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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
"Night Chills" by Dean Koontz, was one of the books given to me by a co-worker who knew I "liked to read". Dean Koontz is mostly a hit-or-miss author for me but I tend to like his earlier works better, probably because they are usually more of a straight forward horror story than his later work.
This novel is a bit dated, having been written in the 1970s and concerns the phenomenon of subliminal advertising, taken to the extreme where it can actually be used for mind control. Three people of varying backgrounds and motivations get together to coordinate an experiment on an isolated "company town" where the small, controlled population is subjected to the experimental technique. If the experiment works, the three stand to become all powerful (and all rich). The title of the book comes from the side effect that the experimentees get: night chills similar to flu-like symptoms.
The book was a quick read, and a page-turner. The bad guys, particularly the main inventor of the mind control technique, were far more developed than the good guys who fight back, making it a bit difficult to root for them. And, I must say, there is some pretty extreme graphic sexual scenes in this novel, mostly having to do with the main inventor abusing his new found power to get back at women for all of the grief he suffered in his youth.
In summary, not a bad Koontz novel, but not ranking at the top either.
This novel is a bit dated, having been written in the 1970s and concerns the phenomenon of subliminal advertising, taken to the extreme where it can actually be used for mind control. Three people of varying backgrounds and motivations get together to coordinate an experiment on an isolated "company town" where the small, controlled population is subjected to the experimental technique. If the experiment works, the three stand to become all powerful (and all rich). The title of the book comes from the side effect that the experimentees get: night chills similar to flu-like symptoms.
The book was a quick read, and a page-turner. The bad guys, particularly the main inventor of the mind control technique, were far more developed than the good guys who fight back, making it a bit difficult to root for them. And, I must say, there is some pretty extreme graphic sexual scenes in this novel, mostly having to do with the main inventor abusing his new found power to get back at women for all of the grief he suffered in his youth.
In summary, not a bad Koontz novel, but not ranking at the top either.
Read this 20+ years ago and am doing some rereading. Holds up pretty well considering how long ago it was written.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The good:
I went into this book blind, not reading the synopsis and instead just acquiring a Dean Koontz book I knew I'd never read before. What I fell into was a neat premise, a small town of characters that I was invested in, and a somewhat plausible thing that would be terrifying if implemented in real life.
The Great:
I've always been fascinated with the history of MK-Ultra and the absolutely horrible experiments the government did on its own people. It's one of those few conspiracies that turned out to be absolutely, undeniably true. This book is an extension of that, creating a villain (group of villains, really. But the one guy is the worst) that is scary as hell when wielding that kind of power over others.
The Not So Great:
Koontz wrote this book in the 70s, and it unfortunately becomes jarring with the often mentions of advancing technology. Allusions to being in the age of the machine, and advancement of computers, while true, seems kind of silly when read today with our EXTREMELY MORE advanced technology since then. If this were adapted into a movie set in today's time then I think it would work very well, but not in the 70s.
Also, some of the bad guys meet their ends in some very abrupt and almost meh ways.
Koontz is often known for being a little formulaic and even 'preachy' in some of his books. Perhaps it was because this is a much earlier one, but I actually found Night Chills to be surprisingly brutal in some scenes. You can just imagine what dark paths that mind control can be used to travel down, and there are a few scenes that Koontz wrote which definitely do not hold back. He pushed the envelope here, not at all fitting into that 'safe' or 'formulaic' state he's otherwise often compared to.
Join the RK King Readers' Tribe for an exclusive FREE short story, plus inside info, musings, promos and more: RK King Writes
I went into this book blind, not reading the synopsis and instead just acquiring a Dean Koontz book I knew I'd never read before. What I fell into was a neat premise, a small town of characters that I was invested in, and a somewhat plausible thing that would be terrifying if implemented in real life.
The Great:
I've always been fascinated with the history of MK-Ultra and the absolutely horrible experiments the government did on its own people. It's one of those few conspiracies that turned out to be absolutely, undeniably true. This book is an extension of that, creating a villain (group of villains, really. But the one guy is the worst) that is scary as hell when wielding that kind of power over others.
The Not So Great:
Koontz wrote this book in the 70s, and it unfortunately becomes jarring with the often mentions of advancing technology. Allusions to being in the age of the machine, and advancement of computers, while true, seems kind of silly when read today with our EXTREMELY MORE advanced technology since then. If this were adapted into a movie set in today's time then I think it would work very well, but not in the 70s.
Also, some of the bad guys meet their ends in some very abrupt and almost meh ways.
Koontz is often known for being a little formulaic and even 'preachy' in some of his books. Perhaps it was because this is a much earlier one, but I actually found Night Chills to be surprisingly brutal in some scenes. You can just imagine what dark paths that mind control can be used to travel down, and there are a few scenes that Koontz wrote which definitely do not hold back. He pushed the envelope here, not at all fitting into that 'safe' or 'formulaic' state he's otherwise often compared to.
Join the RK King Readers' Tribe for an exclusive FREE short story, plus inside info, musings, promos and more: RK King Writes