Every so often a novel-reader's novel comes along:

[champ1966]

Loved The Passage, as I was reading it the urban legend of 'The Russian Sleep Deprevation Experiment' came to mind. Maybe I'd only recently heard of it. Check it out online, you'll probably see what I mean. Wasn't quite as impressed with The Twelve, not got round to the third one yet, as my 'ti read' pile has more books than our local library.

 

[Paddy C]

....I thank you for that, they just appealed to me and the characters for Koontz aren't the cut-out kind he's known for in some of his other works....

Sounds good to me...

 

[GNTLGNT]

Wow, Koontz had a book published as early as 1968, I had no idea till just now when I went to this site: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/k/dean-r-koontz/. I had never heard of him till the 80's when I was trying to get someone to read "The Stand" and they told me that Koontz was a better writer, which didn't set well with me as I was a total King fanatic at the time. Have you read any of Peter Straub's books? I loved the Talisman but never read any of his books, someone I knew had Shadowlands laying around and I tried reading it but just couldn't get into it.

...he published MANY years ago, but virtually everything was a under a pseudonym....lots of sci-fi and even some "adult" stories just to hone his craft and keep money coming in.....most of his early horror/fantasy/suspense titles are now released under his real name and he gives some fascinating looks into his career at the time they were written, in his Afterwords.....Peter Straub is not a favorite...I read Ghost Story which IS a classic and was bored snotless by Shadowland-he's just not my cup of tea......the collaborations with Steve are the only reason I read anything else....

 

[Grant87]

Wow, Koontz had a book published as early as 1968, I had no idea till just now when I went to this site: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/k/dean-r-koontz/. I had never heard of him till the 80's when I was trying to get someone to read "The Stand" and they told me that Koontz was a better writer, which didn't set well with me as I was a total King fanatic at the time. Have you read any of Peter Straub's books? I loved the Talisman but never read any of his books, someone I knew had Shadowlands laying around and I tried reading it but just couldn't get into it.

Definitely check out Ghost Story by Straub. It's fantastic.

 

[Mr Nobody]

...he published MANY years ago, but virtually everything was a under a pseudonym....lots of sci-fi and even some "adult" stories just to hone his craft and keep money coming in.....most of his early horror/fantasy/suspense titles are now released under his real name and he gives some fascinating looks into his career at the time they were written, in his Afterwords.....Peter Straub is not a favorite...I read Ghost Story which IS a classic and was bored snotless by Shadowland-he's just not my cup of tea......the collaborations with Steve are the only reason I read anything else....

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't DK also sell the rights outright to a lot of his earlier stuff, which is why some copyrights pages don't mention him?

 

[GNTLGNT]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't DK also sell the rights outright to a lot of his earlier stuff, which is why some copyrights pages don't mention him?

....he did, until he figured out how bad those that acquired his work were going to butcher them, and when he was able he bought a lot of the rights back if I recall correctly...I'm no Koontz historian, but I think that's right....