521 reviews for:

Phantoms: A Thriller

Dean Koontz

3.72 AVERAGE

ashamo's review against another edition

5.0

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment

copp62's review against another edition

2.25

dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

the_danz's review against another edition

4.75

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

elizcarrie's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark informative mysterious tense

leahiskewl's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

ammartin216's review against another edition

2.5

challenging dark tense medium-paced

thegreenknight3's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

booklover_jac's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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One of the worst books I've had the displeasure of listening to on audible. Koontz has a bad habit of turning a short story into a novel by adding in excessive detail and often repeating things. I doubt I will read anything else of his.

ngallion's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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This is my third Dean Koontz book and I’m starting to see a trend.  His writing is engaging and easy to read, his ideas are interesting, but somewhere around the 3/4 mark he drops from “hey, this book is pretty good!” to “I’m not sure he knows how to end this thing.”  Phantoms has a better ending than the other books, but the way in which the survivors get out of their troubles seems surprisingly direct and wrinkle-free.  They just kind of… figure out what to do and then do it.  There’s a mild complication that happens, but it’s tied to a B (or maybe C) plot that’s so disconnected from the rest of the story that the book would have been better to drop it all together.  

This isn’t at all a bad book, but like Koontz’ other works, it’s akin to a “turn off your brain and enjoy the film” fare that pops up frequently in movie theaters.  Some folks will live this, but I find it to be just kind of a pleasant diversion.

cculv's review against another edition

5.0

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No