Tick Tock by Dean Koontz Tick Tock is set in present-day Southern California. There are two main characters in this novel. Tommy Phan is a Vietnamese-American who is not true to his Vietnamese roots. He is 30 years old and a successful writer living in Southern California trying to live the "American dream". He is cursed by a sorcerer and throughout the story he is hunted by a demon. Tommy is aided by Deliverance "Del" Payne. She is a young blonde whom Tommy meets in a diner. She helps him survive the night and helps him fight the demon chasing him. The two fall in love during the events of the book and eventually marry. Tommy Phan is at the top of the world. He had just purchased a brand new Corvette and is living out his fantasy of living the American dream. On his way home he calls his mother to tell her about his new car. After feeling guilty about the conversation, because he is living his dream and not living with his family and working in the family business. On his way home he stops at a diner to eat something and meets a young blond man. After paying, he speeds up in his new car to get home. When he arrives home he notices a small rag doll on his door. Confused, but intrigued, he picks up the doll and brings it inside. She proceeded up the stairs to her computer work with the doll still in her hand and placed it against a lamp. After sitting down, he studies the doll more carefully and notices a small folded note with a pin holding its place next to the small hand. The note is written in Viennese, she has not known the language since she was eight, she puts it down and examines the doll and sees two crosses sewn where the eyes should be, one for the nose, one above the heart and five for the mouth. He leaves the room and when he comes in the doll is not where he left it and there is a message on his computer that wasn't there before. It reads "the deadline is dawn." Scared by the note, he tries to find the doll. When he picks it up from the ground, he places the doll next to the lamp where it was before.