Dean R. Koontz

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A Forgotten Gem From Koontz's Early Career
A Hilarious Comic Novel

Hanging on
Dean R. Koontz
Manufacturer: M Evans & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0871311186

Customer Reviews:

A Forgotten Gem From Koontz's Early Career.......2007-06-19

Dean Koontz is currently one of the most popular writers in the English language today, with over 300 million books in print. Given this fact, it's hard to believe he spent the first 20 years of his writing career in virtual obscurity. Indeed, most of the novels he wrote before 1975, including all of his science fiction work, is out of print and almost impossible to find at a reasonable price.

In 1973, Koontz wrote HANGING ON, a military comedy in the spirit of books like M*A*S*H and Catch-22. The book flopped, and has been out of print for the last thirty or so years. There is little evidence that Koontz or his publisher will ever re-issue the title. This is unfortunate, because it's a very fine book.

HANGING ON is about a US military unit stationed behind enemy lines in France, during World War II. Essentially, the unit's job is pointless: to keep a bridge open that serves little practical utility. The Germans keep bombing the bridge, and the unit keeps on rebuilding it. In the meantime, the unit tries its best to avoid being discovered by German patrols.

The major point of this book is the humor. All the members of the unit are eccentric, mainly as a way of "hanging on" to their sanity in the face of violence. This leads to a lot of joking, chicanery and casual sex -- with a particular emphasis on the sex. This is easily the raunchiest book that Koontz has written, which may surprise some of his long-term fans. Think of the original movie version of M*A*S*H, and that's the type of graphic humor you will often find in this book.

Overall, HANGING ON is a fine effort and perhaps the best of Koontz's 1970s novels. However, it is nothing like his more famous work -- it is not structured as a thriller or horror story (although suspenseful things do happen). Still, it's a fun read for people interested in a screwball story with a lot of off-color humor. I really enjoyed it.

A Hilarious Comic Novel.......1998-05-27

When I finally found a copy of this book, I was not disappointed. Different from other Koontz tomes, this novel, set in World War II, has a great cast of characters, and is full of laughs, sex, and zany insights into something (war) that is normally not funny.

Great Escapes: New Designs for Home Theaters by Theo Kalomirakis

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A unique source of enduring ideas
Just Amazing
Great Escapes

Great Escapes: New Designs for Home Theaters by Theo Kalomirakis
Steve Castle , and Phillip Ennis
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0810946564

Book Description

"Theo is obsessed with his work and embarked upon a quest for an elusive ideal theater that can exist only in dreams. Each time that he makes a dream theater into a reality, no matter how stunning the creation, it never quite fulfills the ideal in his mind-and off he goes again in the enthusiastic pursuit of impossible perfection."-Dean Koontz

In the 21st century, more and more people "go out" to the movies at home. This lifestyle change has led to the biggest innovation in residential design today: the home theater, be it a custom-installed system or an elaborate private screening room. At the high end, Theo Kalomirakis reigns supreme as the leading designer of private theaters in the home.

Kalomirakis tailors each of his designs to fit the needs of a specific client, using styles that range from ultra-traditional to cutting-edge. His theaters even have their own marquee names: The Moonlight, The First Run, The Miami Beach. Great Escapes showcases nine of these incredible spaces through superb color photographs and descriptions of the technology that make this revolution in entertainment and design possible. Although Kalomirakis's extravagant creations are for wealthy clients, they will also serve as inspiration for home owners who want to integrate cinema quality with home comfort on a more modest budget.

Customer Reviews:

A unique source of enduring ideas.......2004-03-07

Lavishly illustrated with one hundred gorgeous color photographs by Phillip Ennis, Great Escapes: New Designs For Home Theaters By Theo Kalomirakis by Steven Castle presents extravagant designs for "media rooms" in private homes. These are specialized entertainment oriented rooms set aside to take full advantage of surround sound, acoustics, and visual appeal to bring forth the same quality experience as visiting a theater. Great Escapes showcases the work of interior designer Theo Kalomirakis as it artfully presents his work in creating home theaters of celebrities such as Dean Koontz, Eddie Murphy, Roger Ebert, and others in this unique source of enduring ideas.

Just Amazing.......2003-11-18

This is a book to die for. The photography is amazing, the architecture out of this world and what Theo Kalomirakis does for his lucky clients will blow you away. I am already wearing out my copy and I only have had it for two days.

Great Escapes.......2003-11-17

Whether your interest is home theater, or movie palaces from the 1920's and 30's, Great Escapes is sensational!
Once I opened it, I couldn't put it down and trust me with 204 pages loaded with 140 color photos of breathtaking architectural eye candy, this book will demand your focus.
Kalomirakis brings the elegance of yesteryears movie palaces home with the help of writers Steve Castle, Dean Koontz and photographer Phillip Ennis.
You can truly see Kalomirakis' love for the big screen in the architectural details he adorns his private cinemas with. No details are spared in Kalomirakis' work from neon marquees and ticket booths welcoming visitors to his theaters to opulent lobbies adorned with domed mural ceilings and snack bars and timeless columns.
A few times while reading this book, I had to remind myself that the featured theaters I was viewing were in someone's personal residence.
I have to say my personal favorite theater in this book was created for author Dean Koontz called "The Moonlight." Koontz also has an introduction in the book.
Even though most of the theaters in this book take up more square footage than the average persons home. And even though theaters designed by Kalomirakis are beyond the financial means of most people, this book can serve as inspiration for those that want to bring home the silver screen on a lesser budget and do it in style.
Theo Kalomirakis' newest book Great Escapes definitely brings home the look of the movie palaces of yesterday.

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A Decent Childrens Book with Clumsy Morals, Childish Messages, and Beautiful Artwork
One of the best story books ever
Childhood Favorite
Fable for kids
Greta, Great simply Great !!

Oddkins: A Fable for All Ages
Dean R. Koontz , and Phil Parks
Manufacturer: Warner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

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Customer Reviews:

A Decent Childrens Book with Clumsy Morals, Childish Messages, and Beautiful Artwork.......2007-06-25

Taping into the almost universal belief that all children think that their toys have lives, Oddkins has an immediate advantage of feeling familiar to the reader. And while I enjoyed the base story of the book, so much of it seemed to fall back on tired clichés or unneeded condescending language so immature that any reader over about 12 should feel slightly insulted. I found it also to be sprinkled with clumsy and superfluous Christian idioms that simultaneously achieve to be both strained and childish. No one likes to be force-fed morals, especially when they don't fit with the flow of the story. It almost seemed as if they were added at a later time, and by a different author, to give the book a purpose and/or goodness. One of the saving graces of this book is the artwork, which is wonderful. The large, high quality, detailed pictures really bring the story to life. I would recommend the book for any child around a fourth grade reading level, with a strong Christian background, and with a love of dark stories.

One of the best story books ever.......2005-08-16

I have been looking for a copy of this book for years. It was the 2nd book I read by Koontz and fell in love with it. I had read it over several times and fell into the story and art work everytime. Even though it's been over 10 years since I've last seen or read the story, I remember it as if I read it last week. I only wish it was more available for others to enjoy as well. This is definately a story for those who are still a child at heart.

Childhood Favorite.......2005-06-07

I remember reading this book when I was 10, it's stuck with me ever since. Now with kids of my own I can only appricate the story's plot more. I love this story and am only sadden to know that it is no longer in print for other adults and children to enjoy cheaply.

Fable for kids.......2005-05-21

It is a nice story, with a definite "good" advise for kids. I think it would make a good introductory book for youngsters into the "suspense/horror" genre.

Greta, Great simply Great !!.......2005-02-12

I read this book to my kids when they were little, sometime around 1990 I think. We had just moved into a new house( another Navy Move) and of course the children were in new surroundings. My wife was working nights and I was fortunate to be at home with the kids. My children and myself loved the story and it has remained one of their favorite memories of childhood.(Not the only book I ever read to them of course) Even tho' the book is not all sugar and spice its wonderful illustrations helped tremendously. I'm not a fan of Koontz particularly, as I think most of his books are the same tired old things, but I think this book is great for the young and the old.

Average customer rating:

A Re-Issue of the 1974 Version
A Great Book on Writing, but No Longer in Print
Classic Timeless Advice For Any Fiction Writer
required reading for writers
PACKED WITH USEFUL INFORMATION

How to Write Best Selling Fiction
Dean R. Koontz
Manufacturer: Writers Digest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 089879045X

Customer Reviews:

A Re-Issue of the 1974 Version.......2007-01-17

This must be a re-issue of the same book that Koontz published in 1974, in which he lays down exactly the way you write a best seller. I only have a copy of that book in Xerox. Anyway, he tells the most important secrets here. If you're ready to understand what he's talking about, you can use this to base a novel-writing career. No exaggeration. Fantastic book. Changed my life.

A Great Book on Writing, but No Longer in Print.......2006-10-29

This is a great book on writing that was written by Dean Koontz when he was a relatively unknown 35-year old writer of paperback suspense novels. This book was written in 1981 and is no longer in print. It is very difficult to find, and old copies can sell for over a hundred dollars.

In HOW TO WRITE BEST SELLING FICTION, Koontz offers solid advice on how to create a good plot, interesting characters, good dialogue, and fast-paced action sequences. He also offers some common sense advice on how to write a popular novel that is marketable. This book is VERY well written and is just as good as Stephen King's ON WRITING in my opinion.

Koontz also offers a lengthy chapter where he offers his honest opinion on many of the famous writers of his day. I found this section quite fascinating to read. Throughout this book, Koontz also discusses his own past history as a writer, making this the closest thing to a memoir that Koontz has ever written.

I know quite a few established writers who were heavily influenced by this book. Is it worth one hundred dollars? Probably not. Given dramatic changes in the book industry, parts of this book are severely out-of-date. I recently read an interview with Dean Koontz where he admitted as much, which may explain why this book has been out of print for such a long time.

Unfortunately, Koontz has no current plans to update this book, so your best bet is to look for this book in your local library, which is where I found my copy.

Classic Timeless Advice For Any Fiction Writer.......2006-07-28

Dean Koontz is a master at his storytelling craft. This book has been read and re-read as it's been on my shelf for more than 20 years. The advice has stood the test of time and it's invaluable for any fiction author.

In the first chapter, Koontz provides three key reasons why this book is worth your time.

"1. I am going to point out a couople of hundred pitfalls into which new writers always fall. I fell into every one of them, and I still have a few bruises to prove it. If my warnings help you avoid just a few of those traps, or if I am able to help you climb out of them more quickly than you otherwise might, you will probably save weeks, months, even years in your struggle to obtain the goals you have set for yourself.
2. This book will be more blunt and more honest about the hows and whys of marketing fiction than any book has ever been before. I will tell you about the strengths, weakness, successes, and failure of editors and publishers. I will tell you about the strengths that make a writer succeed, and I will warn you about the weaknesses and self-delusions that cause some writers to fail. I will lead you through the maze of book contracts and explain some of the more insidious and odious clauses that publishers try to slip past unwary authors. In the process, some myths will be shattered, including the one which would have you believe publishing is a refined, sensitive, gentlemanly business.
3. One of the most valuable things to be obtained from a book of this sort is the knowledge that you are not alone in your madness, that your obsession with words and stories is not as rare as you think. There are others of us who share your burning if somewhat irrational need to write and publish fiction."

Get this book. It's priceless.

required reading for writers.......2002-12-08

This is the Bible for anyone who wants to write good commercial fiction. His no-b.s. approach to writing is refreshing in an area filled with mediocre books. This book may be expensive and hard to find (it should be updated, or at least brought back in print), but is well worth the effort in tracking it down, as much of what he says is still valid.

PACKED WITH USEFUL INFORMATION.......2000-06-19

I like the premise that Koontz starts with here: that your goal as a writer should be to have as many people as possible read your book. That is my goal as a writer, and I found the book incredibly helpful and insightful. Obviously, Koontz knows what he's talking about, with millions of books in print.

This is a very practical guide: long on examples and practical lists and short on voodoo and magic. Koontz breaks writing down into understandable pieces, whereas some writing books I've read spend far too much time on touchy-feely things that are hard to understand or emulate.

There is much practical advice here, not only in the writing of best-sellers, but also in the business of books, dealing with contracts and agents, etc. There's even a reading list of books and authors that will inspire the aspiring novelist.

My one complaint is that, even in the 20 years since this was written, the publishing industry has changed dramatically. I would LOVE to see Koontz update this tome with a 21st century edition, addressing some of the changes he's seen in the course of his career. I'd also like to see an updated reading list...I wonder which authors Koontz would praise now?

Amazon.com

Be prepared for spine-tingling overload, as three of Dean R. Koontz's scariest stories are combined into one terrifying edition. Complete and unabridged, the three novels incorporate the essential elements of a Koontz classic: ordinary people living uneventful lives suddenly flung into a supernatural web of ghoulish horror. The Servants of Twilight pits a devoted mother against a bizarre cult intent on harming her son. Who will triumph in this tale of good versus evil? Don't be tempted to turn to the final page of this delightful yet horrific story! Darkfall plays with a fundamental human fear--that of being watched and stalked by an unknown force. This is pure, unadulterated, heart-stopping terror--nothing subtle about it. "Part of him wanted to see it, had to see it, needed to know what in God's name it was. But another part of him, sensing the extreme monstrousness of it, was grateful for darkness." Read at your peril. Koontz's third novel in the collection is Phantoms, which places the reader in a small California town, a place of swollen corpses and missing persons. Here people die "in the middle of a scream." But how they died, and why so many more are missing is just the beginning of this morbid mystery. Dean R. Koontz: Three Complete Novels is not for the faint of heart! --Naomi Gesinger

Book Description

For the first time ever, three bestselling Dean Koontz novels—The Servants of Twilight, Darkfall, Phantoms—are available in hardcover and complete in this single volume. Koontz's novels are spine-chilling and terrifying stories about ordinary people caught in nightmarish situations. Although Dean Koontz writes about the "dark side," the endings to his fast-paced, stay-up-all-night reads always show the forces of good prevailing. But it's what happens between the covers of the book and in the imaginations of the readers that has earned Dean Koontz his position at the top of bestseller lists across the country. When you begin a Dean Koontz novel, you're never sure where he's going to take you...
The Servants of Twilight
A mother and son are approached by an old lady in a southern California parking lot. It's a chance encounter that erupts into a nightmare of terror as a mother strives to protect her only child when he is threatened again and again...
Darkfall
In a city, paralyzed by a blizzard, something watches, something stalks, and the clock is ticking...A fast-paced twisting story with one of the most frightening chase scenes ever.
Phantom
The found the town silent, apparently abandoned. Then they found the first body strangely swollen and still warm. One hundred fifty were dead, three hundred fifty missing. But the terror had only begun in a tiny mountain town of Snowfield, California.

These three masterful novels of suspense are guaranteed to keep you reading until you turn the last page. There's no going back once you begin a Dean Koontz novel...

Customer Reviews:

Three Complete Novels.......2007-03-10

This made a wonderful gift and it was given to a true fan of Dean Koontz...

Beautiful Combo.......2005-12-03

This book is probably one of the best I ever had because the novels compiled are all very thrilling and fun to read. I have read it twice and there is nothing else to do than to admire the way Dean R. Koontz writes. If you want to read something out of the ordinary, a bit on the supernatural side, along with a lot of action and twists, this is the one you need.

Three terrific books.......2005-09-08

Wow, Phantoms, Darkfall, and The Servants Of Twilight all in one! I've read 23 Dean Koontz book so far and I can tell you that these are all five star books.

PHANTOMS is about a deserted town in the mountains where a woman and her teenage sister arrive to find most of the residents either missing or brutally murdered-even in locked rooms.

DARKFALL is about a man named Baba Lavelle out for revenge who is using voodoo to terrorize a man named Jack Dawson by sending goblin-like creatures after his two children. It's pretty intense with the things crawling through the air ducts and chasing after the family relentlessly.

THE SERVANTS OF TWILIGHT is about a cult lead by a crazy old woman named Grace Spivey who is convinced that a six year old boy named Joey is the anti-christ. The family and the private eye struggling to protect them are terrorized and sent on the run, and their lives will never be the same. But wherever they go, Grave and her followers always find them....

You really can't go wrong with this set. I suggest you buy this collection, and then read:

Intensity
Watchers
Whispers
Hideaway
False Memory
Twilight Eyes

Three confrontations with the forces of evil.......2005-04-28

This omnibus edition contains nothing apart from the text of the three books; no foreword, no afterword - not even the individual afterwords that Koontz has taken to including with re-issued editions of his older books.

This is a pity, because DARKFALL and SERVANTS were both written under pseudonyms, and Koontz' revised editions often include the story of the original author's tragic end. (There are at least five versions of the fate of "Leigh Nichols", including a tragic limbo accident.)

The individual books in this omnibus share a few characteristics apart from being written around the same time. All three with what might be termed the forces of Satan, though the situation is (of course) more complicated than that at times. Once the action gets rolling, each story occupies a very short timeframe: about 25 hours for DARKFALL, a few days for most of PHANTOMS, and similarly for THE SERVANTS OF TWILIGHT. Each has a kind of epilogue after the main event to give a little closure (although in DARKFALL's case it's quite short, not even a separate chapter).

THE SERVANTS OF TWILIGHT was first published in somewhat different form as TWILIGHT under the byline "Leigh Nichols" in 1984. The title role is a well-meaning religious sect, determined to destroy the anti-Christ. But "the anti-Christ", in this case, is a six-year-old boy, a sweet kid being brought up by his single-parent mom. Joey at first seems to be a random selection on the part of the Servants' leader.

When the Servants begin stalking Christine and her son, she hires a private investigator, Charlie Harrison, since everyone has to sleep sometime. Most of the remainder of the book is an extended chase scene, although the object is to flee rather than to catch anyone. Several of Koontz' other books have this kind of structure; SERVANTS falls into the earlier versions' simpler pattern, in which relatively isolated bad guys (rather than vast conspiracies) are chasing the good guys. Like many of Koontz' protagonists, the leads (Charlie and Christine) have troubled family backgrounds like that of the author. The main villain is schizophrenic.

--

DARKFALL was first published under the byline "Owen West" in 1984, prior to THE SERVANTS OF TWILIGHT. Like several of Koontz' earlier works, DARKFALL wasn't published under Koontz' preferred title (DARKNESS COMES, in this instance, although the story has also been known as THE PIT, which lent itself to some unfortunate jokes at the author's expense).

As in THE SERVANTS OF TWILIGHT, one of the protagonists of DARKFALL is a single parent, in this case Jack, a straight-arrow cop who is just beginning to take an interest in romance again after losing his wife to cancer. There are some similarities to the dynamic in DRAGON TEARS; Jack's partner is a very tough woman who had a rough childhood, and she's the "bad cop" of their good cop/bad cop act. (Unfortunately, it's *not* a deliberate act by the characters; like Connie in DRAGON TEARS, Rebecca really *does* lack political savvy in dealing with people.)

As in DRAGON TEARS, the partners have run into some odd phenomena on the day the story takes place, which can't be explained by any normal events. In DARKFALL, the partners are investigating a series of brutal murders in which the victims are all involved in organized crime, but the weird phenomena don't tally with a normal gang war or even a revenge killing. But the head of the family arranged for the murder of an investigative reporter some time back, whose brother turns out to be a voodoo priest from the islands...

Of the three stories in this omnibus, organized religion comes off best in DARKFALL. It happens to be the light side of voodoo that gets star treatment, though - does that matter? :) Jack and Rebecca get professional help, as it were, from a local voodoo practitioner; he comes up with an interesting philosophical defence of his religion.

--

PHANTOMS, the last story in the book, was actually published first, in 1983. Although Koontz had written several books in the interim, this was the first book under his own name since WHISPERS, and he was trying deliberately to write a very different book.

PHANTOMS was meant to be an over-the-top horror story, with a full-blown monster *but* with a scientific explanation for everything that takes place. Small town? Check. Everybody missing except a handful of main characters? Check. Gory? You bet. If you read this one alone on a dark night, don't come crying to me if you can't sleep. You've been warned.

--

For more detailed discussion of the contents of this book, I recommend consulting reviews for the three individual books.

Content warnings: Like a number of Koontz' books, these contain a few explicit sex scenes and quite a lot of violence. Organized religion gets somewhat unusual treatment.

But these are Koontz books. Bad things happen, some people are rotten, and organizations may fail to protect people properly, but individual good guys can manage to come through horrific episodes without being turned into monsters, even if they may suffer greatly in the process.

Comfort books. The first two rate about 4 stars, but PHANTOMS brings down the average.

Well recommended.......2000-01-26

This was one of the first koontzs books I bought, I still have not read Darkfall, but I hope to get round to it before long. The other two novels are excellent, with Phantoms being in my opinion the authors best book. The Servants of Twilight is also very good - it keeps you guessing until the end. Although I loved Phantoms I think it gave Dean a reputation as being a "horror novelist" which is untrue - all of his books are mystery thrillers, with an unusual element. He and King are so different they can't be compared. The only real horror books that he wrote were Phantoms, Darkfall, ticktock and maybe Watchers. For the most part books like Whispers, The Face of Fear, The Vision, The Voice of the night, Intensity, etc are murder, mystery and suspense basically. He is so much better than either Harris or Cornwell at writing these kind of books. My advice is buy his books NOW!

Average customer rating:

Living Death
Dragon Tears
Great Book
My first Koontz Novel.
Dragon Tears

Dragon Tears (New on CD)
Dean R. Koontz
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 0743529049

Book Description

Harry Lyon was a rational man, a cop who refused to let his job harden his soul. Then one fateful day, he was forced to shoot a man--and a homeless stranger with bloodshot eyes uttered the haunting words that challenged Harry Lyon's sanity:

"Ticktock, ticktock. You'll be dead in sixteen hours...Dead by dawn...Dead by dawn...Dead by dawn..."

Customer Reviews:

Living Death.......2007-04-13

How do you kill what can not be killed? That is the question with which Harry and Connie must wrestle throughout the story that is Dragon Tears.

Yes there is a bit of the Koontz "formula" to this story, which is why I graded it 4 stars instead of 5...but this book is arguably one of my favorites. Unlike some of his other "formula" books (like the much-celebrated WATCHERS) I truly enjoyed the frights in this book. It was engaging and engrossing. If a reader doesn't get absolutely caught up in this chase.... well, I just don't know what to say.

Highly recommended!!!

Dragon Tears.......2007-03-10

TWO WORDS: "DEAN KOONTZ"
Need I say more..... He is an awesome writer, and this book is super!!!

Great Book.......2007-02-24

Always good, as usual. Very well written - look forward to the next one I get.

My first Koontz Novel........2007-02-09

I first read this book way back when I was thirteen. A little young for that sort of thing, one might say, but my mom borrowed it from a friend and thought it might be good for me to read. She turned out to be quite right, as I haven't yet encountered a Koontz novel that I actually disliked. Some were better than others, of course, but I haven't read a novel of his yet that I wouldn't rered. In fact I read Dragon Tears at least once a year.
The story begins on a Tuesday morning like any other. Police Detective Harry Lyon starts his day by having breakfast at his kitchen table, then cleaning up the kitchen. He then heads to work just in time to hit the streets with his partner, Connie Gulliver. WHile stopping for lunch at a burger joint before resuming the search for their current suspect, they are thrust into a life or death situationwhen a man enters the restaurant and peppers the place with bullets. after an intense chase that leads them into the building's attic and a few close shaves involving a pair of hand grenades, the two cops manage to bring down the killer.
Things only take a more disturbing turn when Harry, standing outside the restaurant for a breath of fresh air, forces a young man back behind the crime scene tape and is subsequentl visited by a derilect in a black raincoat who warns him that he'll be dead by dawn before dissolving into a cloud of refuse.
Harry's day only gets worse as he becomes the target of a series of bizarre, supernatural events in which he suddenly finds himself holding objects he can't remember picking up.
Things only get worse for Harry when, returning home from the office he is surprised by theman who appeared to him on the street. Upon discovering that bullets are ineffective against this particular adversary, Harry is forced to flee for his life as his condominium bursts into flames. Later, with Connie at his side, Harry goes to see his friend Ricky Estephan, whom he visited after leaving the restaurant, only to find him brutally murdered, his eyes torn from their sockets and his house infested with an army of snakes and spiders.
Elsewhere in the day, others find themselves living under the same bizarre threat, from a former advertising executive fallen from grace thanks to a drug addiction, to a beaten down mother and son and their dog Woofer. As the day progesses, Harry and Connie find themselves fleeing for their lives from a seemingly invulnerable foe. Their search for the identity of their attacker ultimately leads them to an expensive private nursing home and a burned-out, forty-something-ish blind woman with a dark past and a connection to their persecutor that they never expected.
In his usual fashion, Dean Koontz delivers a tale of action and adventure and excitement. I've been hooked ever since.

Dragon Tears.......2007-01-11

I bought this book at the request of my son. He enjoyed reading it but I have not read it. He likes Dean Koontz"s books. According to my son and a friend of mine he doesn't write bad books.

Average customer rating:

nightmare journey
A Good Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Quest Novel
A Good Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Quest Novel

Nightmare journey
Dean R Koontz
Manufacturer: Berkley Pub. Corp. : distributed by Putnam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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Customer Reviews:

nightmare journey.......2000-03-29

The first dean koontz i read-got a paperback at a garage sale. A good little sci-fi well worth reading.

A Good Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Quest Novel.......1998-05-27

This story, delivered to the publisher in 1972, but not printed until 1975 is, in my humble opinion, one of his better early efforts. Koontz is very efficient with his words, and makes a short novel read like an epic. The imagery is clear and concise and the characters are vivid.

A Good Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Quest Novel.......1998-05-27

Average customer rating:

Wonderful read!!!!
Great
Excellent thriller, very graphic but not surprising with Koontz
Mr. Murder
Would have been great with some editing.

Mr. Murder
Dean R. Koontz
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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Dragon Tears
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ASIN: 0743551036

Amazon.com

Martin Stillwater is a novelist with a wife and children he adores -- and an imagination he can't control. One rainy afternoon, a stranger breaks into Martin's house and accuses him of stealing his family, his name, and his life. Martin has no choice but to take his family and flee, even as he questions his own sanity. But wherever they go, the stranger is right behind them.

Book Description

<CENTER><B>THE SPELLBINGING TALE FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF DRAGON TEARS

<FONT SIZE="+1">Mr. Murder</FONT></B></CENTER>

"You stole my life, my wife, and my children. I want them back."

When a stranger breaks into Martin Stillwater's house and makes this outrageous claim, Marty's happy marriage, his life with two adorable daughters and a successful career are shattered. The madman wages a relentless campaign to eliminate Marty and recapture the family and life he believes to be his.

Unable to rely on the protection of the authorities and unaware of why they are being pursued, the Stillwaters go on the run. But no matter where they go, no matter where they try to disappear, their enemy finds them.

A blisteringly paced tale of one family's struggle to stay together in the face of the most terrifying psychotic killer to haunt a novel in some time.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful read!!!!.......2007-04-21

I absolutely loved this book. I could not put it down. Right from the start, you are pulled into Koontz's world. I must have looked like a starving maniac while reading this book. Highly recommend it!

Great.......2007-04-11

Great service. I receive my product in a timely manner and in perfect condition.

Excellent thriller, very graphic but not surprising with Koontz.......2007-03-10

THis was definately one of his best, to go along with Odd series and Dragon Tears, as well as a few others. A must read if you've even heard the man's name.

Mr. Murder.......2006-12-30

I got this book from my husband for Christmas. I have read most of all Dean Koontz's books, and I have to say that after Intensity, it's prob my second Favorite. I would give this book 5 stars!
Great work Mr. Koontz!
Carrie-NH

Would have been great with some editing........2006-12-18

The story of Mr. Murder is a great horror story involving superhuman clones and secret conspiracies. And for a Koontz book, it's refreshingly free from super intelligent golden retrievers. It has spectacular action sequences, especially towards the end.

So why is it not more than a three star book? The problem is in the pacing. While it does have many spectacular, nail biting sequences, it also has too many parts that slows down the pace where not much happens. It is unnecessarily descriptive, sometimes repetitive. The fact that we get to see the story from both Stillwater's point of view and also from the point of view of the murderer, and get to know his thoughts ad feelings, adds an extra layer to the story, but it also slows down the pace, especially when, in the middle of some of the most climactic sequences, the action pauses to once more tell us how he feels about his "family".

Overall, "Mr. Murder" is a good book, but it should have been edited down a bit. It's not as slow as some of Koontz's worst works, but it's also nowhere near as fast paced as his best works.

Average customer rating:

True to Life
Good book stats kinda slow
Good Koontz Novel, but Not His Best
A VERY ENTERTAINING NOVEL
Page-turner

Whispers
Dean R. Koontz
Manufacturer: Putnam Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0399123512

Book Description

The classic of suspense from Dean Koontz

He's back--the terror that stalked Hilary Thomas as a child is back in her life, in her house, at her bedroom door. She killed him once. But he keeps coming back. Again. And again...

"An incredible, terrifying tale."--Publishers Weekly

Customer Reviews:

True to Life.......2007-04-09

A realistic look into the life of a battered woman, you'll be wishing the characters made different choices. However, their decisions are what make this story so true to life.

Good book stats kinda slow.......2006-12-26

I don't like to write long reviews and talk about characters, to me it takes away when you read it for your self. This book is really good but it starts of kinda slow but it is well worth it the heart of the story is great and the ending is truly every thing it needed to be and more.

Good Koontz Novel, but Not His Best.......2006-09-06

Dean Koontz wrote WHISPERS in 1980, and was his first large success. I enjoyed this novel overall, because it is highly suspensful serial killer story (especially toward the second half of the book). It is also very well written and I liked most of the major characters.

Although enjoyable, WHISPERS isn't perfect. This is a very long book, almost twice as long as your average suspense novel. It tends to drag a bit at the beginning. There are also long dialogues between characters which seem more like disguised political commentary than real conversations.

This is also the most sexually explicit novel by Koontz that I have ever read; I would not recommmend this novel to people who don't care for those types of scenes. There is a relatively graphic rape scene toward the end of the book that seems pretty gratuitous to me --it doesn't really serve to push the plot forward.

This book, although very good, isn't nearly as great as Koontz' later stuff. If you want to begin reading Koontz, I would suggest starting with novels like WATCHERS, PHANTOMS, LIGHTNING, INTENSITY, or ODD THOMAS. Those are much better novels overall, and more representative of the great talent that Koontz possesses.

A VERY ENTERTAINING NOVEL.......2006-08-27

This book was a very entertaining, interesting, good mystery/suspense/horror. The plot was good. The writing style was good. I especially loved it because there was nothing "magical"; everything had a logical explanation (even though sometimes you think it's magical until you find out the truths of how's and why's). The main character is attacked and it goes on from there. There are so many interesting twists and facts that fit together. It's really good and obviously this writer has talent.

Page-turner.......2006-06-29

just when you think you're safe...this book keeps you on the edge of your seat and guessing what's around the next corner. hilary thomas is a strong female character who takes care of herself, even when confronted with quite the adversary (and an interesting one). just when she thinks she's out of the woods, though, she finds that she's wrong. this is one of the most riveting of koontz's novels, in my opinion, because the reader is left not only wondering what will happen next but why it's happening. thankfully, the answers are there eventually.

Three Complete Novels (Dark Rivers of the Heart / Sole Survivor / Intensity)

Average customer rating:

Three Complete Novels (Dark Rivers of the Heart / Sole Survivor / Intensity)
Dean R. Koontz
Manufacturer: Bright Sky Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0970998716

Book Description

Dean Koontz is one of the world's top-selling authors with total worldwide sales of his novels at 225 million copies! He achieves what few writers can: he creates books that consistently jump to the top of the bestseller lists in both hardcover and paper. His newest novel had a half-million copy first printing, and it went straight to the Number One position in its first week on The New York Times and Publishers Weekly Bestseller lists! His many fans will snap up this handsome foil-and-embossed volume, with three of his best works in one book. The perfect impulse buy or gift. The collection includes the complete and unabridged novels Dark Rivers of the Heart, Intensity, and Sole Survivor.

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