Rating: 
Summary: This may (again) be my last Dean Koontz book
Review: I have read most of the works of Koontz--including his short story and science fiction books of the 70's. It wasn't until I had recently re-read "Whispers" that I realized how tedious, padded, and preachy his recent books have become. With "Heaven", I started skimming over pages. Reviewers that loved the book might say I missed the whole point of the story by doing so. Perhaps. But there were MANY pages that I did NOT skim and I felt only exhaustion after reading them.
As usual, we are introduced to adult-children and childlike adults. And, of course, a dog that is somewhere inbetween.
This is just my opinion but I think that Koontz is second to none in coming up with unusual circumstances. If he would only realize that a story is much more compelling if he has an "ordinary" person forced to deal with an extraordinary situation.
When I read "Corner of His Eye", I thought that might be my last Koontz read. I guess all the years of enjoying his books has a momentum that is difficult to change. I'll probably give "By the Light of the Moon" a chance but the "teaser" chapters that show a woman talking to her pet plant give me a feeling of foreboding.
Rating: 
Summary: A big let down after 600 + pages
Review: I have been a big fan of Dean Koontz's books for over ten years and I nver thouhgt that I would rate a novel by Dean Koontz so poorly. The first book I read was Watchers. I thought it was fantastic!! After that I was hooked. To say that I was dissapointed in this book would be an understatement. It just didn't make much sense to me. As individuals the characters were not interesting. When they finally all came together they still were not interesting. Without giving too much away I will say that I can't buy the idea that the key to humankinds salvation and happiness can be found in a dog. When I usually read a Knootz novel I can't put it down. With this book I found it hard to mantain my interest and when I finished I thought IS THAT IT! AFTER OVER 6OO PAGES THIS IS HOW IT'S ENDS???????
Rating: 
Summary: entertaining
Review: this was my first dean koontz book, and i enjoyed the storytelling talents he demonstrates in it. i was at the airport contemplating whether or not i should pick it up, and a woman who caught me looking at it made up my mind for me when she actually gasped and said, "i LOVED that book. you should get it." hmm...i think she was trying to tell me something...there are three distinct stories that intertwine and culminate into one, and while at first i found it distracting, ultimately it really held my attention as i continued chapter through chapter, and i found myself reading faster and faster as the stories picked up their pace and kept me turning the pages. some might find the ending a bit hokey, but i managed to consider it inspirational when it came down to it. i'd definitely recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Slow and tedious
Review: I have always enjoyed Koontz and his books, but this is too long, and wordy. In paperback it was 681 pages, it could have been done under 400. It is a rambling and tedious book to read. While I felt I should put it down, I skimmed it, and still got the story. I am one who could have easily put it down at any time. I guess a great author gets his name, and then can write anything and it will be a best seller.
Rating:
Summary: Time is too short...
Review: I gave up at Chapter 33. Dean is telling an interesting story but he's taking waaaay too long to tell it. The descriptions and similes are becoming a labor--page fillers. I've lost interest in the unbelievable characters. Worse yet, I no longer care about the characters. I know as much about Micky & Leilani at page 269 as I did at 69 only now I'm no longer interested. Slow torture. I must move on though I absolutely hate not finishing something once started. I will wait for some other unsuspecting Koontz fan to give away the ending.
Rating:
Summary: It was okay but I probably wouldn't read it again
Review: I have dualling opinions about this book. On one hand, I found the characters unbelieveable, some of the plot to be too contrived, and sometimes just plain silly. On the other hand, I liked the forum of a fictional novel to explore real issues of significance to all of us. It got me thinking about how easy it is for a society to accept practices that benefit the few and eliminate personal choice and how easy it is for our goverment to support these practices. I liked the fact that our hero was flawed and not who you would expect, and, as always, D.K. makes us believe in the power of family and our animal friends.
Rating: 
Summary: Off his game
Review: Over the years of reading dozens of Dean Koontz, I rarely have been disappointed, but with One Door Away From Heaven, that rarity is a definite reality. While this is not a bad book, it is also suffficiently flawed to not be a good one. This novel is about Micky Bellsong, a woman with a past living with her aunt. A girl who lives next door befriends her and tells her of her dangerous parents, a dangerously drugged mother and a homicidal step-father with an extremely Social-Darwinist approach to his murders. Micky quickly becomes attached to the girl and is intent on rescuing her. In a parallel story, a young boy is fleeing from the killers who have already murdered his mother. It's obvious there is something special about this boy, considering the army of killers after him and the army of government agents who are in pursuit of both. There is actually a third, basically needless plot line involving a private eye. This character basically disappears for the middle third of the book (he doesn't appear for nearly 200 pages at one point) and his contribution to the overall story is minimal and could have been worked around easily. The fact that these plot lines are so separate is one of the big flaws in the story; the book feels like it is all over the place. By the time they converge it is basically too late to care. But even more importantly, this book is filled with weak characters. Micky is not all that interesting and the villainous Preston Maddoc is not one of Koontz's more compelling psychotics. As I have titled this review, I feel Koontz is just off his game in this book. Readers who are introduced to him with this book may not get to know he is actually better than this. While this novel has its moments and Koontz is skilled enough to entertain more often than he bores, this is just an average book.
Rating: 
Summary: Heartfelt
Review: Absolutely the best book of the year! Heartfelt, warm, funny, and so very possible. Not the standard Koontz fare, as there was no 'monster', just the evil that exists in some forms of humans. And it is good to have evil called evil, not danced around like so many folks do. And who's to say that dogs are not the gatekeepers-most dogs I have met have more sense and wisdom than the humans around them. If anyone wants to read a book as good as this, try our Paul Omeziri's Descent.
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: I read this novel basically because I had nothing to do, but I was surpised by how good it was. the plot is so suspensful, and the characters so real. den Kootz really captures the imagination with this story. If anyone is interested with a novel of this calibre read Paul Omeziri Descent into Illusions. This is a great novel too, it is published by PublishAmerica.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent and Entertaining Storytelling!
Review: While I haven't read a Koontz novel since "Watchers", this came highly recommended to me by a family member...so I dove in. I was not disappointed. Like Stephen King, Dean Koontz draws his characters with exacting details, allowing the reader to believe in them, and to make an emotional investment. Blending elements of science fiction, horror, and suspense, Koontz tells a gripping tale--with aliens, monsters of the human sort, and innocent-seeming heroes and heroines...all the classic elements of an excellent story. The only real drawback I encountered in "One Door Away From Heaven" was a narrative ploy Koontz introduces late in the story...one that pulled me out of the story and confused me somewhat. For the first two-thirds of his story, Koontz presents his story in the viewpoint of three of its main characters. In order to avoid a narrative black-hole, we suddenly encounter the viewpoint of the story's protagonist, Preston Maddoc. While I can see why it was necessary to do so, it was nonetheless jarring...and a problem that could've been remedied by introducing Maddoc's narrative earlier in the story. But, Koontz is still tells a wicked-good story!
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