Koko

A rumbling, big-firing tank of a thriller about a bunch of Vietnam vets hunting their old buddy, a suspected serial killer. When the dust settles, however, it's clear that for all its flash and noise this densely tangled epic - a rare nonoccult outing by horror master Straub (Ghost Story, 1979; Floating Dragon, 1983; Shadowland, 1980; The Talisman, 1984, with Stephen King) - is running out of control and off target. Straub opens slowly but with real emotional power as four vets - an arrogant lawyer, Beevers; a kindly carpenter, Conor; a hip N.Y. restauranteur, Puma; and protagonist Michael Poole, a pediatrician - gather at the Vietnam Memorial in D.C. Their mission: to find and bring home fellow vet Tim Underhill, whom they're sure is Koko, a killer ravaging Southeast Asia. Koko stuffs playing cards in his victims' mouths, just like they used to in Nam; who else could he be but tormented, missing Underhill? The charged mood that Straub wrings from this reunion turns to portentousness, however, as, while Puma remains stateside, Poole and company fly to Singapore and then on to Bangkok, where they sluggishly explore Stygian depths - including a snuff club - and their own souls while tracking Underhill. Meanwhile, Koko, unidentified, flies to N.Y.C., where he haunts and finally kills Puma. Back in Bangkok, Poole at last digs up Underhill; since he's not Koko, who is? And why is Koko now killing the vets? Aided by Puma's sexy Chinese girlfriend, whom Poole beds, the gang at last pinpoints Koko - after a false lead that takes them on a lengthy Milwaukee side-trip - as yet another of their troop, one whom they thought dead. In a pitch-black room deep in the bowels of N.Y.C.'s Chinatown, Poole and his pals finally confront Koko; blood spills, egos crack, and Koko's aim - born of a Mai-Lai-like massacre led by Beevers - is revealed in all its brooding insanity. A brave gambit to take on Conrad's mantle - as Straub seeks to illuminate war's dark-hearted legacy - that ultimately flops. Although sharply limned, the characters remain static (and Koko an unsatisfactory shadow) until the end; the plot meanders and the twists hold no punch, leaching suspense; the overriding mood of gloom and doom drags the whole effort down. In all, then, an honorable, mighty failure. (Kirkus Reviews)