401:, four survivors of a doomed platoon—Michael Poole (a grief-stricken pediatrician), Tina Pumo (owner of a Vietnamese restaurant), Conor Linklater (an itinerant construction worker) and Harry Beevers (an opportunistic lawyer)—gather to discuss the killings. Because the word "Koko" holds special significance to their old platoon, and because the killings recall the events in books he has written, the men believe that the killer is Tim Underhill, another member of their platoon who disappeared years earlier. Beevers convinces the men to help him track down Underhill.
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by his parents. From this, he realizes that
Dengler assumed Spitalny's identity after murdering him and is the killer they are chasing. When the group returns to New York, Underhill is arrested thanks to an anonymous tip to police by Beevers, who wants to capture the killer alone and take all the
420:. While wandering around a residential area of Bangkok, Poole comes across Underhill at a small neighborhood fair and realizes that he is too stable and good-natured to be the killer. Underhill agrees to return to the U.S. to help in the pursuit. He, Poole and Linklater reunite with Beevers in
472:, Straub struggled to generate a plot that would prove just as financially successful without being derivative of that work. He settled on the idea of Koko's murderous Vietnam veteran, and then wrote and re-wrote, ultimately completing the project after four years. Straub has described
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for their release. Dengler stabs Poole and
Underhill, and takes Underhill's jacket so that he can easily pass for Underhill himself in the dim light. After Poole alerts the police that he is not Underhill, Dengler murders one of the officers and escapes. He flees to
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The group, now including Maggie, deduce that the killer is Victor
Spitalny, a member of the platoon who vanished in Bangkok following the death of another soldier, Manny Dengler, after the war. Poole, Underhill and Maggie travel to
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before returning to New York together. Meanwhile, the killer travels to the U.S. himself and murders Pumo in his apartment. Tina's girlfriend, Maggie Lah, comes across the scene and narrowly escapes the killer's clutches.
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as being "emotionally richer" than any of his prior works. He says that while writing it, he tried to mimic the "transparent" and "antiseptic" style of two stories from his collection
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and speak to
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and is never heard from again. Underhill narrates the end of the story, imagining
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shares characters with several of Straub's other works. The character of
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credit for himself. Underhill is released when Poole shares his findings with the arresting officer.
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placed in their mouth bearing the word "KOKO". During a reunion of veterans at the
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in which the victims have their eyes and ears removed, and are each found with a
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about the novel's characters, development, release, reception, and legacy.
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Man of
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In the early 1980s, a series of ritualistic murders take place in
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but are given several leads which send Poole and
Linklater to
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619:, published October 22, 2000, accessed April 29, 2008.
602:, published November 7, 2004, accessed April 29, 2008.
585:, published August 20, 2000, accessed April 29, 2008.
565:, published May 13, 2002, accessed April 29, 2008.
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771:Black House
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680:Under Venus
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1623:Categories
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1497:The Chimes
1373:Gene Wolfe
1281:Tim Powers
1176:Tim Powers
1159:Boy's Life
1130:Jack Vance
1001:Gene Wolfe
984:Watchtower
937:Doctor Rat
750:The Throat
711:Shadowland
540:References
491:The Throat
435:physically
336:None
315:813/.54 19
39:improve it
1543:Witchmark
1526:Fonda Lee
1521:Jade City
1337:Jo Walton
1286:Galveston
1171:Last Call
674:Marriages
656:Works by
534:Blue Rose
451:negotiate
447:Chinatown
431:Milwaukee
410:Singapore
377:in 1989.
238:Publisher
139:talk page
45:talk page
1182:Glimpses
961:Gloriana
820:Mrs. God
804:Novellas
462:Creation
456:Honduras
302:17618882
228:thriller
204:Language
1276:Declare
1264:Thraxas
1078:Perfume
743:Mystery
615:", The
598:", The
581:", The
509:Mystery
414:Bangkok
347:Mystery
224:Mystery
207:English
1609:(2023)
1597:(2022)
1585:(2021)
1573:(2020)
1550:(2019)
1538:(2018)
1516:(2017)
1504:(2016)
1492:(2015)
1480:(2014)
1468:(2013)
1456:(2012)
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1380:Ysabel
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1109:(1989)
1097:(1988)
1090:Replay
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991:(1980)
968:(1979)
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853:(2011)
847:(2010)
841:(1999)
835:(1997)
829:(1993)
823:(1990)
815:(1982)
796:(2010)
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766:(1999)
758:(1995)
752:(1993)
746:(1990)
738:(1988)
730:(1984)
722:(1983)
714:(1980)
706:(1979)
698:(1977)
690:(1975)
682:(1974)
676:(1973)
666:Novels
500:, and
418:Taipei
363:horror
349:
242:Dutton
232:horror
212:Series
194:Author
1558:2020s
1449:Osama
1417:2010s
1256:2000s
1117:1990s
976:1980s
905:1970s
898:Novel
763:Mr. X
687:Julia
361:is a
274:Pages
269:Print
220:Genre
177:Koko
1102:Koko
735:Koko
530:Koko
514:Koko
486:Koko
474:Koko
437:and
358:Koko
296:OCLC
283:ISBN
253:1988
1605:by
1593:by
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1569:by
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987:by
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940:by
928:by
916:by
397:in
1625::
1528:/
1399:/
1317:/
1283:/
1144:/
1051:/
570:^
561:,
548:^
536:.
494:,
230:,
226:,
48:.
896:—
886:e
879:t
872:v
649:e
642:t
635:v
365:-
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