Is it okay to not like a book?

Is it okay to not like a book? I found myself in this quandary after I finished Dean Koontz's-The Darkest Evening of the Century. I have not read Koontz in quite some time. I liked what I read then, and I liked the idea of what I was reading now, I just didn't like how the story was presented and ended. (Spoilers ahead.)



The characters were prime Koontz creations-people with a darkness in their past, and a hole in their soul needing to be healed. The protagonists were not the problem with this story for me, it was the antagonists that I grew more and more tired of reading. Moongirl, a needling voice on the phone to her ex as the story opens, becomes one of the most vile, dark, and unredeemable personas I have ever read. I took to skimming her dialogue and thoughts midway through the book because I found her so unbelievably dark that she would slowly, with exacting method, torment her own child, both mentally and physically.



At the center of this tale is Nickie, a Golden Retriever, that comes to the main character through great turmoil. Throughout the story Nickie is present as the one who can soothe the past and the heal the soul. The ending resolution is tied up neatly and Nickie is the almighty healer licking the fatal wounds of her people and preserving their lives as one happy unit. Blech!



Maybe I was in a bad mood. Maybe the storyline seemed a bit too contrived. Or maybe I expected more from Koontz. He is a gifted writer and a bestselling machine, and will probably contiunue to be so. Hopefully it is okay to not like a book. It won't stop me from reading Koontz, and it just might help me appreciate him a whole lot more when I do like one of his future books.