Actually, I thought Koontz’s characters were like this:
Male Protagonist: Darkly handsome cop/ex-special ops guy/martial artist who is pining for true love and who is a gentleman to boot. Odds are pretty good that Wonderful Wife #1 has passed away and Male Protagonist hasn’t touched another woman since.
Female Protagonist: Brilliant, talented artist type who had such a traumatic childhood that:
She left home at the age of 14, or, she ended up a meek (but beautiful!) 28 year old woman who is still living at home.
She has a problem with opening up to others, especially men
Anyway, Ms. Strong Female Protagonist has handled everything life has thrown at her with aplomb… until the Bad Guy enters her life, causing her to forget her self-sufficiency and sending her straight into the arms of Male Protagonist.
Bad Guy: Crazy nut who got that way because of abusive parents. Actually…
Abusive Parents: Another stock Koontz character, though Abusive Parents usually don’t make it in the novel except for flashbacks, especially when Bad Guy goes freakin’ bonkers at the end of the novel and starts hallucinating their presence.
Anyway, I stopped reading Koontz a book or two after the smart dog novel. My fave was Strangers. And Shattered was a very early effort (I’m thinking it was originally published in 1971/72) - he has gotten better since.
I’ve read (and own) literally every book he’s published under his real name. Watchers and Lightning are my hands-down favorites. I’ve been reading his books since I was about 13, and I’m probably one of his biggest fans.
I’ve only read two or three DK books, but I recently finished The Face, and it was delightful. Kind of creepy and suspenseful, but also genuinely funny. I really enjoyed it.
Reading over JohnT’s list, though, made me realize that all his characters do fit those profiles, except for the lead female protagonist, because there isn’t one. However, the story centers on a little boy who is quite self-sufficient due to almost totally absent parents, so he sort of fits that profile, too.
It’s been years since I read those, but I do remember I enjoyed Watchers, Dark Rivers of the Heart, The Servants of Twilight, and Intensity. I’ve read others, but I can’t remember the plots because it was so long ago.
BTW, the made-for-tv movie version of Intensity was pretty good.
First book of his I read was Phantoms. I really liked it, so I read Watchers which is hands down the best book he’s done, IMHO. There was a book of short stories he did which I also really liked, but can’t remember the name right now. Honorable mention also goes to Whispers and The Bad Place. Tried to read The Mask and I absolutely hated it.
JohnT nailed it, add in male protaganist crying at the beauty of their lovemaking in their remote mountaintop cabin hide-out and you have 90% of DKs books. I have read almost all of them at some stage, I may have missed one or two but it is hard to tell because they are all the damned same. Lightning and Watchers are as everyone has said head and shoulders above the rest of his work, but that really isn’t saying much. I probably sound like I dislike him more than I do, I have whiled away manys an hour with a DK in my hand :eek: but it is the book equivelant of potatochips.
You’ve obviously never seen the screen adaptation of Watchers. Whoever is responsible for that piece of crap needs to be taken out back and slapped very hard. Many times. And then slapped some more. :rolleyes:
I just checked over at imdb.com and was surprised to see there were three screen adaptations of Watchers. I’ve only seen the 1990 one starring Marc Singer.
No no no, you forgot the subset Koontz Male Lead: he’s a criminal/PI to support his wife or sister who is in a coma/catatonic and is going to die by the end of the book, but he finds true love by the end:D
My favorites are: Strangers, Dragon Tears & Fear Nothing
Least favorites: The Funhouse, Intensity
It’s not a favorite or least favorite, but the strangest: From the Corner of His Eye
I read one that was called From The Corner of His Eyes and it was by far one of the worst books I’ve ever read. On the same level as Cook’s “aliens live inside the earth and homophobia is the sole cause of everything, and I mean every single thing, that is wrong in the world” book AND Hubbard’s Mission: Earth 10 volume book.
TWILIGHT EYES and THE BAD PLACE just might be his best. STRANGERS was also pretty good as was MR MUDER. COLD FIRE was mediocre at best, but occasionaly readable.
However his worst is definetly SERVANTS OF THE TWILIGHT…or is that what it is called? About a cult trying to kill a young boy calling him the anti-Christ. That was horrible.
I read a LOT of DK growing up. Watchers was the first “grown-up” novel that I read, and it remains to this day my favorite. Lightning comes a close second, though I desparately need to re-read it.
Old School Koontz…good stuff.
Least favorite? Hard to say. Probably Dark Rivers of the Heart, only because I can’t remember a single thing from that book.