A review by markae
Phantoms by Dean Koontz

adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

It's a thrilling read, sometimes creepy, sometimes gory. The characters are quite stereotpyical and unsurprising, but I like how in this novel they look for scientific, logical answers to something that seems illogical. The plot and resolution may not hold up much when you think about it too closely, but that's fine. It's kind of serious but still pulpy, using convenience tomove the plot forward, and the end result is mainly entertainment. Enjoyable, easy to read entertainment with some good scares. Essentially that's what Dean Koontz set out to produce when he was asked to write a horror novel, and he succeeded at that. 
As I always do, I'll point out the ever-present fatphobia. I wasn't surprised to encounter a character here who is fat because he's evil, but I still hated it. Other shit is sprinkled in here and there in this 80s novel - your nuggets of sexism and racism, but clearly not meant to be these things (except when they come from an actual supposed-to-be piece of shit character) - but overall it isn't too horrific to read in 2024.