Books and Writing - Dean Koontz #1: Thrilling, terrifying and compelling thrillers from one of the best.

Crossbow · 03-12-2005, 07:39 AM

Anyone else read Koontz?

I'm reading about my umpteenth Dean Koontz book. I really like his writing, but what is UP with his fascination with hypnosis and brainwashing??? Was he frightened by Phillip K Dick at an early age?

Kimberly · 03-12-2005, 12:14 PM

ooh Dean Koontz is my favorite author! I have met him 3 times.

hee as for his obsession with brainwashing and things like that maybe it is his fear of loss of control.

Which are your favorite books by him? I really liked "The Taking" I loved the end of that book! Again i liked "Odd Thomas" and then "Intensity" was a fantastic book. I have his new Frankenstein book but I haven't read that. I have read all of his other books.

*does happy dance* I'm so happy you started a thread about him!!

Crossbow · 03-12-2005, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by k46

Which are your favorite books by him? I really liked "The Taking" I loved the end of that book! Again i liked "Odd Thomas" and then "Intensity" was a fantastic book. I have his new Frankenstein book but I haven't read that. I have read all of his other books.

"False Memory" is my favorite.

I haven't read "The Taking" but it looks good. I do't think I've even seen "Odd Thomas" in the store. I didn't like "Intensity very much." Let me see if I can find a list of his books here so I can see which ones I've readl

Meanwhile, here's a site about him with good interview questions...
http://www.bookreporter.com/authors/au-koontz-dean.asp

ETA...

OK, this is the list of his books from “The Face,” which is a recent one - I think the last one before "The Taking," but I'm not sure.

Have read:

By the Light of the Moon
One Door Away form Heaven
From the Corner of His Eye
False Memory
Seize the Night
Fear Nothing
Hideaway
The Bad Place (That was a really weird one but I liked it.)
Midnight
Watchers
Strangers (Am reading that one right now.)
Twilight Eyes
Phantoms
The Voice of the Night
The House of Thunder
The Key to Midnight
Icebound
Intensity
Sole Survivors

Have not read:

Odd Thomas
Mr. Murder (I can’t see reading a book with this title.)
Dragon Tears
Cold Fire
Lightning
Darkfall
Whispers
The Mask
The Vision
The Face of Fear
Night Chills
Shattered
The Servants of Twilight
The eyes of Darkness
Shadowfires
Winter Moon
The Door to December
Dark Rivers of the Heart
Strange Highways
Tick Tock
The Funhouse
Demon Seed
The Taking

Kimberly · 03-12-2005, 06:40 PM

I have read all of those books and the only one I wouldn't suggest reading is Mr. Murder I didn't like that book very much at all. The Tock and Funhouse were ones he wrote in the 70's so they are interesting but not as good as his current books.

Dragon Tears is another good one!!

Jerseygirl · 03-13-2005, 11:01 AM

Dean Koontz is my all time favorite author, love most of his work. My absolute favorites are Phantoms and Dragon tears. I haven't read all of his latest books though. I think his earlier books are the best.

Kimberly · 03-13-2005, 06:48 PM

I love most of his books too. There are only a few I didn't really love. Dragon Tears was the first book of his I read and it scared the crap out of me!! hee I loved it.

You guys have to read "Taken"

I have wanted to talk to someone about the ending on that for ages!! hee

mickal · 03-23-2005, 12:45 PM

My favorite Dean Koontz books are "The Watcher" and "Lighting" I think the reason I loved them the best could be because I love books about dogs, especially Golden Retreviers such as the one in "The Watchers" And I absouletly love Time Travel novels such as "Lighting".

Kimberly · 03-26-2005, 10:50 AM

mickal

welcome to FF and ooh another Dean Koontz fan!! I loved those two books of his too.

It has been ages since I read his older stuff. Maybe I will stop buying new books and re-read his stuff.. hee but keeping me away from Borders will be hard

diamond12 · 03-28-2005, 04:51 PM

I absolutely loved False Memory. I read that one in like a day. I also like Phantoms, Midnight, The Bad Place, and Door to December. Give a hand for Dean Koontz!

Recommended: John Saul.

Kimberly · 03-28-2005, 07:04 PM

John Saul is good too. False Memory was a great book too.

Dean Koontz home page

Has anyone here read his new book Frankenstein? I bought it but I haven't read it yet. It is a series. It looks like the second book in this series is going to be published in July.

Also I wonder when he is going to finish the Christopher Snow series.

When I was looking up his new books I found that Velocity is coming out in May 26th. It sounds great!! This is what B&N said about the book:

Quote:

Velocity

Bill Wile is an easygoing, hardworking guy who leads a quiet, ordinary life. But that is about to change. One evening, after his usual eight-hour bartending shift, he finds a typewritten note under the windshield wiper of his car. If you don't take this note to the police and get them involved, I will kill a lovely blond schoolteacher. If you do take this note to the police, I will instead kill an elderly woman active in charity work. You have four hours to decide. The choice is yours.

It seems like a sick joke, and Bill's friend on the police force, Lanny Olson, thinks so too. His advice to Bill is to go home and forget about it. Besides, what could they do even if they took the note seriously? No crime has actually been committed. But less than twenty-four hours later, a young blond schoolteacher is found murdered, and it's Bill's fault: he didn't convince the police
to get involved. Now he's got another note, another deadline, another ultimatum. . . and two new lives hanging in the balance.

Suddenly Bill's average, seemingly innocuous life takes on the dimensions and speed of an accelerating nightmare. Because the notes are coming faster, the deadlines growing tighter, and the killer becoming bolder and crueler with every communication-until Bill is isolated with the terrifyingknowledge that he alone has the power of life and death over a psychopath's innocent victims. Until the struggle between good and evil is intensely personal. Until the most chilling words of all are: The choice is yours.

diamond12 · 03-30-2005, 11:55 AM

Ouch! Sounds like Bill's life is suddenly too complicated. Anyway, Velocity sounds good.
I recently got One Door Away From Heaven and just started reading it. So far it's good.

Dean's prose is good. Stephen King's Bag of Bones is also a delicious kind of prose, and different from his other books in a way.

Kimberly · 03-30-2005, 01:01 PM

Diamond good point about his prose. I think that is what makes his books so great for me. They are much more elegant then most "horror" and the plot twists keep you reading.

Do you guys enjoy his books where he has one narrator or the books where he has several different point of view narrators? Personally I like the one with lots of different points of view. It is interesting to me to go from the killer point of view, then to the victim, and then back to the cops.. etc. I think it adds a layer in those books.

When someone asked Dean about why he switches back and forth he said that he enjoys to do different things and to keep his writing fresh. I think he does that for sure by changing his style of writing between books.

What do you guys think?

onionroach · 03-31-2005, 05:10 AM

Back when I was trying out suspense, I tried some Koontz. I only read the Watcher and Servants of Twighlight which I liked but I decided soon after that horror/suspense was not my cup of tea.

Still, I prefer Koontz's style over King's and Saul's who I've also tried out.

Soz · 03-31-2005, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mickal

My favorite Dean Koontz books are "The Watcher" and "Lighting" I think the reason I loved them the best could be because I love books about dogs, especially Golden Retreviers such as the one in "The Watchers" And I absouletly love Time Travel novels such as "Lighting".

Watchers and Lightning are my favorite Koontz books too. I also like The Bad Place, Twilight Eyes, and Strangers a lot too. I haven't read any of Koontz's newer books though. I think I either burned out on them at one point or his plots started to seem too much alike and the books got predictible. I have a few of his newer books though, so I'll try them sometime.

Kimberly · 04-01-2005, 08:07 PM

Soz I would be intersested in what you thought of the endings for "Odd Thomas" and "The Taking" I didn't see the end of "The Taking" coming at all. In fact I thought it was one of the most interesting and thought provoking endings he had. If you read that PM me! I would love to chat with you about it.

I have to find someone who read that! I have been thinking about that ending for months wanting to talk to someone about it.

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Fan Forum > General Discussion > Books and Writing > Dean Koontz #1: Thrilling, terrifying and compelling thrillers from one of the best.