By the Light of the Moon

Rating:
Summary: Koontz keeps getting better
Review: It is rare that an author's works continue to improve over the number of years that Koontz has been writing. I've read almost (or maybe all - can't keep track) of his books and I couldn't put this one down.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad, not bad
Review: Koontz is good. I always read his books and wonder, 'how on earth did he get himself into this mess? (meaning, did he get himself so involved in writing the story that he got himself in such a deep puddle) Then I wonder, how is he going to get himself out? Unfortunately, with an abrubt ending. There have been a couple of his stories in which he ends, or wraps up everything in a chapter or two. Much too soon. By the light of the moon falls in this category. The story itself is great. It's a little farfetched, but hey, it could happen in the near future. The ending is too quick. And I felt the characters, though fleshed out excellent - as always - tend to see thier situation too casually. They have been injected with God knows what, and they're cracking jokes? They're dialogue is too kiddish. But it's still enjoyable. And it gets even more enjoyable a little more than halfway past the book, with a shocking twist. Oh, and the excerpt of Odd Thomas (at the end of the paperback) looks promising.

Rating:
Summary: Not the best Dean Koontz
Review: I usually can't put his books down but this one I kept leaving. The lead characters weren't nearly as compelling as many of his others. For anyone who has never read Dean Koontz - please don't let this be your first! He is a terrific writer but this story just isn't as good as his other stuff. I trudged through this book wondering when would it end. Thankfully it wasn't very long.

Rating:
Summary: A superb book, even better the second time around
Review: I just re-read By the Light of the Moon for a second time, this time in paperback, and found it just as satisfying as the first time in hardcover. If you enjoyed his older books like Cold Fire, Lightning, Watchers, and others, you'll find this a welcome return to that type of story. I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: A Satisfying Return To The Famous Koontz Style
Review: By the Light of the Moon is a terrific return to the types of stories that attracted me to his books in the first place. With its liberal use of humor, suspense, and action, I found it to be on par, albeit in a different style of writing, with Watchers, Lightning, The Bad Place, Cold Fire, and other titles by this remarkable author. Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: mediocrity personified
Review: This could be a good book but it desperately needs a better editor.

Rating:
Summary: (Slightly) Above Average Suspense
Review: There are few major authors as dependable as Dean Koontz. While rarely writing anything that could be considered "great," he is at least consistent with turning out good work. Unfortunately, at times, this consistency is also harmful; there is sometimes the sense that Koontz is always putting out the same book with just the names and plot device changing.

As is typical with a Koontz book, this story deals with a nice guy and a nice woman who are suddenly placed in a horrific situation and must pair up. In this case, each is forcibly injected with an unknown substance by a mad scientist. Complicating the situation are the shadowy (government?) forces chasing them and the guy's autistic brother who is brilliant in some ways but limits their mobility (many Koontz books have some sort of "special" person or in isolated cases, animals).

This particular book deals with the dangers of nanotechnology; in this way, it is similar to Michael Crichton's Prey (which I read right after this book). For Crichton, however, the ideas behind nanotechnology are the driving force in his book and are explained in great detail; here it is merely a plot gimmick to move the story along and is "explained" in a page or so.

Once again, this is a good, not great book, maybe three-and-a-half stars if such a rating was available. New Koontz readers will not be overly disappointed, and for Koontz veterans, this one once again shows that he is nothing if not reliable.

Rating:
Summary: A very lazy effort by Dean Koontz
Review: I guess that I would call myself a middle-of-the-road Dean Koontz fan, but I used to be a much bigger fan of his. Books like Whispers, Watchers, Phantoms, and Nightfall made me a fan, and much of his newer work keeps me coming back. "By the Light of the Moon", however, is probably his weakest effort. If ever there was a book by a major author that did not deserve to be published, it is this.

There is no plot to speak of, the storyline is ALL over the place, and, most unforgivable of all, its boring. In addition, its very frustrating to spend 10 pages reading the unchanging ramblings of the autistic charachter, Shep. When the 2 main characters, Dylan and Jilly, are speaking to Shep, try to count (a.) how many times Shep repeats the same phrase over and over, and (b.) how many times Dylan calls him "Buddy" and Jilly calls him "Sweetie".

Also, lately every Koontz book is a good vs. evil struggle, with evil represented by a mad scientist that always has a very high IQ. Why has he done this so often? He has also used the female comic charachter one too many times and tries very hard to make the dialogue humerous, but believe me, it isn't. Worst of all, Koontz clearly fancies himself somewhat of a techno-buff lately, but by writing about technicalogical details that he unfamiliar with, he only suceeds in exposing his ignorance to the details of technology.

"By the Light of the Moon" is just a lazy effort by Koontz, well below the level that he has shown that he is capable of. Koontz fans will probably read this book, but if you are new to Dean Koontz, start with something else.

Rating:
Summary: Desperately seeking plotline...
Review: Well, it has finally happened. Dean Koontz has actually strangled himself on metaphor, adjective, simile, etc etc etc. I paid full price for this turgid paperback and even with the leisure reading time of a cross-country flight, found myself skimming and flipping over pages to find the storyline. You can practically see him typing away, sighing with delight over every flowery, ornate turn of phrase that further obscures the plot. His lumbering try for humor reminds me of a simliar tragic attempt by Robert Ludlum some years back.

I bought this book on the basis of some of Koontz's early works (Watchers, Twilight Eyes) and if this is what he is passing off as literature now, I'm finished.

"By the Light of the Moon" is not even worth a trip to the used bookstore - it went straight into the recycle.

Rating:
Summary: Dean Koontz never ceases to amaze me.
Review: This book was another of his toe curling, stay up all night stories with characters that you really become close to. Dean Koontz is my all time favorite author and this book proved to me again why that is. If you're a fan of mystery, horror, conspiracy, this book and any of Koontz's others are definitley for you.