Rating: 
Summary: Big letdown...
Review: This was my first Koontz book, and it may be my last. Not even half way through the book you find out "who done it", and the rest of the book is everyone trying to catch the guy. I probably read the last half in about an hour, just flipping through the pages and finding nothing interesting. I'll stick with Vince Flynn, whose books keep you guessing all the way to the end.
Rating: 
Summary: Muddled metaphors
Review: I find it hard to believe that Dean Koontz actually wrote this book. Maybe he has cloned himself. WATCHERS was interesting, as well as a couple of others, but FALSE MEMORY is what I hope will soon be my false memory. Agonizing, tedious descriptions, similies and metaphors on every page, a ridiculous plot. Granted, Koontz is, at best, a time filler, but at least 350 pages could have been cut. Koontz' edge is that he writes about the area I live in, so that's usually a good hook. But this writing is so banal and sophmoric, I doubt whether I'll ever pick up a Dean Koontz story, no matter how bored I am.
Rating: 
Summary: So close! I was almost hooked before it fizzled
Review: It's rare that I read, let alone like, a Koontz book. I usually pick him up in an airport or bus station when I need to kill a few hours. So far, only "Twilight Eyes" and "Strangers" managed to engage me. When I started to read "False Memory" - I was happy to be proven wrong. For once, I was entranced. I was hooked! THIS story was interesting! BUT - remember the movie "Snake Eyes" when the villian is unveiled to the audience halfway through the film? The same thing happens here. I can't tell you how disappointed I was. The story ceased to be interesting. I already knew the answer to the mystery, so all that was left was to watch the main characters slowly fumble toward the solution themselves. The story quickly fizzled and died. The roundabout way the main characters come across "whodunnit" is so convoluted - the villian makes a point of being neurotically careful to the point of fastidiousness, but then leaves such a majorly obvious clue - on PURPOSE no less - "just to keep things interesting." I guess what makes this book better than other Koontz books is that he's broken his formula somewhat. True, the plot is vaugly reminicent of "Watchers," but at least nobody steals a car!
Rating: 
Summary: My intro to terror
Review: I had thouhgt of Dean Koontz as a horror writer, and wasn't interested till i was encouragwed to read this, and i am very impressed, so much so that i have now read a few of his other books and read this a second time. I love the plot, characterisation, and the suspense in this novel. It is peopled by memorable characters, like the protagonists, Martie and Dusty, good people caught up in a spiral of terror, Dusty's lovable but self destructive half brother Skeet, the monosyllabic alien hunter Fig, Martie's beautiful agoraphobic friend Susan, Dr. Mark Ahriman, one of the most complex characters i've ever come across in fiction, and Valet the dog, a fully fledged character in his own right, Dusty and Martie's touchstone. The plot deals with some very disturbing themes, like rape, murder and child abuse which some readers could find hard to take, but the human spirit shines through. Some of the novel may seem like padding, but a straightforward tale of ordinary people driven to despair by control of their minds is brought to stunning life by elements like the examination of the power of memory, the fact that so many people change their names for different personal reasons, and there is a complex exploration of the capacity of family to hurt or nurture. In this novel, as in some of Koontz's others there is a sinister quasi-government organisation, but this time it's personal. The story is a voyage of discovery for Martie and Dusty, a descent into their own Mordor, mirroring the journey of Frodo and Sam in The Lord of The Rings, on which Martie is working to produce a video game. I was stunned by the writing, the invention of Dean Koontz, and noe look forward to From the Corner of His Eye.
Rating:
Summary: Read it. Didn't like it.
Review: I have read several of Dean Koontz books in the past and have enjoyed them. So I was looking forward to diving into this one. Although I enjoy a thriller I found this book disgusting. The graphic descriptions of many sick scenes were totally unnessesary to the story. The basic idea was a good one and at times very interesting, but the needless gore ruined what I was hoping would be a good read. It will be the last Koontz book I pick up.
Rating:
Summary: Don't miss it
Review: This was the first Koontz book I read (about 2 months ago) and I couldn't put it down. The characters are instantantly emotionally provoking, whether you like them or hate them. The plot is intruiging, it had me on the edge of my seat. You felt excited, sad, disgusted, amazed - genuinely haven't read a book like this in a long time. It might offend some people with the sex scenes - but they are not gratuitous for the sake of putting them in, they develop characters and give deeper insight. Read it and see.
Rating: 
Summary: A walk in the desert with little water
Review: All through this book I was LONGING for justice to clasp it's mericless hand around Mark Aramin's throat. Instead, I had to endure the whining ethical debates and frankly assinine logic of the heroes. However, not everyone is a kickass weapon of justice so it scores points for realism. If it had been me, the moment I discovered the phone machine recording accusing Aramin I would have gone renegade with a sniper rifle and taken out Mark then done the investigating and eventually executed the entire staff of that institution he worked with. Ahhhh the catharsis of revenge.
Rating:
Summary: Can't get into it.
Review: Let me condense the first 107 pages: "Woman helps agoraphobic friend to doctor, gets squirrelly herself while her husband helps his similarly affected addict friend." Who cares? I cared more about the dog, the only worthwhile character introduced in the first 107 pages. I normally quit a book after 50 pages if no "hook" has been set, but since it was Koontz, I gave it over 100. That was a mistake. I recommend that publishers strip off the author's name and let somebody independently review each book, then a poor effort like this wouldn't make it to market. I mistakenly kept reading two recent dogs from Pat Cornwell on the strength of reputation and I didn't want to make that mistake here. I wonder if sycophant editors don't have the guts to tell these authors that they have no clothes, or are the deals locked in ahead of time no matter how the product turns out?
Rating:
Summary: This is the sort of Koontz story I love
Review: I pretty much said it all in my title. This, simply, is the sort of Dean Koontz story I love to read. A wonderful love story, a nasty villain, an impossible situation. Koontz is one of the finest novelists out there particularly when it comes to cranking up the suspense. The last few chapters kept me up until 2am. His description is fantastic, though I'll admit, I sometimes skim through because I want to get to what happens NEXT! My favorite Dean Koontz books are Dark Rivers of the Heart (which you will love if you liked the paranoia factor in this story), Watchers, and Whispers. For a lighter side of Koontz, try "Tick Tock".
Rating:
Summary: Holding My Attention
Review: I'm about 3/4 of the way through this book, and decided to check out other people's opinions. Some are pretty much in line with mine. This book is holding my attention and I'm enjoying it quite a bit, but I'm not devouring it. I skip over lots of paragraphs that just go into seemingly unimportant detail/filler. Was Mr. Koontz simply trying to make a thick book? He did succeed at that, but in my opinion lots of it is unnecessary. The characters are well-developed. I like Martie and Dusty a lot (however, their banter, especially toward the beginning, seems trite while Martie is going through her huge panic attacks). It's interesting to see other characters develop as they come into the story, and how they will matter. The doctor IS sinister - hey, there are weirdos out there. So, I'm sure I'll finish this book tonight, and haven't a clue as to how it will end (although I'm pretty darned sure that Dusty and Martie will win and the doctor will lose - we'll see). I purposefully avoided reading any mention of the end in the other reviews. Question, though, to Maggie from Australia who reviewed this on Dec. 5 - if you disliked the book so much, why in the world did you give it 4 stars?
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