Rating: Summary: The Shock Review: Although I have not completed reading yet, i think that i can spot the great points of the book. Because i really wanted to write something about.This is my first Koontz book, and the greatest book i had read up to now. He really makes you "feel" what the character lives and also makes you to "feel" what they see. There are great portrays inside the book. The objects, the feelings, the movements are portrayed greatly. Actually the important thing is note the greatness, it really excites you. I could never think that i would be excited after reading a portrayal of a car key!. He will write about a house on a hill (for example) and he takes the cam from the sea, describing the water particles.. maves up to the house, describing the rain particles hitting to the roof.. gets inside the house describin how rain makes someone to dream. i read Stephen King's A Girl Who loved Tom Gordon and disliked it. this book was like a medicine after that. Thanks Koontz.
Rating: Summary: More Koontz not necessarily better... Review: Like many Koontz novels I read in the past (from Lightning and Watchers to Fear Nothing and Seize the Night), False Memory includes many of the trademark Dean Koontz clichés already mentioned by other reviewers here: the thirty-ish childless couple from Orange County with the unique careers (no major character ever works a 9-5 job in a Koontz story), and who seem to have the same interests as people in their fifties (like Koontz, perhaps?), the pet Labrador retriever, the sameness of the characters (either they're saints or they're devils), the sameness of the dialogue (cute remark...one-line comeback, cute remark...one-line comeback), the excessive attention to insignificant details, the constant references to high culture (Koontz must be quite the sophisticate in real life), the megalomaniac super-villain who sees all and knows all, the X-Files conspiracy. Unlike previous Koontz books, which are (usually) tightly written and full of adrenaline-pumping suspense, False Memory plods along like a slug. It literally isn't until more than four-hundred pages into the story that the protagonists become proactive, and the action starts to heat up. The villain in this story is the typically one-dimensional homicidal monster of previous Koontz works, only this one has so much power and control that he becomes totally unbelievable, which ultimately kills the story. In the final hundred pages, Koontz throws in a slew of unnecessary characters that muddle the plot, and the resulting train wreck of a finish is the most unsatisfying I have ever read in one of this novels (even worse than the confused conclusion to Seize the Night). False Memory does deliver one powerful message: Koontz needs to find an editor who will actually do some editing.
Rating: Summary: More is not necessarily better... Review: I've enjoyed many of Koontz's novels over the years, from Lightning and The Watchers to Fear Nothing. False Memory includes many of the cliches of his previous works: the 30-ish couple from Orange County with the unique careers (no major character ever has a 9-5 job in a Koontz book), and who seem to enjoy the kinds of things that people in their 50's enjoy (like Koontz, perhaps?); The pet labrador retriever; the sameness of the dialogue between characters (witty remark, one-line comeback, witty remark, one-line comeback...); the excessive attention to upscale living (no one ever eats an Oreo in a Koontz book, just something imported and covered in pine nuts); the super-villain with unnatural powers who gets every break and is always a step ahead of everyone; the X-Files conspiracy. But while Koontz's previous efforts rise above these minor nuisances with tight writing and adrenaline-pumping plots, False Memory plods along for about four hundred or so pages before finally picking up the pace, only to fall apart at the end with the unnecessary inclusion of several minor characters with key impacts to the plot, a villain that is too powerful to be believed (even by Koontz standards), an overblown conspiracy, and an unsatisfying conclusion for such a long read. Koontz tries to throw in everything but the kitchen sink into the last hundred or so pages of False Memory, and the resulting train wreck can only lead me to conclude that it is time for Dean to get himself a new editor who will actually do some editing.
Rating: Summary: Christianity, Bestiality and Peperridge Farm Review: For all the rave comments in the introductions to Koontz's novels, I fail to see what is so fabulous about them. Sure, they're a little suspenseful, but only in about the middle twelve pages. The reader spends chapter after chapter reading about the tiniest, most minute details of every object in every room through which the characters travel; minor details that have nothing to do with the plot. I don't need to know every detail of a set of Victorian curtains in a room in a house when the point of the characters being there is that they're going to kill a priest. Get to the point already! It seems that Koontz spends a lot of time filling space. He frequently interrupts the story to tell the reader about something completely irrelevant, perhaps a rant on the virtues of Christianity or another paragraph about how wonderful dogs are. Sure, dogs make great pets, but I don't want to hear about how great dogs are when the main character is on the verge of a major discovery. Irrelevant rants are a poorly-chosen plot tool for so popular an author. It is as if the author were inflicted with a literary Tourettes Syndrome. Sure, I like dogs as much as the next guy, but the level to which Koontz takes his obsession with them borders on bestiality. In fact, in one of his novels (_False Memory_) Koontz even goes so far as to have the antagonist assume that two of the primary characters are having sex with a dog in the back of a truck. His fascination with Christianity is nearly or as prominent. It seems that at least every third paragraph is filled with God's intent, God's wishes, the afterlife and all things Christian. It is not tough to see that the author is playing with the morals of gentle readers. Because of this, it is not hard to see why Koontz's novels are so popular. The novels are not popular because they offer good suspense or a detailed plot, they are popular because they play to every cliche`e moral quality that Americans value: Dogs, Christianity, holidays, romance and gluttony. Beer and heterosexuality are pushed on the reader, plus the occasional product placement. DId I say occasional? In some parts, the product placements get completely blatant. In the novel _False Memory_, Koontz spends pages discussing a rich man's favorite products including Mercedes Benz and "Milano cookies, by Peperridge Farms." I took a hiliter to one of Koontz's novels, hiliting each product placement in two chapters featuring a particular character. In those chapters I found no less than twenty-four blatantly obvious product placements. To summarize, if you like dogs, Christianity, heterosexuality, beer and Christmas on a level bordering obsession, I'm almost sure you'll love Koontz's novels. However, if you're looking for a steady plot and good character detail, you'll have to look to another author.
Rating: Summary: one of Koontz's best Review: Having read a number of Dean Koontz's books and fancying myself as a literary critic of sorts:) I found this book to be by far Koontz's most sophisticated(though that is not quite the right word).First off,it deals more with phychology and the human nature at it's best and worst,then with sci-fi type plots(such as Mr.Murder and Lightening,for example).Secondly,this book seems to be much more in touch with times then his other works,there are vegans,Amazon.com,Hollywood folk,Keanu Reeves in particular,Matrix connections and even (gasp) gays,which is the first mention of the subject for Dean Koontz,I think.And though I would love for the book to have concentrated on the phobias itself(which what I was hoping it would be about) and would be a different and fascinating subject to explore with a lot of potential,I found the book to be very enjoyable and would reccomend it to any Dean Koontz fan as a worthy addition to their collection and for those who have never read the author I think this book might make a good first impression.And while the book still features majority of the things the author often gets criticized upon,such as Good Guys who are too good and Bad Guys who are too bad,very detailed enviroment descriptions,stereotypical characters,I think those are precisely the things that appeal to certain fans,because therein in the comfortable predictability occasionally are genuine glimpses of brilliance and hope and humor. Thus I gave it five stars.But then again,after reading the book,how can you ever really completely trust a reviewer to have no alterior motives:)
Rating: Summary: Hmmm... Review: this was the first book i ever read by Dean Koontz, and i was a little bit disappointed to find that it didn't really scare me as much as i thought it would. but it was sort of scary, it got me to be suspicious of psychologists...haha...it's kind of a sick story, not gory. i kind of liked it...there were no supernatural things. The story focuses on a married couple Dusty and Martie. What happens is Martie's best friend has a psychological problem that gives her fear of going outside and so she goes sees a doctor to treat it...and then weird things start to happen to her. All of a sudden Martie develops this fear of herself and she goes to the doctor to treat herself. the mystery is how she developed it and....i'm starting to get to into it...but anyway it was an ok book. some parts kept me reading, other times i felt like taking a break...sometimes i got frustrated then disgusted and annoyed, sad...
Rating: Summary: Classic Psychological Thriller... Review: My first Koontz book and definately NOT my last! An in-depth and complex thriller that sends chills up your spine. The characters are very deep and well thought out. I loved Marty and Dusty and especially Skeet. We start out with a 28-year-old woman named Marty Rhodes. She has a best friend named Susan Jagger who needs moral support for her Angoraphobia. Susan is afraid of everything. Including being outside, seeing strangers, working, ect and needs the help of a reknowned pychiatrist. Just getting there is a dreaded thing she tries to avoid. But with her best friend's help she has been able to go every week with no fail. But lately Susan feels as if someone is visting her at night and doing unspeakable things to her without her knowledge even though she wakes up with nothing out of place. How can this be? Is she going going completely crazy or is someone really visiting her? Suddenly Marty begins to imagine herself doing horrible things to her husband and sees all sharp objects as potentially dangerous and deadly. Where did this come from? Why is she suddenly afraid of herself? Dusty is going crazy trying to help his brother Skeet. Skeet's inability to function due to trauma that isn't understood throughout most of the book's complex plot made the reader feel for him. At times we are led to believe one thing and then another until we are very curious to why Skeet cannot function and then ultimately attempts suicide. Adding to this is his wife's new fear of herself and hurting him or others and her best friend's phobia. Strangely it becomes a weird pattern and Dusty realizes things aren't as they seem. Someone caused this and he must dig through the haze and fears to find the truth. When he does, the truth is stranger than fiction and his, Marty's, Susan's and Skeet's lives are in danger. Can Dusty save them before disaster strikes and the cycle is complete? A freefall into madness and a very intense look into the lives of 4 people who are connected in a twisted game that none of them can control. Very scary and a classic psychological thriller worth 10 stars! Tracy Talley~@
Rating: Summary: spine chilling Review: I have never read a book that has given me the chills so many times. I keep thinking about the book when I am not reading it. Made me question my own mind!
Rating: Summary: Amy's Review of False Memory Review: False Memory is one of the best books I have ever read in my life. It was nothing of what I expected it to be like. The beginning of the book lets not secrets out of what the book is going to be about or what the ending is going to be like. The book is the first real psychological thriller I have ever read before. I goes in depth with more than one real psychological disorders that would drive any sane person madd. It wrips the lives of a family apart and pushes them far beyond anybody's limits. As the live's of these people tear apart they start to learn the truth about what is really happening to each other and who is doing it to them. The mind games of the psychologist is what is destroying them, but will the couple who really knows what is going on get him in time to save other peoples' inncoent lives. Dean Koontz is trully a master at the work he produces and knows exactly how to capture an audience and keep them on their toes. This book will not let anybody down, but it may cause them to be more than surprised about what they maybe thought about it before. I would recommend not reading it before bed though since part of the most suspensefull events happens when one of the character sleeps at night. This book definetly makes you think about what your therapist is turining you into, and you don't even know it. How far a person might go to get a thrill and what a person might do to save their own life or a life of a loved one. It is filled with emotions and suspense that will have you and your friends talking aobut it for hours on end. I would not recommend this book if you are not intersted in psychology or the thoughts of peoples subconscious capapbilities under hypnosis. All the book is about is controlling a persons subconscious by just saying one word or even a name that has been previously programmed in them from hypnosis sessions and a chemical mix of drugs. The capability for one person to destroy themselves because of what their mind is thinking and doing to them is a very powerful thing and might be troubling to read about for others. In closing, I would definitely recommend this book to any one who is looking for a thrill, especially a psychological thriller about real life possibilities and situations. The characters are every day people with every day lives until one person ( the one they are suppose to be able to trust the most) starts to destroy them one-by-one by using their own minds as a game. From begining to end is non-stop suspense and puzzles to figure out that would ultimately save or destroy a person.
Rating: Summary: a incredibly twisting and twisted psychological thriller Review: This work was incredible, in my opinion... where others said that there were useless details, or that some portions of the descriptions and detailed scenarios were dragged out needlessly, I must at least somewhat disagree... while there are parts of the story that drag on (and that's probly the only reason I gave it a rating of 4 instead of 5), most of the extra details that were given were used to build the backgrounds and motives of characters, such as Dr. Ahriman's childhood... I loved the idea and plot behind this book, as I love the topic referring and dealing with psychology and sociology... and the idea that a trusted member of society can have such a devious and secret agenda is dark and creepy... also, the characters that mattered the most to the story were so beautifully built to the reader, that I was picturing what Martie and Susan and even Dusty looked like in my head... and you grow to despise the villans... and the twists left my on the edge of my seat... this is the best book that I've read in a while, and I'm in the progress of reading another Koontz book... after I'm done, I'll let you know what I thought of Mr Murder, the one I'm currently reading ;p
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