The Face of Fear
Encyclopedia
The Face of Fear is a novel by best-selling author Dean Koontz
, first published in 1977. It was originally released under the pseudonym Brian Coffey.
, where a murderous madman known as the Butcher has been mutilating young women. While he is giving an interview on live television one night, Graham senses the Butcher claiming another victim. When the madman realizes that [Graham] poses a threat to him he formulates a plan to kill the clairvoyant. While working late one night in his office building, Graham senses that the Butcher is coming to his floor aboard an elevator. With his girlfriend Connie at his side, Graham begins a long night of playing hide and seek to try to avoid the psychopath's grip.
, and his injuries included sixteen broken bones and internal injuries: up to current times, he has made three more attempts to climb Everest and has failed each time. He is the publisher of two mountain climbing magazines. Graham is a clairvoyant who has been helping the police in trying to find the Butcher, particularly Detective Ira Preduski: Graham feels that he himself has "a responsibility to develop and interpret his psychic talent". While being interviewed on Manhattan at Midnight by Anthony Prine, a two hour interview program, Graham senses that Edna Mowry, the Butcher's tenth victim, is being killed, and then senses that she has been killed. He and Connie are chased through the "Bowerton Building", including sometimes scaling the sides of the building, before escaping the clutches of Frank Bollinger. After Bollinger is killed, they head back to Graham's house, where they are confronted by Ira Preduski and Anthony Prine (who none of them know is one half of the Butcher), surviving Prine's assault mostly due to Preduski shooting Prine in self-defense. By the end of the story, he and Connie have decided to get married.
, and that was the grave". Connie believes that helping and healing Graham is the most important thing in her life, and loves him more than she has anyone else, ever. "She was his (Graham's) doctor and nurse as well as his lover". Connie is chased along with Graham throughout the "Bowerton Building", escaping and fleeing
with Graham to his house. Her life is likely saved by Detective Preduski shooting Anthony Prine in self-defense. By the end of the story, she and Graham have decided to get married.
homicide Detective, paired up with Detective Daniel Mulligan. He has brown eyes and a pale complexion, and described as being "quick to take blame for everything". He lived in the south until he was four years old, although his parents weren't born there, and then moved north with his parents. According to Ira himself, he hasn't found "the right woman".
He is present at the tenth and eleventh Butcher murders. When Dr. Enderby suggests to him at the crime scene of Sarah Piper that the Butcher is two people and they are working together, he disagrees with Enderby, saying "I can't see psychopaths working together so smoothly and effectively". Anthony Prine is wounded at Graham Harris's house by Ira, who is shooting in self-defense, likely saving the life of Graham Harris. Ira seems to know at the end of the novel that Graham and Connie plan on getting married.
"a two-bit con man, a cheap sleazy hood". Waiting outside the "Bowerton Building" for Frank, he leaves after the time limit he and Frank agreed on passes, and drives by the building later, seeing the cops, and seemingly knowing what happened to Frank. Anthony goes to Graham's house, waits for him to come in, and shoots Graham in the back. He is wounded by Ira Preduski at the end of the book.
's poetry", and after his first meeting with Anthony Prine he felt that they were twins. His doctor has told him that he is likely to die of hypertension (Frank exhibits extreme nervous tension). Frank kills the tenth victim of the Butcher, Edna Mowry. He chases Graham and Connie through the "Bowerton Building", and is killed when a road grader's driver chases Frank with the machine in self-defense. Frank runs away, but slips on ice and falls: the driver of the road grader is unable to stop the machine in time, and Frank is hit by the road grader's plow.
s: housewife, lawyer, sales clerk, model, two school-teachers, and three secretaries. Although all are raped before being killed, Dr. Enderby says they are only raped "To impress us" and also says "Sex isn't the motivating factor": perhaps supporting his opinion is the fact that there is no evidence of anal, genitalia, or breast mutilation (and there is also no evidence of lip or tongue mutilation, either).
Edna Mowry - Edna has green eyes. She works at the Rhinestone Palace as a stripper. Edna is the tenth victim of the Butcher (she is killed by Frank Bollinger), and is found having been stabbed many times (one a throat wound), with "a [plug] of flesh" having been cut out of her stomach, and is found nude at the crime scene.
Sarah Piper - The eleventh victim of the Butcher (Anthony Prine her killer), Sarah is a stripper
at the Rhinestone Palace alongside Edna Mowry, who she says "was my best friend. She is described as a "well-built blond", and mentions to Graham Harris that "I do some light hooking...". Ira describes her as having a "soft Georgia accent". Sarah also says about Edna, "I was her only friend".
Dr. Andrew Enderby - He is the medical examiner at Sarah Piper's crime scene. In his fifties with thick hair, brown eyes, and a salt-and-pepper mustache, he suggests (correctly) to Ira Preduski that the Butcher is two people working together to commit the murders.
that aired on September 30, 1990. It starred Lee Horsley
as Graham Harris, Pam Dawber
as Connie Weaver, Kevin Conroy
as the Butcher, Bob Balaban
, and William Sadler
. It was directed by Farhad Mann
, with a teleplay by Dean Koontz
and Alan Jay Glueckman.
Dean Koontz
Dean Ray Koontz is a prolific American author best known for his novels which could be described broadly as suspense thrillers. He also frequently incorporates elements of horror, science fiction, mystery, and satire. A number of his books have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List, with...
, first published in 1977. It was originally released under the pseudonym Brian Coffey.
Plot summary
Graham Harris was once one of the world's foremost mountain climbers, until a fall five years earlier left him with a lame leg, a fear of heights...and a frightening psychic ability in which he can see murders as they are happening. Harris lives in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where a murderous madman known as the Butcher has been mutilating young women. While he is giving an interview on live television one night, Graham senses the Butcher claiming another victim. When the madman realizes that [Graham] poses a threat to him he formulates a plan to kill the clairvoyant. While working late one night in his office building, Graham senses that the Butcher is coming to his floor aboard an elevator. With his girlfriend Connie at his side, Graham begins a long night of playing hide and seek to try to avoid the psychopath's grip.
Graham Harris
Graham has blue eyes, is thirty-eight years old, stands five feet eleven inches tall, and has "thick reddish-blond hair". He feels affection for Connie Davis, his girlfriend. His father, a successful publisher, died when Graham was a year old, and left him a trust fund. Graham took his stepfather (Evan Harris)'s last name when his mother, a cocktail waitress, was married to the man. Five years before the events of the book, Graham fell on Mount EverestMount Everest
Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international boundary runs across the precise summit point...
, and his injuries included sixteen broken bones and internal injuries: up to current times, he has made three more attempts to climb Everest and has failed each time. He is the publisher of two mountain climbing magazines. Graham is a clairvoyant who has been helping the police in trying to find the Butcher, particularly Detective Ira Preduski: Graham feels that he himself has "a responsibility to develop and interpret his psychic talent". While being interviewed on Manhattan at Midnight by Anthony Prine, a two hour interview program, Graham senses that Edna Mowry, the Butcher's tenth victim, is being killed, and then senses that she has been killed. He and Connie are chased through the "Bowerton Building", including sometimes scaling the sides of the building, before escaping the clutches of Frank Bollinger. After Bollinger is killed, they head back to Graham's house, where they are confronted by Ira Preduski and Anthony Prine (who none of them know is one half of the Butcher), surviving Prine's assault mostly due to Preduski shooting Prine in self-defense. By the end of the story, he and Connie have decided to get married.
Connie Davis
Connie is Graham Harris's girlfriend and the owner of an antique shop. Thirty four years old and a brunette, Connie has lived with Graham for eighteen months. "To Connie, there was but one obscenityObscenity
An obscenity is any statement or act which strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time, is a profanity, or is otherwise taboo, indecent, abhorrent, or disgusting, or is especially inauspicious...
, and that was the grave". Connie believes that helping and healing Graham is the most important thing in her life, and loves him more than she has anyone else, ever. "She was his (Graham's) doctor and nurse as well as his lover". Connie is chased along with Graham throughout the "Bowerton Building", escaping and fleeing
with Graham to his house. Her life is likely saved by Detective Preduski shooting Anthony Prine in self-defense. By the end of the story, she and Graham have decided to get married.
Ira Preduski
Ira is a ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
homicide Detective, paired up with Detective Daniel Mulligan. He has brown eyes and a pale complexion, and described as being "quick to take blame for everything". He lived in the south until he was four years old, although his parents weren't born there, and then moved north with his parents. According to Ira himself, he hasn't found "the right woman".
He is present at the tenth and eleventh Butcher murders. When Dr. Enderby suggests to him at the crime scene of Sarah Piper that the Butcher is two people and they are working together, he disagrees with Enderby, saying "I can't see psychopaths working together so smoothly and effectively". Anthony Prine is wounded at Graham Harris's house by Ira, who is shooting in self-defense, likely saving the life of Graham Harris. Ira seems to know at the end of the novel that Graham and Connie plan on getting married.
Anthony Prine
The host of Manhattan at Midnight, Prine also forms one-half of the Butcher. Prine murders Sarah Piper, the eleventh victim of the Butcher. He plans to cause chaos between all races and people in New York, and then rise to power from the destruction. Born Billy James Plover and with a southern accent, he has mastered the ability to speak with or without a southern accent. Nine months after meeting Frank Bollinger, he felt he knew Frank better than he knew any other human being, ever. Anthony calls Charles MansonCharles Manson
Charles Milles Manson is an American criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction...
"a two-bit con man, a cheap sleazy hood". Waiting outside the "Bowerton Building" for Frank, he leaves after the time limit he and Frank agreed on passes, and drives by the building later, seeing the cops, and seemingly knowing what happened to Frank. Anthony goes to Graham's house, waits for him to come in, and shoots Graham in the back. He is wounded by Ira Preduski at the end of the book.
Franklin Dwight Bollinger
Frank represents the second half of the Butcher, assumed to be a detective, and is thirty-seven years old. He describes himself as an "admirer of William BlakeWilliam Blake
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
's poetry", and after his first meeting with Anthony Prine he felt that they were twins. His doctor has told him that he is likely to die of hypertension (Frank exhibits extreme nervous tension). Frank kills the tenth victim of the Butcher, Edna Mowry. He chases Graham and Connie through the "Bowerton Building", and is killed when a road grader's driver chases Frank with the machine in self-defense. Frank runs away, but slips on ice and falls: the driver of the road grader is unable to stop the machine in time, and Frank is hit by the road grader's plow.
Minor characters
First nine victims of the Butcher - The victims' (all women) professionProfession
A profession is a vocation founded upon specialized educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain....
s: housewife, lawyer, sales clerk, model, two school-teachers, and three secretaries. Although all are raped before being killed, Dr. Enderby says they are only raped "To impress us" and also says "Sex isn't the motivating factor": perhaps supporting his opinion is the fact that there is no evidence of anal, genitalia, or breast mutilation (and there is also no evidence of lip or tongue mutilation, either).
Edna Mowry - Edna has green eyes. She works at the Rhinestone Palace as a stripper. Edna is the tenth victim of the Butcher (she is killed by Frank Bollinger), and is found having been stabbed many times (one a throat wound), with "a [plug] of flesh" having been cut out of her stomach, and is found nude at the crime scene.
Sarah Piper - The eleventh victim of the Butcher (Anthony Prine her killer), Sarah is a stripper
Stripper
A stripper is a professional erotic dancer who performs a contemporary form of striptease at strip club establishments, public exhibitions, and private engagements. Unlike in burlesque, the performer in the modern Americanized form of stripping minimizes the interaction of customer and dancer,...
at the Rhinestone Palace alongside Edna Mowry, who she says "was my best friend. She is described as a "well-built blond", and mentions to Graham Harris that "I do some light hooking...". Ira describes her as having a "soft Georgia accent". Sarah also says about Edna, "I was her only friend".
Dr. Andrew Enderby - He is the medical examiner at Sarah Piper's crime scene. In his fifties with thick hair, brown eyes, and a salt-and-pepper mustache, he suggests (correctly) to Ira Preduski that the Butcher is two people working together to commit the murders.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
The story was adapted into a TV movieTelevision movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
that aired on September 30, 1990. It starred Lee Horsley
Lee Horsley
Lee Arthur Horsley is an American film, television, and theater actor known for starring roles in the television series, Nero Wolfe , Matt Houston , and Paradise . He starred in the 1982 cult film, The Sword and the Sorcerer, and recorded the audiobook edition of Lonesome Dove...
as Graham Harris, Pam Dawber
Pam Dawber
Pam Dawber is an American actress best known for her lead television sitcom roles as Mindy McConnell in Mork & Mindy and Samantha Russell in My Sister Sam .-Life and career:...
as Connie Weaver, Kevin Conroy
Kevin Conroy
Kevin Conroy is an American stage, screen, and voice actor, best known for his acclaimed voice role as Batman in numerous animated television series, feature films, and video games that make up the DC Animated Universe.-Early life:...
as the Butcher, Bob Balaban
Bob Balaban
Robert Elmer "Bob" Balaban is an American actor, author and director.-Personal life:Balaban was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Eleanor and Elmer Balaban, who owned several movie theatres and later was a pioneer in cable television...
, and William Sadler
William Sadler (actor)
William Thomas Sadler is an American actor who works in film and television. His television and motion picture roles have included Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller in The Pacific, Luther Sloan in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Sheriff Jim Valenti in Roswell, convict Heywood in The Shawshank Redemption,...
. It was directed by Farhad Mann
Farhad Mann
Farhad Mann is a director, screenwriter, cinematographer and editor of film, television and commercials. He wrote and directed Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace for New Line Cinema and his pilot Max Headroom ABC won several Emmy's. He directed the critically acclaimed Face of Fear, the Dean...
, with a teleplay by Dean Koontz
Dean Koontz
Dean Ray Koontz is a prolific American author best known for his novels which could be described broadly as suspense thrillers. He also frequently incorporates elements of horror, science fiction, mystery, and satire. A number of his books have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List, with...
and Alan Jay Glueckman.