Dean Koontz

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danie

I am whatever you say I am.
Feb 26, 2008
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Kentucky
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GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
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Cambridge, Ohio
I have been trying to go through his catalog of books and read the ones I haven't read. I bought False Memory recently. There are probably forty others I haven't read. When I was at the used bookstore (which had every title of his in stock) I was a bit overwhelmed. Out of his newer novels, do you have any suggestions? Besides the Odd books and Christopher Snow books, that is.

*btw, you may know this since you get his newsletter but Wikipedia says The Husband is going to be a movie. Did you like that one?
....yes I did, and I would suggest his Frankenstein series....
 
Mar 12, 2010
6,538
29,004
Texas
I went to 2nd and Charles twice last week. I'll add that to my list. I want to get all of Straub's Blue Rose books and any of McCammon's Matthew Corbett series. Fljoe has inspired me to pick up John D. MacDonald's books again.

Some of the Koontz books I have my eyes on:
From the Corner of His Eye
Tick Tock
The Face
The Husband
The Taking
The Darkest Night of the Year


Any of these any good? I'd love to read some of his old ones again, too. Like listening to a song on the radio, certain books take me back to where I was when I read it, where I bought it, what was happening in my life.

I've read Tick Tock and The Taking. I don't remember a thing about them but I remember liking them :) I think I'll reread The Taking.
 

Mr Nobody

Well-Known Member
Jul 9, 2008
3,306
9,050
Walsall, England
The Husband is going to be a movie? o_O
Tbh I found the novel a bit obvious and formulaic (from what I remember; I still have the book, I've just never been inclined to re-read it). Not awful, just nowhere near his best.
I can recommend Intensity, though. That was (I think...) my gateway book (part of a readers' club welcome pack, along with Ticktock, which was fun, plus Strangers and Watchers, which were good fun for other reasons).
The Taking is also worth a read. Shades of 'The Mist', perhaps, but never mind that.
 

kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
30,011
127,446
Spokane, WA
I went to 2nd and Charles twice last week. I'll add that to my list. I want to get all of Straub's Blue Rose books and any of McCammon's Matthew Corbett series. Fljoe has inspired me to pick up John D. MacDonald's books again.

Some of the Koontz books I have my eyes on:
From the Corner of His Eye
Tick Tock
The Face
The Husband
The Taking
The Darkest Night of the Year


Any of these any good? I'd love to read some of his old ones again, too. Like listening to a song on the radio, certain books take me back to where I was when I read it, where I bought it, what was happening in my life.
Tick Tock is a quick and fun read. Lots of humor in this one.
The Taking is IMHO a wonderful read, especially when you get to the ending. It'll make you think.....
The Face was good although a might too long.
Intensity (as Danie says) is very good
 

AnnaMarie

Well-Known Member
Feb 16, 2012
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....yes I did, and I would suggest his Frankenstein series....

I read the first and absolutely loved it. Could not find more. My sister got them for .christmas a few years ago and loaned them to me. Reread first, loved it. Read second, liked it. Started third, yawn. Never finished.

I think it kind of felt like there wasn't enough story to warrant so many words.
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
I read the first and absolutely loved it. Could not find more. My sister got them for .christmas a few years ago and loaned them to me. Reread first, loved it. Read second, liked it. Started third, yawn. Never finished.

I think it kind of felt like there wasn't enough story to warrant so many words.
....get the rest and finish....he admittedly lost his pacing around the third novel-but he found the groove again and finished strong....
 

Mr Nobody

Well-Known Member
Jul 9, 2008
3,306
9,050
Walsall, England
A few more I particularly enjoyed:
Night Chills
Dark Rivers of the Heart
Strange Highways
(novella plus short stories)
the Chris Snow books, Fear Nothing and Seize the Night (I've always wanted more of those and had the idea there was potential scope for many more, but there you go)
False Memory (along with Hearts in Atlantis, a book that helped get me through a very dark and sticky patch).
 

The Nameless

M-O-O-N - That spells Nameless
Jul 10, 2011
2,080
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The Darkside of the Moon (England really)
I just finished lightning (my first ever Koontz book). I loved it, and totally didn't see it turning out the way it did.

The whole WW2 twist was the furthest thing I could have imagined, going back (and forwards) and talking to Churchill and Hitler was pretty cool. The very nature of a time travel story means you get to see both the bleak and happy outcomes - laura paralysed and Chris dead followed by a happy ever after. I loved thelma, I was so glad to see no harm come to her at the end, I was convinced that it would. I felt so bad for her and laura when ruthie died - a sign of good writing.

If I was to have one tiny negative, it would be that I was expecting stefan's interest in and reasons for saving laura would be a bit less obvious than falling in love with her in the future. But the big reveal of the ww2 angle more than made up for it.
 
Mar 12, 2010
6,538
29,004
Texas
I thought I remembered liking The Taking but I started rereading it and gave up 45% into it. It's not a story, it's a collection of adjectives and descriptional phrases. Some of the descriptions are quite lovely, but...

And now that I've criticized a novel some of y'all like (sorry y'all), I need to ask a favor. I have a question for someone who has read the entire novel.

I don't remember why the aliens left. Why did the aliens leave the earth?
 

AchtungBaby

Well-Known Member
Dec 5, 2011
3,856
15,540
I went to 2nd and Charles twice last week. I'll add that to my list. I want to get all of Straub's Blue Rose books and any of McCammon's Matthew Corbett series. Fljoe has inspired me to pick up John D. MacDonald's books again.

Some of the Koontz books I have my eyes on:
From the Corner of His Eye
Tick Tock
The Face
The Husband
The Taking
The Darkest Night of the Year


Any of these any good? I'd love to read some of his old ones again, too. Like listening to a song on the radio, certain books take me back to where I was when I read it, where I bought it, what was happening in my life.
Of those, I've only read The Husband, The Taking, and Tick Tock. I enjoyed them all. The Taking is my favorite, of those.

I went to 2nd & Charles maybe three weeks ago! Did you notice the layout of the store has been rearranged? I love it;-D
 

Doc Creed

Well-Known Member
Nov 18, 2015
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United States
Of those, I've only read The Husband, The Taking, and Tick Tock. I enjoyed them all. The Taking is my favorite, of those.

I went to 2nd & Charles maybe three weeks ago! Did you notice the layout of the store has been rearranged? I love it;-D
Yes, I did notice. I loved it, too. When I walk in those doors I always hear the Hallelujah chorus in my head, lol. I have to be dragged out of there.
 
Mar 12, 2010
6,538
29,004
Texas
The only Koontz book I really like is Intensity. Have you read it?

Intensity was for sure intense. I sat on the edge of my chair while reading it. Im not a fast reader but I couldn't put it down so by the time I finished it, I was dead tired and my butt hurt :(

Another novel I read was almost as intense - The Bodies Left Behind by Jeffery Deaver. It was pretty good... I liked it anyways lol.
 

The Nameless

M-O-O-N - That spells Nameless
Jul 10, 2011
2,080
8,261
42
The Darkside of the Moon (England really)
I think I gave them all back.

Rereading the second of the Hodges trilogy, and have the third book waiting for it's first read.
Rereading finders keepers? That book zapped me of virtually all my will to read. I also have end of watch but I think it will be a while before I read it, mostly because of how much I didn't enjoy finders keepers, but also because of the way it looks like it's going.

Bill appears to be sick, maybe terminally (holly is concerned about his weight loss in FK, and in the excerpt of EOW he is at the doctors with a bad stomach and the doctor says this is the part of my job I don't like). Both the title and the working title (suicide Prince) suggest a finality that comes from the death of a main character, something king seems to be fond of doing.

I thought when this would be a trilogy it would be 3 different antagonists for 3 different stories so I'm a bit disappointed that it's Brady again. I also thought it was meant to be all out 'cat and mouse' crime thriller, now it looks like it's back to the supernatural with brady's esp.

It just seems like book 3 is going back, but after book 2, maybe that's a good thing.

Of course I could be wrong on those assumptions, and we shouldn't judge a book by its cover etc. But that's just how FK made me feel.
 
Mar 12, 2010
6,538
29,004
Texas
Rereading finders keepers? That book zapped me of virtually all my will to read. I also have end of watch but I think it will be a while before I read it, mostly because of how much I didn't enjoy finders keepers, but also because of the way it looks like it's going.

Bill appears to be sick, maybe terminally (holly is concerned about his weight loss in FK, and in the excerpt of EOW he is at the doctors with a bad stomach and the doctor says this is the part of my job I don't like). Both the title and the working title (suicide Prince) suggest a finality that comes from the death of a main character, something king seems to be fond of doing.

I thought when this would be a trilogy it would be 3 different antagonists for 3 different stories so I'm a bit disappointed that it's Brady again. I also thought it was meant to be all out 'cat and mouse' crime thriller, now it looks like it's back to the supernatural with brady's esp.

It just seems like book 3 is going back, but after book 2, maybe that's a good thing.

Of course I could be wrong on those assumptions, and we shouldn't judge a book by its cover etc. But that's just how FK made me feel.

I didn't like Finders Keepers as well as Mr Mercedes and I was afraid to read End of Watch for the same reason you gave in your spoiler, but I read it anyways and EOW is my favorite book in the trilogy :)
 
Mar 12, 2010
6,538
29,004
Texas
I read the first and absolutely loved it. Could not find more. My sister got them for .christmas a few years ago and loaned them to me. Reread first, loved it. Read second, liked it. Started third, yawn. Never finished.

I think it kind of felt like there wasn't enough story to warrant so many words.

Same here... LOVED the first two books but had trouble with the third book. I thought the third book was the end of the series and gave my books away. I'd need to reread them before reading the next two (two?) books but I don't want to purchase the first three again :(