58, has the power to telepathically see, and know things through looking at pictures of places, also being able to control the minds of living beings in that area. The plane crash, as it turns out, was a plan to kill Rose because she had smuggled 21-21 out of the compound. 89-58 was forced to take over control of the pilot, in an attempt to kill everyone on the plane.

The plane crashed but the girl and Rose escaped, and were on the run. The novel ends with Joe destroying the facility, killing himself in the process. However, Rose now realizes that he died as a hero for the truth, and decides to adopt 21-21 as her own child.

Characters

External links