# Which Dean Koontz book should I read? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 23, 2012, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dean-koontz-book-should-i-read/619656 "2012-04-23T02:34:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jordanr2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@jordanr2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jordanr2)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dean-koontz-book-should-i-read/619656/21 "2012-04-23T11:29:19Z")
_Phantoms_ or _The Bad Place_. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dean-koontz-book-should-i-read/619656/22 "2012-04-23T12:43:30Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > _Watchers_ might be his best book, and will give you a good idea as to his style and the kind of things he writes. It’s about two escaped government genetic engineering experiments. Definitely this. I’ve read a number of his books and I tend to think his earlier books (late 80’s early 90’s) are better than his later books. I still like Phantoms, but I think the big reveal was disappointing. I liked lightening and the Bad Place, but I think Watchers is his best. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dean-koontz-book-should-i-read/619656/23 "2012-04-23T15:08:53Z")
No one recommends **Intensity**? That book gets its hooks in you and keeps pulling. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dean-koontz-book-should-i-read/619656/24 "2012-04-23T15:21:03Z")
For classic Koontz, either _Cold Fire_ (which was the first book of his that I read) or _Watchers_. His best recent stuff is the Odd Thomas series (the first one is called simply _Odd Thomas_), or the Frankenstein series (the first one is called _Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein: Prodigal Son_; some of the books in this series are co-written). ---
**Author:** ![Rubixcube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Rubixcube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubixcube)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dean-koontz-book-should-i-read/619656/25 "2012-04-23T15:26:18Z")
I second _Odd Thomas_, I really dislike Koontz but found that book to be spectacular. However I could never make it through _Forever Odd_ so I can’t comment on any of the other sequels. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dean-koontz-book-should-i-read/619656/26 "2012-04-23T15:49:22Z")
Watchers, Strangers, Phantoms, Cold Fire, Lightning, The Hideaway or Twilight Eyes. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dean-koontz-book-should-i-read/619656/27 "2012-04-23T15:51:05Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > I’m going to read a Dean Koontz book. If I like it I’ll read more. You tell me which one to read first. > > Don’t bother asking what I like in order to make a suggestion, just tell me. I’d tell you to base your suggestion on what you know about me from my history on the board but I don’t feel like reading a coloring book. _Watchers_ is good. My favorite is _Lightning_, which happens to be the first one I read. The _Odd Thomas_ ones are also a very good read. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dean-koontz-book-should-i-read/619656/28 "2012-04-23T15:55:27Z")
Hmmm… _Out of the Corner of His Eye_. I had forgotten that one. It was really good. ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheField](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@LilyoftheField](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheField)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dean-koontz-book-should-i-read/619656/29 "2012-04-23T17:48:33Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > No one recommends **Intensity**? That book gets its hooks in you and keeps pulling. I agree with this. In addition, my all time favorites of the Dean Koontz books are the ‘Odd Thomas’ series. ---
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dean-koontz-book-should-i-read/619656/30 "2012-04-23T18:37:44Z")
Yeah, Watchers is definately my favorite of his. nitpick: Einstien isn’t telepathic. he’s just intelligent. He has a link with the Outsider, but that’s all. He can’t read minds. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dean-koontz-book-should-i-read/619656/31 "2012-04-23T18:52:48Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Watchers, Strangers, Phantoms, Cold Fire, Lightning, The Hideaway or Twilight Eyes. Seconding _Twilight Eyes_. And another vote for _Strangers_. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dean-koontz-book-should-i-read/619656/32 "2012-04-23T19:27:09Z")
My votes: Lightning, Watchers, Strangers, Phantoms, Twilight Eyes. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dean-koontz-book-should-i-read/619656/33 "2012-04-23T19:52:33Z")
> [@missouri65](#): > > No one’s ever going to accuse Koontz of being a literary master. He won’t get anything close to the defenders that King has. He’s clearly found a formula that works for him, and he’s managed to get rich from it. I can’t fault him for that. There’s some talent buried in there, though, that shines through in Watchers, some of the stories in Strange Highways, and a few others. Beyond that, it probably doesn’t much matter which one you read. You either like the formula, or you don’t. But don’t read Tick Tock. I don’t have a problem with a formula, but endless rehashings of formula that make later books seem like repetitions. But what turned me really off was his increas in libertarian author rants about the collapse of society in his later phase. So I’d advise the earlier ones, let’s say pre-1990s. And stop after four or five. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dean-koontz-book-should-i-read/619656/34 "2012-04-23T19:57:23Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > Lightning, Watchers, or Strangers. The rest are varying degrees of dreck. I disliked Lighting. Two big problems: (Spoilers) For the first part, the reader is led to believe that the traveler arrives via teleportation and is from the Sovietunion, helped by the Slavic name. Then we learn it’s about time travel from Nazi Germany … during the war years. But the behaviour we see between the main character and the guards is completly unbelievable for the 1940s and Nazi. People were on rations, they wouldn’t simply bake a cake and bring to work. Guards weren’t that friendly with high-ranking officers of SS. Similar, when the SS squad is sent to California, they are surprised about the colour of the curb indicating a no-parking zone. The surprise would be that a coloured curb signifies anything - no-parking zones are done with signs in Germany. At the final showdown, they all take antidote pills against the nerve gas which last a few hours. No problem for the woman and her son - but the main guy, Kokoschka I think, spends several hours of his personal time in the past in the Institute. When he returns, after the woman has opened the canister, he should keel over dead because his antidote pills had long worn off. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dean-koontz-book-should-i-read/619656/35 "2012-04-23T23:49:11Z")
Well, given popular demand, I suppose I’ll have to start with Watchers. I’ll get started on it when I’m more awake. I’ll keep you guys filled in on how I’m liking it. If, when I’ve finished, I’d like to give the Koontz another shot I guess we can find out what it is I liked about Watchers and go from there as to find which book shall be my second read. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dean-koontz-book-should-i-read/619656/36 "2012-04-23T23:56:31Z")
The Hideaway Sieze the Night Odd Thomas ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dean-koontz-book-should-i-read/619656/37 "2012-04-24T11:18:50Z")
Affleck was the BOMB in Phantoms, yo! _Watchers_ was enjoyable. _Strangers_ was as well, though I had trouble keeping track of all the different characters for awhile. I liked the _Moonlight Bay Trilogy_ (the Christopher Snow books). I particularly liked the first and third _Odd Thomas_ books as well, though the second left something to be desired, IMO. His \*Frankenstein \*series had it’s moments. _Twilight Eyes_ was a fun read as a teenager. _From the Corner of His Eye_ was interesting to me, as it featured a killer who suffered psychosomatic illnesses every time he killed someone. Thanks for this thread. I didn’t know there was a fourth book in the Frankenstein series, or a fourth book in the Odd Thomas series until I looked up the Dean Koontz bibliography to refresh my memory. Something to keep me busy for a little while and help me forget about the next Dresden Files book I’m jonesing for! ---
**Author:** ![Rubberneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Rubberneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubberneck)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dean-koontz-book-should-i-read/619656/38 "2012-06-09T02:37:14Z")
ok first off im going to suggest one of my favorite books by DK that no one has mentioned that i am aware of and that is: “The Good Guy”. I also suggest the Frankenstein series. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dean-koontz-book-should-i-read/619656/39 "2012-06-09T14:07:02Z")
I’m most of the way through “Fear Nothing” now, and I have to say - Dean Koontz is not a good writer. He’s quite fond of the purple prose. ---
**Author:** ![Weeping\_Wyvern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@Weeping\_Wyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weeping_Wyvern)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dean-koontz-book-should-i-read/619656/40 "2012-06-09T17:30:27Z")
_The Book of Counted Sorrows._ 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dean-koontz-book-should-i-read/619656.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dean-koontz-book-should-i-read/619656.md?page=3)