Strangers

Rating:
Summary: Koontz's best; more original than the rest!
Review: Like Stephen King, Dean Koontz is a master story-teller. However, after reading almost all of his books, I have found that some of them tend to follow a cookie-cutter formula: a hero/heroine with an abuse history, a life-threatening situation, a budding romance, and a fantastical explanation at the end. Not so with Strangers; it is completely different from Koontz's other works. First of all, rather than follow one or two main characters only, Koontz wrote Strangers from the perspective of 6-8 characters, all of whom share similarly unusual experiences but are strangers (hence the title) to each other--at least at first. As the story develops, they eventually connect with each other to solve the mystery of their common experiences. In this case, however, the resolution is much more satisfying than in some of Koontz's other books: in Strangers, he does not rely on a supernatural explantion to draw his characters together at the end. Overall, this is one of the best suspense novels I have ever read, and a must-read for Koontz fans!

Rating:
Summary: Out of this world!
Review: This is one of Koontz's many masterpieces. The story of strangers who come together and find out they have more in common than they could ever imagine is an original. Koontz provides suspense, action, and imagination to provide a story better than any other on screen or on paper! Two thumbs up!

Rating:
Summary: Simply great!
Review: Storytelling in the grand traditiom. No visual horrifying scenes, because Koontz wants you to imagine, and not see it. Written so beuatifully and elegantly. Definitely, in a class of his own.

Rating:
Summary: FABULOUS!!!!!
Review: Dean Koontz's 'Strangers' was a fabulous read. The characters were all so detailed you could picture each one clearly anticipating there next move! I had a hard time putting this book down! Well done once again Dean!!

Rating:
Summary: Not just another horror story.
Review: Koontz's 2nd best book (see Watchers for the best). Strangers is an impressive interweving of a very suspenseful mystery with facinating character development. In spite of the multiple main characters in the story and the fact that the story jumps back and forth between them, the flow is never broken. The mystery is wonderfully done, with the author revealing neither too much or too little, but just enough to keep the reader intrigued. The characters are vividly drawn, and they are as much the glue of the story as the mystery. The most impressive part of the story construction was, to me, the fact the the author was able to keep switching from one character's story to another, yet without confusing the reader or ever losing the thread of the story. Few authors I have read have been able to keep a novel of this length and complexity fast-paced, suspenseful, and eminently readable throughout the entire book. Koontz, however, pulls it off with seeming ease and increadible flair. If you like mystery, or suspence, or even just a great read, I would definately recommend Strangers

Rating:
Summary: One of his best
Review: The book is so exciting that I finished reading all 600 somewhat pages in 3 days. The novel is definitely one of Koontz's best, and ranks up there with Watchers and Lightning.

Rating:
Summary: The most suspenseful story I have ever read
Review: It was incredibly difficult to put this book down, and when I wasn't reading it, I was wishing that I was. I have recommended it to all of my friends and highly recommend it to everyone else

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: In my opinion, this is one of Mr. Koontz's best stories yet. I couldn't stop reading the book and yet I didn't want to finish it because I was totally immersed into this story, it was as if I was actually living it myself. Great Book!!

Rating:
Summary: Way Long, but stick with it!
Review: As others have noted, "Strangers" takes a VERY LONG time to get off the ground, and for the first half of the book you may be tempted to put the book down and give up. Stick with it! The endless background information and character development that Koontz provdes is both interesting in itself and relevant to the finale. By the time you get to the last 50-100 pages, he really has you hooked. You've come to know and care about the people, and see how their respective skills and flaws are crucial to the unfolding of the story. "Strangers" is not Koontz's best work -- that would be "Lightning" or "Dark Rivers" -- but it's a well-written thriller.

Rating:
Summary: As good as Koontz gets...
Review: Like constantly revisiting a sore tooth with your tongue, I continue to read Dean Koontz novels in spite of the unintentional hilarity many of them embody. To be fair, Koontz has a knack for description, but it's his stilted and contrived dialogue and characters that usually derail things.

Strangers is the best Koontz I've read yet. The plot, concerning a group of apparant strangers who must work backwards through their lost memories to unravel a government conspiracy that they have become involved in, is tricky and full of surprises. While Koontz usually places his novels in the same ho-hum oceanside California communities, Strangers uses many cities as its settings, including the Nevada landscape that serves as a setting for a blizzard at a crucial plot crossroads.

And, OK, the characters are still rife with stereotype and idealism. The spunky young female doctor, the wacky artist with the heart of gold, the priest with doubts about his religion, the trailer-dwelling waitress with an abuse-filled childhood trying to regain her sexuality. Koontz has the knack to make these walking sit-com characters likable, even if the dialogue often veers into wordy speeches.

The novel is slightly long, but it builds its suspense effectively. Assuming that the plot would eventually yield a supernatural being trying to destroy the Earth, I was surprised to see Koontz unfolding a more complex and entertaining plot than his usual devices.