Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
It’s almost impressive how completely similar the bulk of Koontz’s books are to each other. I won’t even bother listing all of the similarities because at this point I know I’ve listed them in other reviews, and they haven’t changed. And it’s kind of disturbing how much satisfaction Koontz appears to get in describing the evermore disturbing, twisted habits of his books’ supernaturally omnipotent psychopaths. Like, at what point does it stop being a titillating detail and start being a creepy way of living vicariously through your demented characters? These characters are designed purely for shock value, and to justify rule breaking and gun violence. It’s cliche.
One extra pet peeve I feel like expressing, however:
It feels like gun nuts have to come up with these wildly fantastic scenarios to justify having guns in real life. Even though the stuff in the stories is much less likely to happen in the real world than an accidental shooting of an innocent bystander. I guess that at least in this book the characters are cops and are expected to have guns.
Which leads me to another point of contention:
Too many people think they are inside their own action stories. They think they are the heroes, and that as such they are exempt from the rules. We see hundreds of stories, movies, books, where the hero must defy the law to save the day, and in those books they are justified. But then the idiots who exist in real life learn from fictional hero examples and believe that they are also justified in “bending” the rules. These people become cops who think it’s okay to totally rely on their (actually flawed) instincts. These cops hurt the innocent, they deal out punishments that don’t fit the crime, they commit police brutality. They celebrate their special status as not just enforcers, but interpreters of the law. They continue to behave this way, and every time they bend the rules it gets easier and easier. They begin to justify their actions and their emotions by claiming a self-determined concept of “right.” I’m not saying stories like this cause bad cops, but I think that they insert a false definition of justice into the society that absorbs this implicit, romanticized view of law enforcement.
And so much whining about the 90s! Koontz really must miss the good ol’ days when violence didn’t exist. /sarcasm
One extra pet peeve I feel like expressing, however:
It feels like gun nuts have to come up with these wildly fantastic scenarios to justify having guns in real life. Even though the stuff in the stories is much less likely to happen in the real world than an accidental shooting of an innocent bystander. I guess that at least in this book the characters are cops and are expected to have guns.
Which leads me to another point of contention:
Too many people think they are inside their own action stories. They think they are the heroes, and that as such they are exempt from the rules. We see hundreds of stories, movies, books, where the hero must defy the law to save the day, and in those books they are justified. But then the idiots who exist in real life learn from fictional hero examples and believe that they are also justified in “bending” the rules. These people become cops who think it’s okay to totally rely on their (actually flawed) instincts. These cops hurt the innocent, they deal out punishments that don’t fit the crime, they commit police brutality. They celebrate their special status as not just enforcers, but interpreters of the law. They continue to behave this way, and every time they bend the rules it gets easier and easier. They begin to justify their actions and their emotions by claiming a self-determined concept of “right.” I’m not saying stories like this cause bad cops, but I think that they insert a false definition of justice into the society that absorbs this implicit, romanticized view of law enforcement.
And so much whining about the 90s! Koontz really must miss the good ol’ days when violence didn’t exist. /sarcasm
Really enjoyed this book. Had me on edge. Lot of things going on at the beginning of the story but it comes together well. Harry and Connie are entertaining partners. Definitely recommend.
I usually like almost anything by Dean Koontz, but I didn't enjoy this one. The characters in the story were interesting and I felt well developed. The story itself was suspenseful, which I really liked. My main issue with this book was the ending.
*Possible Spoilers*
The whole book builds up to what is going to be this epic fight and it ends within a few pages. There really isn't even a fight, which I found disappointing. The 'evil' character is supposed to have all these powers and he seemed to die very easily. I understand they were trying to catch him at his weakest to make him more vulnerable and easier to defeat but it was just too easy and quick. The ending ruined the rest of the novel for me because I felt that all the suspense led up to almost nothing. I would not recommend this book.
*Possible Spoilers*
The whole book builds up to what is going to be this epic fight and it ends within a few pages. There really isn't even a fight, which I found disappointing. The 'evil' character is supposed to have all these powers and he seemed to die very easily. I understand they were trying to catch him at his weakest to make him more vulnerable and easier to defeat but it was just too easy and quick. The ending ruined the rest of the novel for me because I felt that all the suspense led up to almost nothing. I would not recommend this book.
I used to love a good Koontz, but this is another one that really did not do it for me (am I growing out of his books?). This one felt a bit preachy at times, yes the world is a terrible place sometimes and people do horrible things to other people, but you don't need to list various crimes. I did not really connect with any of the characters and am still undecided as to if the perspective of Woofer the dog was a good thing or a bad thing. There was an attempt of suspense at the end, but it fell a bit flat for me. On the plus side, this did not require a huge amount of brain power and was a pretty quick read.
We are going to California next year and this is the only part of the book that made me cringe and wonder if our holiday destination is such a good idea.
Southern California, a dessert before man brought in water and made larger areas of it habitable, was a perfect breeding ground for tarantulas, but they kept to undeveloped canyons and scrublands.
We are going to California next year and this is the only part of the book that made me cringe and wonder if our holiday destination is such a good idea.
Southern California, a dessert before man brought in water and made larger areas of it habitable, was a perfect breeding ground for tarantulas, but they kept to undeveloped canyons and scrublands.
dark
tense
medium-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
This was a tough one to get through. It picks up in the last quarter, which was fairly enjoyable, but there was something about everything before that which I found very lacking. Definitely not Koontz at his finest, though it does share similarities to much of his other work. I'd recommend Watchers, Strangers, Phantoms, Lightning, or many others before this one.
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
I actually finished this a few days ago. This one took a long time to get going. The start was weird, then it got weirder and then slowly the story began to make a little sense.