I’m a huge fan of DK. Strangely enough, I didn’t even start reading his books until only about a year ago.
I first picked up the book Winter Moon. It was the first one I happened to find by him. After reading it I was immediatly hooked. I then Read Watchers
Over the months I read almost all of his books. Only about 3 or 4 remain that I have not had the privlege of reading thus far.
Currently I am reading his newest, The Face, and it is one of the best so far.
I also really enjoyed and would include on my list of best DK novels:
From the Corner of His Eye
By the Light of the Moon
Intensity
Servants of Twilight
Strangers
and my most favorite one to date, One Door Away From Heaven
But, with favorite authors there always has to be a couple that really disappoint you. Especially if you know how they write and what they are capable of.
I didn’t like Midnight for some reason. Seemed more Sci Fi-ish then his usual suspence.
I also found The Funhouse to be extremely bland.
Anyone other Dean Koontz fans out there? I’d love to hear other opinions.
For the record, I have not yet read:
Lightning
The Eyes of Darkness
The House of Thunder
Coldfire
Darkfall
My favorite DK novel is undoubtedly Phantoms, although I also very much enjoyed Coldfire, Twlight Eyes and Strangers.
Least favorite has to be that travesty of an attempt at comedy, Tick Tock.
You’re kidding, right? Intensity was the book that drove me away from DK. “Oh, I’m being chased by a serial killer, I know, I’ll hide in his RV!” There isn’t a rolleyes smiley big enough for that improbable “coincidence” upon which the whole plot hangs. I never finished that book, which is very rare for me. Although I have enjoyed his earlier books, Strangers, Watchers,Lightning and several others, Intensity, with it’s extrodinarily stupid plot contrivances coupled with the realization that DK basically writes the same book over and over means that I haven’t read one of his books in years.
Best: Nearly an exact tie between Watchers and Lightning with maybe Lightning a tiny bit ahead.
Also enjoyable: Strangers, Phantoms, Twilight Eyes and Fun House (also loved this movie)
Worst: Lately, nearly everything he’s written has been sentimental dreck, I really hate the overly cutesy kids, precious puppies and bizaare near canonization of the handicapped.
I hated: Midnight (first Dean Koontz book I really disliked), Fear Nothing (surf’s up, dude!), Intensity…
My favortie Koontz novel is Cold Fire with Lightning coming in a lose second.
My least favorite (also the most recent Koontz novel I’ve read and the first one in years) is Tick Tock. The fact that it was supposed to be stupid doesn’t excuse how mind-numbingly awful it was.
Someone gave me a 3-novels-in-1 Koontz book recently, and so far I’ve only read the first one, Shattered. Based on that I may not even read the others, because it is without a doubt the single crappiest novel I have ever read in my life. Seriously, I defy anyone over the age of 12 to find anything remotely professional in this piece of dreck. The plot involves a guy and his girlfriend’s son getting chased across the country by a nut-job in a van; this could have been a cool story, ala the movie Duel, but Koontz blows it on every level. Every character is a stereotype, the hero behaves like a complete idiot because if he acted like a rational human being there would be no “story,” and there are two supporting characters and an entire subplot that literally vanish three-fourths of the way through. It’s like Koontz either forgot these two people were there or he was in such a hurry to get the steaming pile of excrement finished that he just didn’t care.
Frankly, I’m astounded that this book ever got published. As an aspiring writer, I find it quite depressing. Please tell me the others are better. Please. Otherwise I will be forced to conclude that the world isn’t fair, and we wouldn’t want that! :rolleyes:
I read a lot of DK books in high school, but strangely I can’t remember very many of them. I remember really likeing Watchers and Phantoms. I think I read Coldfire, The Bad Place, and Funhouse. But I also know I read more than 5 of his books. So apperently the rest really sucked.
I’d agree with that list. Lightning is a great book. And Strangers was pretty good, too. Most of the rest of his books were just average. Some are absolute dreck.
And ditto to Odinoneeye’s comment about him re-using characters. The main character is always a misunderstood artistic type, well-versed in some type of self-defense, withdrawn from society on some level, but he’s always got a huge pile of money and always has bougainvillea trailing across his front porch.
Then he hooks up with the woman who’s threatened by the evil government henchmen, a cute kid and a smart dog.
The woman is threatened by a cute kid and a smart dog too?
You’re right though, he did fall into a trap of reusing characters AND plots. He’s begun to pull out of it with his recent books, but they are still far inferior to his earlier works.
I’ve read some of his books, but for some reason I can’t remember the titles.
I liked the one with the smart dog, and the one with the hermaphrodite who impregnated herself and had four children, only one of which was “normal” mentally. That one was delightfully icky and creepy.
I tried to read Other Side of Heaven (?) but I found it incredibly boring and gave up. That’s the one with a girl who said her stepfather killed her brother. When her next door neighbor tried to report the abuse and the social worker started questioning her character, I knew I wasn’t going to finish it.
Oh, and there was one about a man who was a twin, but because he was illegitimate, his mother convinced him and his twin that they were one person. Then when his twin died…that one was okay.
And the villian who could stop time…I wish I could do that sometimes.
I like how his villians have a practical reason for turning out they way they do. It may be because their mother was raped by her brother, or that the mother experimented with exotic drugs, but there’s always some “logical” explanation for the evil.
Me, I would rank it closer to the best than the worst, but not on the same level as his very best stuff like Watchers, Strangers, Lightning and Phantoms.
