Rating: 
Summary: Was Never a Dean Koontz fan...until this
Review: I'm a huge Stephen King fan and I loved this book. Couldn't put it down...I was scared reading it, because everything was so real!
Rating: 
Summary: Koontz Deserves the Electric Chair for Writing This ...
Review: ...[this is] probably one of the worse suspense novels ever written by an author whose prose is enough to give any literate person severe migrain headaches.
Don't read this book. It will severely reduce your IQ. ...
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: This is one of my all time favorite reads. Dean Koontz is amazing anyway but this book just takes the biscuit. I loved it! If you don't read this one, you are seriously missing out!
Rating: 
Summary: Rethinking "False Memory"
Review: A Koontz reviewer once commented that Koontz is not a brilliant author, but rather a mediocre author who has flashes of brilliance. I would add that what Koontz has is a very entertaining formula, together with flashes of brilliance. That is certainly on display in False Memory.Koontz' formula is simple: intelligent villans who are screwed up because they (a) were victimized as children (Strangers), (b) had their genes manipulated (The Bad Place, Shadowfires), (c) gave themselves over to evil (Hidaway), are aliens (Twilight Eyes), (d) are from various government/foreign agencies (House of Thunder, Door to December) or (e) are just generally sickos (Strangers, Intensity). Throw in an encounter with one of these wackos by ordinary people, add a romance or family estrangement, and away you go. Does the formula work? Well, obviously it does, and for a long time. But can Koontz take us to a place that we haven't been previously? Unfortunately, the answer seems to be No. I still see his flashes of brilliance (e.g., an absolutely heart-stopping shootout on the high plains of New Mexico in False Memory), but the themes have been explored and the language seems to be getting progressively more verbose as time goes on. Anyhow, back to False Memory. It could have been cut down by 150 pages and would have been a much better book. It also has some structural oddities (e.g., introduction of the Keanuphobe and Dusty's family dysfunctions late in the book) that made me think that Koontz should slow down a little, and that his editor should show more concern with the franchise rather than next quarter's earnings per share. I'm ready to follow Koontz to the next level -- if he'll just take me there.
Rating:
Summary: One of The Worst from A Mediocre Writer
Review: I read a Koontz book about ten years ago, some implausible crud about an anatomically impossible monster with three knees on each leg evolving overnight and pursuing a woman through a populated city--typical Koontz. The writing was horrible, the characters horrible. I vowed never to read Koontz again. However, a friend gave me ten of his books while I was taking a speed-reading course. I found that read in this fashion--a whole novel in five hours, Koontz isn't always so unbearable. Then I opened False Memory. It's everything bad about Koontz--characters that don't stay in character, shallow characterization, implausible story lines, contrived plot twists, etc.--but twice as long. If for some reason you like Koontz--perhaps you like being spooked, you are easily spooked, and Stephen King isn't putting out enough for you--you'll just find this book a little more tedious than the rest. If you are not familiar with Koontz, my advice is to avoid him altogether, especially this title. It's the worst of the ten that I read over the last month.
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing Psychological Thriller
Review: An old cliche says that just because you are paranoid doesn't mean that people aren't out to get you. Thus are the situations that Dusty Rhodes and his wife Martie find themselves in from beginning to end of this highly creative and often disturbing book. Things keep happening to the mental state of Dusty's wife, her best friend Susan, and Dusty's brother Skeet that seem really weird. At first you might think you are reading about the psychiatric ward at a mental hospital as various events are played out in often frustrating detail. However, you slowly come to realize that there are reasons for the mental states of each of the main characters, and the path they take to discovery is the essence of this book. I found the first 200 to 250 pages of this book slow as the mental states of the various characters were played out in excruciating detail. I was more than once tempted to stop reading the book. However, my interest increased as the book went on, and by page 400 or so I had to read to the end of this roughly 750 page book without stopping. My advice is to do your best to get through the portion of the book where the characters are established to get to the meat, and you will find the time you spent was worth the effort. Koontz combines the intertwined elements used so effectively by Charles Dickens in "David Copperfield" with disturbing elements of a sadist coupled to sufficiently plausible details of psychology to make you believe that this story could truly happen. Even more endearing, the principal characters are everyday people that might live next door to you and me, or might even be you and I. When the novel nears the end and Koontz neatly, yet plausibly, ties all the elements together in a Dickensian fashion, you will find multiple revelations and be amazed that you were so well and thoroughly misled by Koontz. I've always been a fan of Koontz, but some of his more recent works, while quite competent, have not kept me as enthralled as some of his past works. While I was concerned that this novel was starting in the same fashion, by its completion my opinion became that this novel is one of Koontz very best. 5 stars plus for creating a believable psychological thriller that will disturb most people with graphic imagery.
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: I'm not sure I can understand the complaints about this novel. It was one of my favourite Koontz books yet. This particular book was especially good escape reading. A real thriller. The writing was good. The plot was entertaining. The characters were colourful. I enjoyed it.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Let Down
Review: I was very disappointed with this book. I have read most of Mr. Koontz's books and I was shocked how poorly this was written. I found myself scanning the pages waiting for useless, boring, cutsie dialogue to end between characters. So much time was spent trying to develop a base for the plot, there was no time for real story content. I feel most of the book could have been edited out. At the end I was very let down. I would not recommend False Memories to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Suspense at its Best
Review: This was the first Koontz book I read, and what an introduction to his world this was for me! By simply reading the synopsis of this novel, I couldn't tell what it was about. I found the beginning a little slow, but, in the usual Koontz manner, it all came together by the middle or last third of the story. I loved the rich metaphors, the characters, the plot, and the way Koontz keeps you glued to the pages. I just had to keep reading to find out more.
I highly recommend this novel. I also strongly suggest the audio tapes, which give you an even better sense of the rich characters.
Rating:
Summary: Koontz rocks!
Review: This is a unique book. The concept is original, the way it is written is amazing, it's suspenseful...full of twists. one of his best!
| 
