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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.75 actually. Pluses were the bond between dogs and humans, and especially the story of kip and his humans. Lots of action. This was just a bit too gruesome for me in many spots.
I give up. Too violent: . Too unbelievable: Too predictable: . How can a book be both unbelievable and predictable at the same time? Dean Koontz manages to pull it off. Truly awful.
Edited to add: I couldn't stop thinking about why this book was so disappointing. I really enjoyed Watchers.
Spoiler
play-by-play description of rape and murderSpoiler
long-distance telepathy between different species--really?Spoiler
the bad guys are always monotonously depraved; the good guys are always tediously virtuousEdited to add: I couldn't stop thinking about why this book was so disappointing. I really enjoyed Watchers.
Spoiler
I know Dean Koontz loves dogs, so I trusted that the dog wouldn't die. But the horrific and unrelenting violence, anger, and hatred toward the human characters in the book overwhelmed me. Why is it forbidden to kill off the dog, but okay to depict the rape and murder of human beings? I expected a thriller but instead got horror porn: pure evil against pure innocence. Murders in books can be grisly, but usually the murder has already happened and is not described in lurid detail as it is occurring. A little more nuance, a little less absolute viciousness vs. unblemished righteousness might have helped. I don't know.
Shees! Okay, all those ultra-smart Golden retrievers that you love out in your books? They are getting silly and sillier. Here we have a rather cultish pack of genetically engineering dogs as the heroes of the story and... nope, I'm tired of them.
I'm sorry, but this is an example of how bad Dean Koontz can be: not a single full character, villains that are so cliché that it hurts reading them, and a storyline that barely can be held together.
The only good thing here is the narration by Edoardo Ballerini
I'm sorry, but this is an example of how bad Dean Koontz can be: not a single full character, villains that are so cliché that it hurts reading them, and a storyline that barely can be held together.
The only good thing here is the narration by Edoardo Ballerini
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Dog stories always get me
And dean joints does a marvelous job with dog stories. Of course, this is more murder/conspiracy/sci fi being that it is Koontz but I love how he captures the heart of dogs. I also love that in the end people + dogs triumph
And dean joints does a marvelous job with dog stories. Of course, this is more murder/conspiracy/sci fi being that it is Koontz but I love how he captures the heart of dogs. I also love that in the end people + dogs triumph
You know what you’re getting with a Dean Koontz book: The good guys are really good. The bad guys are truly evil. Somewhere in the mix is an innocent, often a kid, and possibly a golden retriever who have extraordinary abilities. The bad guys get what’s coming to them.
It’s a familiar formula, but one that works, and if you’re in the mood for it, it is satisfying.
It’s a familiar formula, but one that works, and if you’re in the mood for it, it is satisfying.