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Summary: Signature Koontz, Unfortunately
Review: It'd been a few years since I'd read a Koontz book, and I picked this one up for giggles. Quite a disappointment, and a reminder of why it had been a few years since I'd read one. The book had the signature Koontz characteristics: 2-dimensional characters, an intriguing premise, one or two exciting scenes, and an absolute failure of a follow-through. Koontz does a decent job of getting you interested in the story and the mystery of what's going on, then turns the ending into a combination of deus ex machina and actionless exposition. Someone needs to teach him about story structure and how to write an ending that's a sufficient pay-off for the beginning. Does he just get tired, toward the end of the book? I sure did. Sole Survivor, like many of Koontz's novels, had a lot of potential. It just failed to achieve it.
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Summary: Sole Survivor by Dean Koontz
Review: I found this book to be utterly fascinating. It takes you on the ride of your life! It is so intensely interesting because you feel as though you are right there inside the book. Dean Koontz is brilliant. His characters are so well drawn that you feel as though you really know them, that they are real people, just like you and me. I recommend this book because it takes you on a journey to understanding with more clarity the human condition. And it's damn funny at times too!
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Summary: Suspense moves the book.
Review: "Sole Survivor," by Dean Koontz, is an edge of the seat ride through every emotion possible. Joe Carpenter is a widowed alcoholic who lost his family in a horrible plane crash the previous year. The anniversary of his wife and two daughters' deaths include a car chase, spontaneous combustion, and the unlikely union of Joe and a mystery woman named Rose. Joe has no idea what Rose's intention is, but, according to her, it is to unite him with his family. Is there a chance that Joe's youngest daughter Nina is still alive? Who is trying to kill them? More importantly why? The questions are infinite, but the answers are incredible. Koontz's biggest strength in "Sole Survivor," is using suspense to reveal the theme of the book. No matter how many times in life a person wants to give up on life, there is always something, no matter how insignificant, to life for. Too many times, Joe is stuck in a dead end, creating tension in the reader. Without giving out too much of the book, mind-boggling events happen. Experiences that take the reader to new heights of their own existence. Joe himself turns into the root of this suspense. Rather than going back to his simple drunken ways, Joe pushes on. What if all this work is for not? Then Joe has renewed his integrity. Taking the reader on one of the most thrilling rides of his/her life.
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Summary: Finally, an audiobook that didn't put me to sleep!
Review: Joe Carpenter is a man paralyzed by grief and anger. On the one year anniversary of the plane crash that killed his beloved wife and daughters he visits their cemetery and spots a woman taking pictures of their grave marker. He approaches her and sets off a series of events that make him question if the death of his family and 300 others was the intentional work of officials attempting to cover up something that could possibly change mankind for all time. As he digs for the truth he witnesses and discovers strange, terrifying, incomprehensible events, and finds evidence that is impossible for him to ignore. He finds a purpose for living once he realizes he may be the only person left alive to expose the truth. Dean Koontz usually writes so much more than an eerie, suspense filled page-turner and SOLE SURVIVOR is no exception. He creates characters who are human, people you care about and anguish with, everyday people stuck in extraordinary situations. He's outdone himself with the character of Joe. Poor, tortured Joe. His grief is expressed so vividly I felt his sorrow and my heart broke about a million times as he's reminded of his wife and girls in nearly every thing he does. Any book that can keep me on edge like this one did and make me care so much about a character gets my recommendation. There were a few parts that dragged a little bit but overall it was an interesting, emotional and nail-biting read. Koontz writes an thrilling story and he continually surprises me but it's his talent for characterization that keeps him on the top of my favorite author list.
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Summary: KOONTZ HAS DONE IT AGAIN!
Review: THIS IS AN EXCELLENT BOOK! KOONTZ BRING HIS CHARACTERS ALIVE.FROM THE "WHO IS THAT" ALL THE WAY TO "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT", THIS IS A GOOD ONE. I WAS HARDLY ABLE TO PUT IT DOWN AND I FINISHED IT IN TWO DAYS. A REAL ATTENTION GETTER! I WOULD HIGHLY SUGGEST THIS BOOK. I WOULD HIGHLY SUGGEST ANY OF HIS BOOKS. HE'S A WONDERFUL AUTHOR!
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Summary: Sole Survivor
Review: I like listening to unabridged books on tape with my morning coffee, my eyes take an hour or so to wake up. Sole survivor was my first experience with Mr. Koontz work but won't be the last. I was spell bound, on the edge of my seat, seeing everything that happened in my mind's eye. I feel foolish, since I've avoided any Dean Koontz novels for years. If you believe all things are possible, you can't miss this chilling tale that twists and turns until you're sure the threads can't run together and be tied up at the end. My husband and I were visiting our son in our motor home when we began this tale of awesome power and total helplessness and vulnerability in the same vision. We then proceeded to listen to it that evening as well...well past midnight and into the morning hours. Exhausted but enthralled we drank tea until three. I'm not easily impressed by writers. I'll read almost any book because my favorite authors don't write enough but am highly critical of those who found a really good agent to sell their material. I only listen to unabridged novels and am even more selective with them. A reader can be a ruiner but it was wonderfully done. I'm looking forward to my next experience with this writer and am going to have to swallow a lot of negative words when I see my daugter in June. I refused to read books by her favorite author, until now. Don't always judge a book by its cover. A brief synopsis on the cover can be very misleading. Read, listen, enjoy. I intend to. I'll be back to write more, if I'm disappointed with other works; hopefully, Dean Koontz had and has more than one good novel in him.
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Summary: Another "edge of your seat" treat!
Review: This is my third Dean Koontz novel in the last 3 weeks, and it was a nail biter...not quite as much so as "Intensity", but still kept me wanting to finish it, as I knew Joe would come out alright...just didn't know how. Dean Koontz really has conspiracy as a theme in the 3 I've read, actually listened to on audio cassette, and makes for a very thrilling story. The story may sound a little far fetched, but with cloning becoming more common, who knows? It's a scary thought, but that makes for good story-telling. David Birney does a great job as narrator, too.
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Summary: Great book . . . soon to be a miniseries starring Billy Zane
Review: upon first reading this novel, i felt it was a 3-starred novel,but, after discovering a TV mini-series is to be made, i decided togive it a reread. i liked it better the 2nd time through as i appreciated the imagery and... once i found my way through such imagery... i discovered more clearly just how interesting and chilling a story Koontz came up with here. it really is quite a thriller...but a literary thriller, which was unexpected, and perhaps why i found it somewhat boring the first time through. the imagery that struck me the most was the chase the end of the novel. i thought "eh, pretty standard action scene," the first time through, but w/ the novel's spiritual context i realized something more may have been going on. this chase, by the way, will look great on film...assuming the miniseries uses the novel's final action scene. we shall see...
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Summary: Even better than "Intensity"!
Review: This book was even better than Intensity, wich i though it wouldn't be. Here Koontz builds up a completely undisputably story wich includes shere scenes of sciencefiction, and makes it totally believable, and just when you are about to think that this episode was the book's klimax, Koontz take you to a higher level. Maybe it was a little boring in the beginning, or is it just my opinion? Anyway, it gets better as you go on, and the end is an unbelievable crescendo in real Koontz-fiction spirit. Read it and you'll not regreat it, one of the best books i've ever read!
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Summary: Koontz has lost his abliity to write an excellent book
Review: I am sorry, but this book was a disapointment to me. I have been a Koontz fan for over six years, and as time goes by his books are loosing their quality. There is too much description in this book, it drags severely in the middle, and all the supporting characters are severely underdeveloped. Koontz used to write his characters so well the reader came to know them "personally", that's not the case in this book. If I didn't know what Koontz is capable of I wouldn't be so dissapointed. By far, his older works are better.
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