Midnight

Rating:
Summary: Horrible Narrator!
Review: Avoid at all costs buying the audio version of the novel. The narrator over pronounces the words as if he's speaking to a deaf mute trying to read his lips. Ever worse, he has no dramatic qualities to his voice. It's just comple monotone. Awful.

Rating:
Summary: Manifold Frankenstein
Review: Beasts in the night; heroic, yet troubled FBI agent; a mad scientist; corrupt small-town police, and it is all one big smarmy cliche, right? WRONG.

MIDNIGHT is a wonderfull novel, and a terribly disturbing story. Yes, as a matter of fact, there are horror cliches. But if you prefer to think, as I do, they are stylistic tributes and more than excellent portrayals of terrifying literature.

Mr. Koontz stepped up his suspense, his characterization, as well as his tone and style with this one, and that is why it earned him his first bestseller. It's no surprise either; MIDNIGHT is a word that becomes here, a nightmare.
This was the first Koontz novel I read, long ago, when I was much younger. I was also more suscptible to scares, or being scared not only by monsters who "caper" in moonlight, but those mosters of uspeakable psycholgical madness. And after years of refusing to reread this book, for the fear of spoiling its terrific shocking contents, I choose to remember it just as well.

MIDNIGHT is really an updated FRANKENSTEIN. And although I'm not sure what the author is up to with his new endeavor with the Mary Shelley story, I know that it will be worthwhile. I know this because I've read both FRANKENSTEIN and MIDNIGHT.
Separated by more than a hundred years, these two stories hold disinct similarities. The flight from moral obligations, and the differences between progressive science and pure madness are here. But most importantly is the overwhelming human nature of escaping responsibilty. The word "regressive" implies it, but only this story and these characters can tell it as well.

Here, the townsfolk do not "regress" into a mob of different kind of monsters, as in FRANKENSTEIN. Instead, they BECOME the monster, each in their own way. They flee responsiblity and compassion and humanity to become something easier. They lose their hope, and regress. And the struggle of those left behind becomes impossible, if not hopeless. But a good Koontz charatcter has nothing if not hope.

My First, and one of my all time favorite Koontz novels.

Rating:
Summary: Another great book from Dean Koontz...
Review: Dean Koontz's "Midnight" takes place in the town of Moonlight Cove, CA. The people of Moonlight Cove, CA are changing. Some are losing their emotions, while others are giving into their wildest fantasies and urges. The few people that have not yet changed are either murdered at night, or forced to join against their wills. Sam Booker is a skeptical FBI agent who has been sent into Moonlight Cove to investigate the amount of unnatural deaths and other strange things that are going on. Now Sam, with the help of three other unlikely survivors confront the darkest realms of human nature.

If I had to describe "Midnight" in one sentence, I would say that it is a mix between Koontz's other novel "Fear Nothing" and the film "The Island of Dr Moreau". The story is terrifying, and extremely well written. It involves the entire town against itself, with the heroes of the story caught in the middle. The townspeople in "Midnight" are extremely evil, because they give into their animal instincts. The creatures that some of the townspeople change into, are very violent. "Midnight" also offers a sense of paranoia because the story involves the entire town. Literally anyone could be an enemy. I love books that have conspiracies and make you ask the questions - What are they hiding? and Why are they doing it?

Koontz's character development is great in this book. The story's four unlikely heroes are lead by FBI agent Sam Booker. He is originally brought in to investigate all of the strange things going on. Sam figures that there must be a logical explanation for everything. However, as the story unfolds, he is forced to step outside his normal way of thinking in order to survive. The rest of the group includes an independent film maker named Tessa Lockland who is town investigating the strange death of her sister, a 10 year old girl named Chrissie who escaped from her parents that went crazy, and a man in a wheelchair named Harry Talbot who spies on the townspeople from his bedroom window. Thomas Shaddack may be one of Koontz's best villans ever. He is rich, powerful, and completely out of his mind. Koontz does a good job developing him because the reasons behind Tom's actions are hidden until the very end. As the story unfolds, we slowly learn why he is changing the town. It is almost as if he is a puppeteer, and the people of Moonlight Cove are his puppets.

Overall, Midnight really impressed me. The creatures are violent, the people in Moonlight Cove are sadistic, the heroes are inspiring, the main villan is one of Koontz's best, and the book creates a giant conspiracy because no one in the town can be trusted. This book's oustanding mix of horror, suspense, and paranoia makes it a treat to read.

Rating:
Summary: Mister Roboto
Review: I love Koontz's story Midnight. I listend to the audiobook on cassette tape years ago on a trip across the country. It was rivetting.

Over time I lost the tapes and years later I now wanted to hear it again. Excited, I received the Compact Disc version of Midnight as a gift.

The narration is awful! It is like mister roboto is reading a book. I'm not even convinced the narrator isn't just a computer voice. If you've ever listened to the weather report at a rest-stop, that's what this entire reading sounds like. It's like Cher in that "Do you believe" song, with the voice crossing notes like a synthesizer.

I tried it on various quality pieces of audio hardware and it always sounded the same, so it's certainly not a hardware issue, its just simply, as a few other reviewers pointed out, a really poor narrator and/or some very bad post processing.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting subject; not enough steam for my machine!
Review: I love Koontz. I have read a ton of his books, but I have noticed one strange trend. Some of his books are awesome. Others need to be rewritten or thrown in the dumper.

"Midnight" somehow falls in the middle of those two categories. I really like the subject matter - the inability for humankind to find a natural balance between enlightenment and staying true to its roots. The character of Thomas Shaddack is blatantly psychotic, the typical megolamaniac. It really is not a bad story, if the actual writing could be a bit clearer. Sometimes, Koontz gets a little lost in his description of the landscape and exterior events. Maybe it is my rampant impatience, but I always want to get to the meat of the story in as little time as possible.


Maybe, if at all interested, you (the reader of this review) can try one of Mr. Koontz's other books. For instance - I was stunned by the deeply tragic story of the young screenwriter in the novel "Whispers". The terror that was contained in that book is the Koontz that I know and really admire. It is one of his first, so check that out!

I feel like I have been reading a watered down version of this writer for some time now. I did like his recent novel, "Odd Thomas". Try that one too!

Well, to sum up, I like Midnight. I just could do without all the "filler" material in the middle.



Rating:
Summary: Grew worse the second time I read it.
Review: I read this book a few years ago, and I admit that I enjoyed it immensely. That was then.

I picked this up again, hoping to have the same pleasant experience as my first reading, but I was sorely disappointed.

Koontz's diction grates quickly. I rolled my eyes dozens of times while reading, thanks to the needless repetition of such words as "clotted" (when describing clouds or fog) and "tinelike claws". Really, could Koontz not have used more synonyms?

I suppose mentioning the weather every single paragraph was meant to create atmosphere, but I tired quickly of reading about the many manifestitations of fog and all the metaphors it evokes. It's foggy. Yes, we know. It was like reading The Weather Channel.

Must every Koontz book have characters who suffer some great tragedy, only to find revelation and renewed hope amidst chaos, terror, and near-death experiences? I've read a few Koontz books, and this seems to be his formula. Perhaps he doesn't do this in every single book, but then why does it happen so often that the few (5 or so) that I HAVE read all rely on this model? And must all his ensembles end up as I love you, you love me, we're a happy family? Main characters' relations and loved ones always die early on (or become estranged) in the story so that they can upgrade to "Loved One: Version 2.0" somewhere later in the book.

Chrissie annoyed me. I like spunky, precocious kids as much as the next person, but her mental "headlines" just made me want to kick her. They did NOT make me chuckle or sympathize with her in the least.

After giving up on the saccharine From the Corner of His Eye, and suffering the disappointment of this book upon second reading, I'm not sure I'll ever read Koontz again. False Memory was fun, so perhaps there's hope yet.

The good in this book? It was fun laughing at Shaddack and his pompous, puerile stupidity. A great example of what a single-minded, obsessive idiot can become.

Rating:
Summary: Hallucinagenic, creepy precursor to "Fear Nothing"
Review: Starting in the mid-1980s, Dean Koontz hit his stride with a series of terrific cross-genre novels, starting with "Strangers," which was about alien contact; "Watchers," which was about genetic engineering; and "Lightning," which was about . . . well, you'll have to read that on your own.

"Midnight" continues the trend, though it veers more toward horror than the others. The novel is set in a small town in Northern California, where an experiment has been transforming humans into "something else." An FBI agent and a ragtag group of survivors bands together to respond to the horror.

As with most of Koontz's books, there is a palpable sense of eerieness that pervades the novel. Although the book is not without its violent and occasionally gory moments, it is not stomach-churning; Koontz generates suspense and terror more through implication than explicit description.

Interestingly, Koontz recycled the central plotline here in the recent "Fear Nothing." (The setting changed from Moonlight Bay to Moonlight Cove.) The character in "Fear Nothing" is quite different, however, so you can't entirely predict the outcome from "Midnight." Still, if you like "Midnight," you should like "Fear Nothing," and vice versa. (Personally, I thought "Midnight" was creepier.)

Rating:
Summary: Author Joy Lee Rutter ~ A Disturbing Presence~
Review: The book was not one to put down. It takes place within a couple of days as many of his books do, keeping you riveted. Just when you think the people of Midnight Cove could not find another way to matamorphosize (sp), they DO, and into more shocking and hideous ways. Koontz has a gift. He brings the characters alive and makes you think that this...could...really...happen.

Rating:
Summary: Mister Roboto
Review: Though I've read most of his novels, this one is a classic and one of my favorites. I'd have to say it focuses more on the sci-fi element than his standard novels, but is no less enjoyable. It's more twisted and subtly erotic as well, which, though many "respectable" readers might not comfortably admit to liking, adds a futher level of perverse fascination.