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Summary: Christopher Snow; macabre homage to Travis Mcgee?
Review: For years Dean Koontz fans have been clamoring for the author to write a sequel to his most popular work; Watchers. This isn't it, but it is indeed a sequel. Seize the Night is an immediate follow up of Koontz's last book, Fear Nothing. Like its predecessor, Seize the Night is a first person account from Christopher Snow, sufferer of xeroderma pigmentosum, and native resident of Moonlight Bay, a small California town that had the misfortune of being home to a vast,now defunct, top secret military testing laboratory. Stricken with XP, an incurable(real life)genetic disorder, that renders a person EXTREMELY sensitive to any kind of ultraviolet radiation, Snow does battle with the myriad of consequences stemming from Fort Wyvern's untold number of failed experiments. Some of which are beginning to have frightening and large scale side effects. Armed with trendy surfer lingo, a motley assortment of resourceful friends, and two four legged companions with enhanced intelligence(a la Watchers), Christopher Snow faces a gene altering epidemic, savage troops of rhesus monkeys, and a new threat, the experiment gone way wrong--Mystery Train. We've seen the others before but the thing that actually induces fear is the slow realization of Mystery Train's purpose. Unlike Fear Nothing the second two thirds of Seize the Night are much more chill inspiring. After all, what are bioengineered monkeys compared to an irresistible, malignent 'place' pushing its way into our reality? As far as the writing style Dean Koontz has adopted for Moonlight Bay's adventures we must remember that he was very successful with it in his book Twilight Eyes, and he is more so here with the self-reflecting thought processes of Christopher Snow. One of Koontz's major influences was John D. Macdonald's Travis Mcgee storyline, and with good reason, those books are some of the most eloquently written, first person narratives in contemporary fiction. If at first, this sequel seems like a rehash of Fear Nothing stick with it, appreciate Snow's reflections, and by the middle of the story you will realize the something truly scary is happening in Lauderdale--oops!--I mean Moonlight Bay.
Rating:
Summary: Not a bad sequel
Review: This was a pretty good sequel, and he leaves it open for another sequel. As usual, he keeps you in suspense right up to the end. Not his usual happy-ending.
Rating: 
Summary: Seize the editor, please!
Review: Dean Koontz has always been one of my favorite authors because of his success at carefully melding characterization and suspense. I really cared about the characters in his older books, and the suspense of things to come kept me turning pages long after I should have been asleep. I read a variety of books and hadn't read Koontz in a while. Unfortunately, I chose 'Seize the Night' to reacquaint myself with the author. I'm not sure how far into the book I was when I starting looking ahead to find some quotation marks or white space -- anything to indicate these endless pages of exposition were there for a purpose and would soon end. Rarely have I seen a better example of why writers should "show, not tell." Who on earth edited this? The pages of narrative do nothing to move the story forward. The characters are two-dimensional with cutesy names and little if any depth. The book begins with great promise: some child kidnappings are somehow related to genetic experiments and shadowy goings-on at an abandoned military facility. Once the search for the children got underway (finally!), I held out some hope that things would now get exciting. WRONG! In his former books, Koontz has done such an admirable job with child characters. Not so here. In fact, I became so distracted I almost forgot about the children. A super-intelligent dog (Orson) is with the children, and a similarly smart cat (mungojerrie) guides the search party, which includes Snowman, Tasha, Roosevelt, Doogie, and Bobby. Instead of darting back and forth between the two groups to flesh out the characters and build up some suspense, the entire story is narrated by Chris Snow (Snowman), who has to be one of the most boring protagonists I've ever come across. Most of the dialogue in the book is between Snowman and Bobby and is so unbelievably silly I found myself laughing out loud. The intrusive surfer lingo is out of context here and merely annoys and distracts the reader. What's really irritating is how condescending the author is to his audience in that he has to explain every word or term we non-surfers might not understand. If the rest of the book made up for it, I could probably forgive Koontz' momentary lapses into the world of cool surfer dudes. But the book is such a disjointed mess I still find it difficult to believe that Koontz wrote it. We have genetically altered animals who are really never a threat, we have an incredibly tedious event in something called an egg room, we have a serial killer who stocks Perrier in his cooler, we have a town cop who's gone bad, we have time lapses and time travel, and on and on and on. I suspect that Koontz is trying something new with this trilogy (I will definitely not read the next one). I suggest he get this series out of his system and get back to doing what he does best: writing suspenseful page-turners that stir our emotions with characters we remember long after we finish their story.
Rating:
Summary: A great start, but slightly strange development of plot
Review: This was the first book by koontz i have read and i enjoyed it thoroughly. The start of the book was tremendously gripping but the story did not quite develop as i hoped and expected. I also cringed at the surfer lingo often used between chris and bobby. But all in all the characters were great (epecially orson the dog) and the writing was superb.
Rating: 
Summary: 100% Koontz
Review: Many will say this novel was unrealistic, too fantastical, or not believable at all. This is where the fear lies. We are frightened by what we don't understand or don't expect. We are frightened by what we think can never happen. Dean Koontz intensifies the fear by putting into a realistic setting, with very realistic characters, and a super-charged plot. Dean Koontz is the master of our time. As a novelist, I have regarded Koontz to be my silent, distance mentor. He is one artist who's got it where it counts/
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Reading
Review: I have yet to read Fear Nothing, the first in the series, however, upon opening Seize the Night, I found that I couldn't put it down. Even without reading the first book of the series, you don't really feel that anything is missing. It is extremely well written and well worth taking the time to read. The mix of characters in this book is unbelievable. Mr. Koontz describes the action so well you almost believe that you are actually involved in the action. Don't let any bad reviews make you think less of this book. It is a bonafide page burner.
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Summary: I need another vacation !
Review: About 4 years ago I was a Koontz fan, and it was for good reason with titles light Twilight Eyes and Hideaway. I took an extended vacation to investigate some different authors, finding great pleasure and depth in the works of Stephen King and John Irwing. Whilst at an Airport a few weeks ago I picked up 'Seize the Night' to whittle away those long hours on an airplane. I should have stayed well away!The plot is ridiculous to the point that it staggers through some senseless and far removed scenes, I found myself lost, confused and frustrated. The characters where dull, and the surf lingo made things idiotic. The effort required to reach the final chapters (which where an incredible let down) left me feeling exhausted and extremely disappointed. Is it me that has changed? Or has Mr Koontz fallen off the pace?
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Summary: Chris Snow part deux
Review: I have read many bad reviews of Seize the Night and Fear Nothing. The more harsh critics talk about a 50 year old author attempting to sound like a surfer in his 20's and a meandering plot. I find both books rivitng. The second picking up so closely from the first is exactly what I like to see. The plot is definitly not realistic, but that is what we have come to expect from Dean Koontz. It is mystery, fantasy, sci-fi, love story, and novel all rolled up into 443 pages. Chris Snow personifies what a hero should be. Just a regular guy with a squeaky clean rap and a cross to bear that gives him vision instead of wallowing in self pity. Welcome back to the day of the role model. Cheers to Dean Koonts and Jeers to those who detract from the book by not allowing the story to be exactly what it should be. A good read, A squeeky clean hero, and an imaginitive ride through the wold of Dean Koontz.
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Summary: Don't Believe It
Review: Don't read "Seize the Night" for believeability. Don't read any of Dean Koontz's novels if you hope to keep your armchair and reading lamp in a sane, ordered world. Drop straight into the gooey, sometimes convoluted simile and read "Seize the Night" for its "what if" potential. And read "Fear Nothing" first. The first book about Christopher Snow provides the background for the suddenly appearing mad monkeys, lunatic priests and rabid policemen. "Seize the Night" gives Christopher Snow's world a new and more terrifying twist that rivals any of Koontz's previous novels. It solves the riddle of the "Mystery Train" ball cap that Snow discovered in "Fear Nothing," and it leaves you waiting and hoping for a third installment in the series. You lack imagination of your own if you can't let Koontz sweep you away with his.
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Summary: Carpe Koontzi!
Review: Do not disparage this book! I will defend it to the death. Who else's imagination bears forth these gossamer cocoons plump with evil? Who else could give us the egg room? I did wish that the egg room had been a huge incubator filled with hundreds of thousands of different developing eggs, all labeled with scary tags such as "Brontasaurus" and "Martian," but you can't have everything you want. I also wished that Roosevelt could have translated the Hamletlike soliloquies of Big Head for the reader, but oh well. I think we all know what he was saying anyway...whether tis better to suffer the slings and arrows, yadda yadda yadda. Is there such a disease as XP? Does this represent the isolation of the true artist (perhaps Koontz himslef?), weaving his tale like the Lady of Shalott in her grey tower, only to die from experience? I am also thankful that Sasha was not a blonde! In short, this book is the bomb! Technically, it's actually more like the landmine, since it takes you by surprise and leaves you very, very different than it found you. Read it!
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