The action is predictable and less interesting than Koontz’s discourses on swing music and his allusions to art, race and social mores. The cardboard-cutout antagonists are not fully formed, but Koontz’s exploration of the Bledsoes' familial bond gives the story heart.

There are, nevertheless, affecting supporting characters, like the reclusive Mr. Koontz writes Sylvia and Teddy as too good to be true, and Jonah’s too-wise childhood perspective seems overly influenced by Jonah-the-adult’s narration. Tilton’s skirt-chasing ensnares him in a bomb plot by two psychopaths posing as political agitators, putting Jonah and Sylvia in great danger. The narrative covers the '60s shake-ups, including opposition to the Vietnam War.

The Beatles rock radio and records, but preteen Jonah is entranced with big band music, and he’s a gifted pianist. The most constant presence in Jonah’s life is grandfather Teddy Bledsoe, 'a piano man,' a big band veteran now working as a lounge pianist.

He's the son of Sylvia Bledsoe Kirk, a singer gifted enough to have won scholarships, and Tilton Kirk, a rogue smooth enough to get Sylvia pregnant before she could get to college.There’s an off-again, on-again marriage, Tilton fantasizing about celebrity chef-dom and Sylvia working at Woolworths and singing in nightclubs. Honoring his racial and musical heritage, young Jonah bears seven middle names in homage to the African-American greats of swing music. Koontz ( Innocence, 2013, etc.) genre-bends the metaphysical into a coming-of-age story, one measuring love’s parameters.

City of Night by Dean Koontz