Rating: 
Summary: Really a 4.5 stars
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: After being injected with the mysterious "stuff", Dylan, Shep and Jillian are on the run from bad guys who will stop at nothing to kill them and on the run to find out about the fantastic transformations they are going through
MY FEEDBACK:
CONTENT - As usual the profanity and sex is left to a minimum or non-existent. But what there is of any of it is handled with deft humor that makes you further appreciate the craftsmanship of Koontz
CHARACTERS - Protagonists are very likeable and you root for them to overcome the obstacles
SETTING - For once a Koontz story that doesn't take place solely in Southern California. The setting adds possibilities for both the good guys and the bad guys and is used to this measure.
PLOT - Lots of twists and turn and not knowing how things will be resolved. My only complaint about the book is that the end was kind of anti-climatic. Like his Tick-Tock book this combines a lot of well handled suspense with good humor, which made the story that much more enjoyable
OVERALL
SPOILER TO FOLLOW . . .
Get it, read it, and . . .
if you liked the concept of M. Knight Shaylaman's UNBREAKABLE, then you'll like this story. If you didn't then you will be disappointed unfortunately
Rating: 
Summary: A little too pat, but has its moments
Review: The three main characters of the book are Dylan, a hulking optimistic artist; his younger brother Shep, who is autistic; and a beautiful pessimistic comedienne named Jilly. Jilly's life intersects with the two brothers when the three are injected by the proverbial mad scientist with a mysterious fluid that soon has the threesome quickly finding themselves experiencing superhuman powers, even as they are on the run from a cadre of trained killers who are intent on keeping the mad scientists inventions from the world. By the end of the book, the three have evolved into something more than human, and they seek to use their gifts to improve the world.
Writing: I wanted to give Koontz every benefit of the doubt on this book, having just come off of the spectacular (by Koontz standards) Odd Thomas. What I found is that this book straddles neatly the improvements found in Odd Thomas and the pitfalls that have plagued his writing since the eighties. There is humor to be found throughout the book, particularly in the use of exaggerated and thickly strewn metaphors. Some of it works, and some of it doesn't. I didn't really mind it once the book got going, but what I couldn't forgive as easily were the characters, which were only different from the cardboard cutouts that have peopled his earlier works in details and professions. Dylan and Jilly are philosophical opposites who are attracted to each other. Yet, they're both seemingly incapable of moral uncertainty, and not just because they are compelled to do the right thing. Dylan is a model older brother, caring for the too-adorably autistic Shep with no thought to his own needs. Another big criticism is the verbal sparring between Dylan and Jilly, which is so contrived that it wouldn't seem out of place on an old-time radio show. For example, as men with guns are bearing down on them soon after they first meet, Jilly trades barbs with Dylan as he tries to convince her that he is not a serial killer (there is no reason for her to believe that he is one).
I also can't help seeing a similarity between Koontz's books and the films of M. Night Shyamalan. Odd Thomas is about a man who says, in a joking reference to the movie Sixth Sense "I see dead people." In this book, Dylan can see the crimes of people with whom he has physical contact, exactly like Bruce Willis's character in Unbreakable. I can't wait to see if another book by Koontz in this time period deals with a large-scale alien invasion.
Despite these criticisms, the book takes a fun idea and moves us fluidly from one action scene to another. The pacing is very well done, and it was certainly a page turner. I plan to still give more of the recent Koontz a try.
Rating:
Summary: A decent read but nowhere close to the author's best
Review: This novel may suffer more by comparison to the other works by Koontz than it does on it's own merits. Having read most of Koontz's book this one seems routine and formulaic, as though the author were going through the motions and is somewhat impatient about getting the thing over with. While many of Koontz's book use a very similar formula they nevertheless succeed in maintaining the attention of the reader and creating sympathy with well drawn characters. One character in this novel is a female stand up comedian who drives around a plant that she talks to. She is never quite as endearing as the author intends. There are many tense and amusing moments as there always are in a Koontz novel but overall this is not one of his best.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining but a little too Fairy-Taleish
Review: This story starts out great. 3 characters are brought together by chance and circumstance and injected with an evil substance of God knows what by a mad scientist type of man. They have to do research to find out what they've been injected with and also exactly what is at store in their future. They come to learn that each of them has developed some type of supernatural-like abilities which will come in handy later while dodging reckless gunmen. However, later on the story kind of fizzles out because every time the author develops a jam for the characters or a tough situation they just seem to solve it by the snap of their fingers..Kaput..Over. I don't have a problem suspending disbelief but I found the childish solutions and happy-sappy endings to be a little more than I could fathom. There is no doubt that Dean Koontz is a master of suspense and story-telling but I feel some of the scenes should have been condensed to avoid getting glazed-over eyes and that the intensity of the story faded later on in the book. The book would have been far better if the author had cut out some of the more frivolous parts and stuck to the compelling story that started at the beginning of the book.
Rating:
Summary: Suspence, Action, Thrills, and ALOT of Fun!
Review: This was my first Dean Koontz novel. I enjoyed it very much and I look forward to reading more of his work in the future.
Surprisingly, this novel spins a tale of suspense around characters that are pawns in a sinister plot of a madman to create a race of super-humans, who will worship their creator. The characters are coincidentally thrown into a plot together against their will and find that their fantastic new abilities tie them to links from their past which were always voids of questions.
Koontz does a great job of character development, realization and evolution from quiet citizens to team leaders. I look forward to venturing into more of Mr. Koontz's novels in the weeks to come!
Rating:
Summary: An exact cross of Creighton's "Prey" and King's "Dead Zone"
Review: We stopped reading Dean Koontz about 20 years ago as his plots and often very long stories were just a little too fantastic, in the supernatural sense, for our taste. We see in the two decades since, he has been a prolific publisher, with the now some 40 novels to his credit implying a bazillion fans."Moon" gets off to a fast start: Dylan O'Connor, a struggling artist and caretaker for his semi-autistic brother Shep, and a struggling comedienne, Jilly Jackson, heretofore strangers, are all accosted in a motel by a "mad" doctor-type guy who overwhelms each and injects them with some sort of "stuff" featuring his life's work. He also warns them his enemies will be seeking them out. It turns out the payload was a zillion nanotechnology machines that influence brain function (ala the nanotechnology cameras and such in Michael Creighton's latest "Prey"). Each of the recipients is affected with different supernatural powers: Shep can "fold" people (teleportation); Jilly has strange visions (and learns to fold), and Dylan has sightings based on touching things (ala King's lead character in Dead Zone). The action unfolds as the three run from the chasers while acting on Dylan's need to make things right from the visions he is getting off people and objects. A somewhat poorly crafted ending, almost in the Superman style of good over evil, brings the tale to a somewhat abrupt end. Like King, Koontz has a vivid imagination and apparently can put his ideas into writing without difficulty. He seems to love to turn a good phrase, with at times prose better suited to poetry or some other genre. We thought that except for the fast start, much of the book dragged along until the second half when everybody, including us, has a better idea of what's going on and then the suspense really builds. The ending will probably disappoint most readers; we weren't at all sure it was a natural denouement of events. For our taste, we still think Koontz is a little too "fantastic", but note that in a not too crowded niche he seems to enjoy great success.
Rating: 
Summary: No More Koontz for Me
Review: While searching for new books to read, I picked up about 5 books, 2 of which were from Koontz. I had never read anything from him but I was willing to give it a try since I had read an excerpt from 'Odd Thomas' and it seemed kind of good. I picked up 'By the Light of the Moon' and 'Tic Toc'. The former starts of pretty good and quite intriguing, but as the story unfolds it turns to crap. I'm not going to say what the book's about 'cause quite frankly, it's not memorable and so, I don't remember much.
As for 'Tic Toc', it's far, far worse. Here's the premise: An alien hides in a doll and tries to hunt its master and manages to kill a whole bunch of people in the process, except of course, the master. It's a comedy. I admire the fact that he played with fire trying to mix horror and comedy but I'm sorry, Koontz got toast 'cause it's just not good. I should say though that the main character's mom rocks, but she's barely in it so...
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