# Best and Worst Dean Koontz books **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 27, 2000, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-dean-koontz-books/42833 "2000-11-27T05:23:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-dean-koontz-books/42833/21 "2000-11-29T03:01:26Z")
Yeah, Cold Fire is a Koontz book. I rather like that one too. False Memory is really good so far (3/4 done). It’s all psychological horror…really cool stuff. Jman ---
**Author:** ![Nacho4Sara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Nacho4Sara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nacho4Sara)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-dean-koontz-books/42833/22 "2000-11-29T03:47:21Z")
I agree that Tick Tock sucked. I don’t even have the energy to put it in italics. It blew big time. _False Memory_ kicks major ass. I was totally aware of what was happening halfway through, so I had the heebie jeebies for the last 100 pages. Creepy stuff. This is about his new one, “From the Corner of His Eye,” coming out the day after Christmas. From [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0553801341/o/qid=975469027/sr=2-1/105-6219594-1209551](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0553801341/o/qid=975469027/sr=2-1/105-6219594-1209551) > [@](#): > > Bartholomew Lampion is born in Bright Beach, California, on a day of tragedy and terror, when the lives of everyone in his family are changed forever. Remarkable events accompany his birth, and everyone agrees that his unusual eyes are the most beautiful they have ever seen. > > On this same day, a thousand miles away, a ruthless man learns that he has a mortal enemy named Bartholomew. He doesn’t know who Bartholomew is, but he embarks on a search that will become the purpose of his life. If ever he finds the right Bartholomew, he will deal mercilessly with him. Follow the link for the rest of the plot; I don’t want to get in trouble with the mods. 😃 Anyway, what I meant to add last night was that I love how the protagonists in his books always have some disease or illness or mental problem. The plot is never just about them overcoming hardships, but also about them overcoming a problem that has always been there, like Chyna’s in _Intensity_. I admit DK is an acquired taste. The first book I read was one about a boy who killed his little sister, or something like that. (Sorry so vague. ;)) I was ready to give up on him after that. ---
**Author:** ![kolbykitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecae2f/32.png) [@kolbykitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kolbykitty)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-dean-koontz-books/42833/23 "2016-01-15T15:39:14Z")
As has been seen there are differing likes and dislikes. I myself found Fear Nothing and Sieze the Night Tedious and boring but they are my sister in laws favourites. My favourite novels are False Memory The Taking the Husband Velocity Intensity Odd interlude Saint Odd The house of thunder Life expectancy Lightning Darkness under the sun (this is a novella like odd interlude) Relentless Novels that I enjoyed Innocence Your heart belongs to me The good guy Chase Odd Thomas Demon Seed The face of fear Watches The bad place The funhouse Wintermoon The novels I haven’t enjoyed Breathless What the night knows (but I loved the novella) One door away from heaven The key to midnight The door to December 77 Shadow Street(this was improved by rereading on audiobook though) Fear Nothing Seize The night Brother Odd ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-dean-koontz-books/42833/24 "2016-01-15T16:16:39Z")
**Watchers** …is that the one with the golden retriever that has superhuman intelligence? My bone of contention with Koontz books is I can never remember the titles because they’re all the same book. Plucky heroine flees in the night. Unlikely hero catches up to her and assists her to expose the deep dark underbelly of whatever. Throw in a dog for good measure. There was one with a woman who took drugs during her pregnancy and gave birth to four children, one of whom was a hermaphrodite and was able to impregnate him/herself. Where was the Stephen King list? ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-dean-koontz-books/42833/25 "2016-01-15T16:51:45Z")
Thread relocated from IMHO to Cafe Society, which did not exist when this thread was started way back in 2000. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-dean-koontz-books/42833/26 "2016-01-15T18:04:02Z")
I loved Watchers, Phantoms and Twilight Eyes. Liked Cold Fire, Strangers, Lightning and Hideaway. Thought the Frankenstein trilogy was okay. Everything else ranges from meh to horrible. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-dean-koontz-books/42833/27 "2016-01-15T19:00:21Z")
I like the movie Odd Thomas. How is the series of books? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-dean-koontz-books/42833/28 "2016-01-15T19:00:36Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Where was the Stephen King list? Presumably back in 2000 sometime. Since this thread was started, there have been [several other threads](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Dean+Koontz%22+site:straightdope.com&safe=off&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=643&ei=lEKZVrOMIYjXeYiYuegE&start=0&sa=N) about Koontz, for anyone who’s really interested in seeing his writing discussed. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-dean-koontz-books/42833/29 "2016-01-15T19:35:08Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I like the movie Odd Thomas. How is the series of books? I’ve read the first 3 Odd Thomas novels and then I had to stop. Koontz has a problem with golden retrievers. And it says something that I can accept a guy who talks to ghosts, who sees the supernatural, but a ghost dog puts me over the edge. Aside from that they were enjoyable. I haven’t read much other Koontz, but I enjoyed the novel about kids who move to a new town and then get fed growth hormones, but turn into monsters. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2016, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-dean-koontz-books/42833/30 "2016-01-15T19:38:48Z")
> [@Uniball](#): > > Fear That Man Dean R. Koontz and Dan Koontz are the same guy? I wonder why he went from science fiction to horror. I liked the Odd books. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-dean-koontz-books/42833/31 "2016-01-16T00:11:18Z")
Watchers Seize the Night Fear Nothing ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2016, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-dean-koontz-books/42833/32 "2016-01-17T05:38:17Z")
Most of his books before 2000 (False Memory) or so were pretty good. My favorites being the mid to late 1980’s (Watchers, Strangers, Lightning etc). Most of his newer books have too many characters that serve mo purpose (usually an annoying kid) and the plots all seem to be the same. I still get them in hardcover, but rarely pay full price. ---
**Author:** ![Maureen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@Maureen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maureen)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-dean-koontz-books/42833/33 "2022-02-11T01:46:20Z")
Watchers is the best book I’ve read period, by any author. I also liked Lighting. The ones I liked less were Odd Thomas and One Door away from Heaven. Having said that there are parts of One Door… that are absolutely hilarious, when the boy is trying to fit in socially. Dean Koontz seems to get criticized for having dogs in his books. Being a fellow dog lover I LOVE that about his books (and there are a lot of people like me) Dean Koontz is one of my favorite authors, if not my favorite. ---
**Author:** ![Skunkdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@Skunkdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skunkdog)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-dean-koontz-books/42833/34 "2022-02-11T02:33:34Z")
Have hardly read his entire catalog, but enjoyed most of the ones I have read. Haven’t heard anything about _Mr. Murder_ which was my first Koontz book (actually part of a compilation) and made into a decent made-for-TV movie starring Steven Weber. I also really liked _Watchers_, _Hideaway_, _Intensity_, and _One Door Away From Heaven_ (mainly because it was so different and funny as the last poster remarked). The one that was a drag, but cured my insomnia was _Sole Survivor_. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-dean-koontz-books/42833/35 "2022-02-12T00:35:04Z")
I was wondering where Velocity was, but this is an old thread. It came out in 2005 and had a Youtube trailer! > [@](#): > > 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._ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-dean-koontz-books/42833.md?page=1)