Rating: 
Summary: Dragon Tears makes you grip your steering wheel!
Review: "Ticktock. Ticktock. You'll be dead by dawn."Want to make a long commute, easy? Listen to a rivetingbook like Dean Koontz' _Dragon Tears_. My work commute is two and a half hours round trip. I like to make this lengthy ride easier by listening to a good book. I can't read anything that I need to move slowly through, reflecting on passages - quick, action-packed stories are the best recipe. Detective Harry Lions and his police partner Connie Gulliver fight the battle against evil, supernatural powers, and keep the reader (or in this case, the listener) gripping the car steering wheel. Especially innovative is the 'pause in time.' It is like being in a nightmare that you can't wake up from. The only negative on this suspenseful thriller is the ending. Koontz takes the reader through minuscule details for almost every confrontation but the final one. In contrast, it is a quick, almost abrupt resolution. Even with this shortcoming, there are plenty of scenes to keep the reader entertained for 13 hours of drive time.
Rating: 
Summary: Minus two stars for the rave scene; plus one for the dog
Review: ...and 3-2+1=2. This is another one of those Koontz novels that fails to break much new ground: it's entirely readable, and fans of the author will probably enjoy it, but he's done much better. (Newcomers would probably be better off starting with, say, _Midnight_, _Watchers_, or _Intensity_ instead.)My major beef with _Dragon Tears_ involves a scene which takes place during a rave. As it happens, time has stopped during this particular scene, with only our two cop protagonists unaffected. This gives them plenty of time to wander through the frozen crowd, making snarky comments about the activities of the celebrants; unfortunately, it also gives Koontz plenty of time to bring the plot itself to a standstill in favor of a deeply biased, ill-informed, sanctimonious, and unappealingly sarcastic analysis of rave culture. Ask a Generation Y participant what the theme of rave culture is, and she may well answer, "PLUR (peace, love, unity, and respect)." Ask Koontz, one and a half generations removed, and he will tell you that the theme is "sex, drugs, and anarchy." I happen to fall between these two age groups, and I would venture that the truth about raves also lies somewhere between these two generalizations. I have known a great many rave-goers. Almost without exception, they have been some of the most positive, intelligent, socially conscious young people I have ever met. (Yes, Dean, even the ones who occasionally use Ecstasy or N2O.) Yet Koontz writes about their fictional counterparts with real contempt, and he practically bends over backwards to convince the reader that raves are nothing more than dangerous exercises in hedonism and desperation. The genuine risk here is that, the more people believe this and cry out for the authorities to "DO SOMETHING!", the more kids will be forced to celebrate in the shadows, and the more the legitimate dangers to them that Koontz decries will be augmented. Same as it ever was, I suppose -- even when Koontz was a teenager -- but it's disappointing nonetheless to see an author whom I generally respect participating in such hazardous sensationalism. On the other hand, Koontz does redeem himself somewhat with the character of Woofer. It's no secret that the man loves dogs and writes about them well, but here he actually writes the occasional chapter from Woofer's perspective, with results that are at least as entertaining as most of the many similarly-styled pieces that tend to float around the Internet. It's just too bad that Koontz can't seem to get inside the head of a rave-goer even half as well as he can get inside the head of a dog.
Rating:
Summary: Koontz's Best
Review: For the longest time I would have said that "The Bad Place" was the best that Koontz had done and then I picked up "Dragon Tears". The story starts fast and doesn't slow down. It is filled with great characters and a villian that ranks right up there with the greatest of all time. You couldn't wait to see what he would next. If your a reader that loves a good bad guy, then this is the book for you!
Rating: 
Summary: Koontz Formula...Engaging First Half
Review: Harry and Connie are L.A. homicide detective's ala the "Odd Couple." Harry is obsessively neat, and Connie is a messy dirty Harry type. Both characters are tracking a serial killer who brutalizes women. Harry's life takes an unexpected turn, when he encounter a strange hobo who tells him "Tick Tock You'll Be Dead By Dawn," thus begins a 12 hour Odyssey wherein Harry, Connie, and a rag-tag group of homeless pit their wits against a psychic serial-killer with a God-Complex. Okay, I liked the first HALF of Dragon Tears. But after that it devolved into sheer Koontz formula. For readers of Koontz, there really are no surprises in this novel. He uses the same formula in numerous other books. Lessee: There is a best friend who is a Hispanic cop. A Saintly single mom character. Quotations from the 'book of Counted Sorrow,' a sentient dog, ranting about the apocalypse, mistrust of the psychiatric profession, and a serial killer who collects body parts... *Yawn.* How many Koontz books have elements similar to this? The disappointing thing was I actually enjoyed the first HALF of the book. I liked the characters of Connie and Harry, but the second half contained way too much deus ex machina to be believed. And whatever happened to the first case Harry and Connie were working on? This subplot was dropped entirely. Disappointing. This was average Koontz. It might entertain readers who haven't read his backlist and for whom many plot elements are new...But for Koontz fans it contains no surprises...
Rating:
Summary: Loved It!
Review: I am a big Koontz fan. Tick Tock and Dragontears are the first novels I listened to by him and became hooked since. Even though it starts a little slower than most of his books, as soon as it takes off it is a wild ride.
Rating: 
Summary: TWO WORDS: COOL BEANS!
Review: I wanted to read this book for months before I got the chance to buy it and it was totally worth the wait! 'Dragon Tears' is the first and only book I've ever read that tells things from the dog's point of view and Woofer is just sooooo cute! Connie and Harry are the perfect couple (sort of:) )and the very end of the book is sweet.:)And Bryan is kind of different from most other literary psychos 'cause he doesn't even have the maturity of a three-year-old! But he finally gets what he deserves, even though it only takes approximately two seconds. I only have 2 problems w/'Dragon Tears' (and when it comes to DK books, 2 is a very high # for problems). 1st of all, that girl at the rave when Ticktock freezes time again: ouch! (read the book and see what I mean). Then, through the whole book Koontz is building up to a big confrontation w/Ticktock and the end is just a little disappointing 'cause there ain't no confrontation (pardon my southern vocab--smile--) Oh well. The book is still AWESOME!
Rating:
Summary: Koontz is worth the read!
Review: If you pick up almost anything by Koontz you won't be disappointed. Dragon Tears is no exception. While again, the scenario isn't exactly believable, Koontz still pulls it off. And with finess. I think the most valuable part of Koontz's writing is his characters. Without that- the plots, the themes, the evil dwellers, would do nothing for us. But giving us characters to love & care about & even characters that we love to hate- make the reading memorable & enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Would be good is it was a first draft
Review: My review of this book will be mixed. I really wanted to give it 2.5 stars because I am divided on this 50/50. I thought it had great potential, and if it were presented as a first draft I would give it 5 stars as a starting draft. First of all, if you are going to start the beginnings of a love interest, then you should finish it. He started to show the main character's feelings for this girl-cop, and then it was dropped - not good to do. The characters, all of them, were never really fully developed so the book appears flat and pulpy, like a cheap novel with cheap writing. The main character was only about 6% developed, and his sidekick was about 8% developed. And what happened to the story about the sidekick's niece? It was like sub-plots were started, then dropped. The antagonist wasn't fully developed either. If anything, I think this book should have been longer to give more development to the characters, or at least cut out all the static description and use the space for character development. And that's another thing - a good writer doesn't statically describe things (allot of that in this novel). However, it was an interesting idea, which is why I did like it as little or as much as I did and it had great potential. I just think he should have taken more time re-writing it. Still, it did hold my interest, even though I couldn't fully enjoy the story because of the flat characters. The ending was pretty bad for an ending. Again, more time should have been spent on the ending. It looked like he just wanted to get it over with, which really robs the reader of any kind of satisfying resolution or climax. But I would still recommend this book because of the interesting plot idea.
Rating:
Summary: Dean Koontz--Dragon Tears (1993)
Review: On the precipice of being a fine horror novel, Dean Koontz's "Dragon Tears" attempts to convey a very admirable message-that dire events or situations that may occur throughout life are only as horrible as they are perceived by those who they occur to-but falls flat on its face because of an outrageously dubious plotline. Similar to his last couple previous works such as "Hideaway", this work attempts to use an inhuman, prophet-like murderer from the Dark Side to torment the protagonists. Police detectives Harry Lyon and Connie Gulliver are partners but could not be more different-Harry is consumed with order and balance, from his perfectly crafted color-coordinated closet to a strict daily routine that involves voluntary tedious paper work, while Connie embraces chaos, using it to fuel her aggressive craving to stop evil and make the world a better place. A Tuesday afternoon seems harmless enough, but Harry and Connie are summoned to stop a raging killer in a restaurant, leaving Harry to eventually shoot the perpetrator numerous times with his gun. Harry's day only gets worse from there, as a huge, disgusting street vagrant foretells him that he is going to die by sunrise and that all the people and things he cherishes are in danger as well. As dawn ticks closer and closer, Harry and Connie must comprehend all of these bizarre convictions before it is too late. What they discover is than a callous force believed to possess the strength of a god is out to make severe changes to the current world, one change being the exodus of the two detectives. "Dragon Tears" brings in too many extraneous and fairly inconsequential characters into the narrative, especially the repeatedly used canine personification that is speckled throughout. Koontz has a large heart for man's best friend, but "Dragon Tears" does not benefit from the half-witted dog psych-analysis, causing the piece to seem campy and less resolute. Koontz perhaps created this yarn to promote how increasingly petrifying the world is becoming and how two completely different cops revolve around this premise (which is a commendable idea), but he could have created a much more believable, plausible tale to get the point across. Some may truly enjoy this supernatural thriller, while many others may conclude "Dragon Tears" a disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Nice bad guy conecept
Review: Rating System:
1 star = abysmal; some books deserve to be forgotten
2 star = poor; a total waste of time
3 star = good; worth the effort
4 star = very good; what writing should be
5 star = fantastic; must own it and share it with others
STORY: Two Southern California police detectives track down a demonic serial killer with paranormal abilities
MY FEEDBACK:
CONTENT ¡V More profanity than most of his books contain. Demonic scenes try to portray true Evil and may be more graphic than some might want to read. Jay O. Sanders is very good reading the audiobook version. All characters (even Woofer, a dog who plays an important role) are fully voiced
CHARACTERS ¡V Protagonists are the grey type of characters that leave you liking them but also not liking them at the same time. Some of the ¡§minor¡¨ protagonists are much more likeable as we feel for their helpless plight. Bad guy is evil and it makes sense why he does the things he does. I really liked the bad guy concept, sort of a melding of genres (can¡¦t say too much more without giving it away). But there were some scenes with the bad guy that I didn¡¦t feel was showing me anything new so why have the extra pages?!
SETTING ¡V Southern California, where else would Koontz place one of his novels. ƒº Setting works as usual
PLOT ¡V I felt the beginning dragged. I kept asking myself, where is this headed and why is the author taking the scenic route vs. the direct route? After about the first 35% the story took off for me and I really enjoyed it.
OVERALL ¡V Well done, I enjoyed it and wouldn¡¦t mind listening to the audio book again in about a year.
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