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A review by origamioblivion
77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz
2.0
Having liked the novella "Moonlit Mind", I decided to read this book, also set in the same world (but largely unrelated except in geography and a proximity to a spooky hill), which just came out last week.
The book was a bit uneven for me. (For Koontz fans, I'd bump up my rating to 3 stars instead of 2). I loved the premise of haunted house story but set in a modern apartment complex, the weirdness affecting various apartment dwellers and staff. I was hoping for something like Hitchcock's film noir classic "Rear Window" but with a horror twist, however for most of the first half of the book, there is not much interaction between each of the main inhabitants in their various apartment rooms, which led to a slow build up. I found myself wishing things would move a long a bit in terms of pacing.
Things do move a long more swiftly in the 2nd half of the book, as the horrors reveal themselves to more tangible than simply transient apparitions and the distraught tenets deciding to band together to try to fend off the evil power and also tryto solve the mystery surrounding the building.
There is a bit of unexpected science-fiction twist to everything, that I quite enjoyed. Without going into detail, it gave a plausible explanation, something not often down well in horror books, for the basis of the horrors.
It felt like a scaled-down version of Stephen King's post-apocalytpic magnum opus, "The Stand", which I actually think is a neat twist, however I felt I didn't connect with the characters. They were decently drawn, but I think Koontz shorter story, "Moonlit Mind", had more interesting flesh-out characters.
In the end, despite my misgivings, I do have to say this was more original than I expected, as last I read Koontz back in the 90s, a lot of his books often followed the same formulaic plot. I'm glad to see that he does have some fresh ideas. I'll be looking forward to his next book.
I have to also note, that this book would make for a great video game, like a surival horror game like the "Resident Evil" series. The book (I read it on a Kindle) comes with maps of the Pendleton apartment complex, which was nice as you can imagine the characters traversing each room throughout the story.
Update - There is a multimedia flash site at www.77shadowstreet.com that will let you explore some of the rooms of the Pendleton Mansion/Apartment complex. Kind of creepy but cool and it did add to the overall experience. Searching the rooms may though provide some mild spoilers.
The book was a bit uneven for me. (For Koontz fans, I'd bump up my rating to 3 stars instead of 2). I loved the premise of haunted house story but set in a modern apartment complex, the weirdness affecting various apartment dwellers and staff. I was hoping for something like Hitchcock's film noir classic "Rear Window" but with a horror twist, however for most of the first half of the book, there is not much interaction between each of the main inhabitants in their various apartment rooms, which led to a slow build up. I found myself wishing things would move a long a bit in terms of pacing.
Things do move a long more swiftly in the 2nd half of the book, as the horrors reveal themselves to more tangible than simply transient apparitions and the distraught tenets deciding to band together to try to fend off the evil power and also tryto solve the mystery surrounding the building.
There is a bit of unexpected science-fiction twist to everything, that I quite enjoyed. Without going into detail, it gave a plausible explanation, something not often down well in horror books, for the basis of the horrors.
It felt like a scaled-down version of Stephen King's post-apocalytpic magnum opus, "The Stand", which I actually think is a neat twist, however I felt I didn't connect with the characters. They were decently drawn, but I think Koontz shorter story, "Moonlit Mind", had more interesting flesh-out characters.
In the end, despite my misgivings, I do have to say this was more original than I expected, as last I read Koontz back in the 90s, a lot of his books often followed the same formulaic plot. I'm glad to see that he does have some fresh ideas. I'll be looking forward to his next book.
I have to also note, that this book would make for a great video game, like a surival horror game like the "Resident Evil" series. The book (I read it on a Kindle) comes with maps of the Pendleton apartment complex, which was nice as you can imagine the characters traversing each room throughout the story.
Update - There is a multimedia flash site at www.77shadowstreet.com that will let you explore some of the rooms of the Pendleton Mansion/Apartment complex. Kind of creepy but cool and it did add to the overall experience. Searching the rooms may though provide some mild spoilers.