Rating: Summary: Can't put this one down Review: I read this book when it first came out back in the 80's and I loved it then....I found it again recently and actually didn't realize I had read it before, until I got through the first two chapters. I was as mesmerized as I was the first time I read it. It's well written, keeps you anxious to read more and quite hard to put down. I recommend it highly.
Rating: Summary: TERRIBLE! Review: I have to say that I am a great fan of horror books. Stephen King tops everyone else but that does not mean I do not read any other horror author. From Peter Straub to James Herbert to Dean Koontz I try to discover any author serving to the genre. I had read three books by Dean Koontz in the past. Watchers was very good (I wonder now after reading Whispers and Voice of the Night if Koontz was so drunken that he could write it) Then Lightning: his best book in my opinion. Then came Voice of the Night: It was not horrorful, it was non-senseful; it made no sense at all; no storyline, no aim, no scene, no action, no humour. Piece of dry paper work. But now Whispers tops everything else in being terrible. What a shame! How can a writer, trying to claim a share in the horror genre, write such a meaningless, pointless, childish and absurd book? OK SK writes bad books, Peter Straub writes bad books. But even they are worth something. However when Koontz writes bad, he writes deadpan bad, and makes one wonder how his books were published in the first place. But then who wrote Watchers and Ligtning? Maybe his "dark" twin, a twin like the one in "Whisper" God, this book is terrible! It is not even funny in terms of absurdity! It is rather an insult to the reader! Directly steer off it and run away as if the Devil is at your heels!
Rating: Summary: Amazing Review: This is one of the best books that I have read; it was full of heart pumping action. Dean R. Koontz's ability to use two different main views is unbelievable. It takes a lot to make me enjoy a book and this one was the best book I have ever read. If you are a person that would like to read a book that will not let you put it down then this is one for you.
Rating: Summary: Hitchcock, Anyone? Review: Alfred Hitchcock purportedly bought the film rights to Whispers, but died before being able to do anything with it. I find that story easy to believe, since I thought of Psycho the entire time I was reading it. Koontz set out to write a Freudian horror story, and succeeded.Hilary Thomas has a stalker who simply won't go away - even after she kills him. Is he undead? A ghost? Whatever he is, he's lethal. A cop assigned to the case helps her find out what's going on, so it can be brought to a halt. Koontz has played with the returning dead menace in other books, but this was the one in which he did it best, probably because it was fresh. The only flaw in the book is that several early scenes with the detective and his closest police buddy are essentially unnecessary, and go on too long. Aside from that, it's extremely cleverly plotted, with several surprising twists and turns along the way. The suspense is steady. There's a Canadian film version starring Victoria Tennant and Chris Sarandon that is pretty good, but the book is much more satisfying.
Rating: Summary: My First Koontz Experience Review: This is the first book I ever read by Dean Koontz and although it would be many years before I would be in the position to pick up another one - I was in college and it was all I could do to read my text books - I remember thinking this was the freakiest book I'd ever read. A villain is killed and then returns for revenge? I had never read anything like it before in my life! It was wonderful! I also remember thinking I had never in my life read anything that was both so horrifying and yet at the same so optomistic and life afirming. The author was, I recall thinking, clearly madly in love with California from his caressing descriptions of the scenery there. And this book had one of the creepiest, crawliest, nightmare-making plot resolutions of any book I had read up to then. Definitely a great read. And you'll never, EVER guess the mystery before it's solved! I dare you to try!
Rating: Summary: A Mix of Terrifying and Corny! Review: From the copyright date (1980) I could tell that "Whispers" was one of Dean Koontz's earlier books. And it is notably different from his more recent ones. It is about a young woman named Hillary who has been abused as a child yet has made it big in life. Then, without warning, she is attacked by an acquaintance named Bruno in her own home on night. He tries to rape and murder her, but Hillary manages to get a gun on him, but then incredibly, she allows him to leave only to endure another attack by him that very morning. But then, she stabs him twice in the belly with a knife, after which, Bruno staggers away to die! Thinking that it's all over, Hillary gets involved in a corny and sappy romance with a police officer that wants to be an artist. Then, she encounters Bruno yet again! Has he actually come back from the dead? Then launches a frantic investigation into Bruno's past in order to explain these strange events and Bruno's motivations. Although parts of the book were truly chilling, other parts were totally sappy and corny which made me want to wretch, especially the love scenes! And there were a lot of events in the story that were totally ridiculous and appalling like Hillary just allowing Bruno to leave after attempting to rape and murder her! Who in their right mind would just allow someone that dangerous just walk out instead of popping him, preventing future attempts on not only on her life, but on others? And that conversation with a frog that the policeman, Tony, had while asking Hillary out was corny. He was no doubt trying to be charming, but I found it to be just stupid. I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars because there were a lot of stupid, ridiculous, and downright corny scenes like there are in almost all of Koontz's books. Many other scenes were unarguably terrifying, however. Indeed, the rape and murder scenes were truly graphic, even more so than in his other books I have read. But although the author obviously tries to make the reader feel sympathy for the murderous Bruno with stories of childhood abuse, my mind just could not get past his atrocious acts of rape and murder for me to do so. At best, I wound up feeling only apathy for him and looking forward to his death as being in the best interests for all concerned, including both Brunos. Overall, I found it to be an interesting read, but not the best.
Rating: Summary: GREAT BOOK Review: This was a truly great book. It is one of my favorites. I am 16 years old and I used to hate reading but now I am addicted to it and the book really inspired me to read more. The book has a very catching story and it was even better the second time I read it because you know the truth of what had been going on the whole time and it helps you understand and really get into the second time so I would highly recommend this book.
Rating: Summary: Quite disappointing Review: I'm usually a big Dean Koontz fan but lately I've been disappointed with some of his work. He seems to veer from some of the most imaginative, well-written suspense fiction around these days (False Memory) to hammy, predictable fudge that you'd expect from a 9th grader (From the Corner of his Eye). "Whispers" falls somewhere between the two and is certainly not one of his better works. The basic story is that Hilary Thomas, a screenwriter who survived a traumatic childhood at the hands of alocholic parents, is terrorised in her home by a vineyard owner who seems to think she is his mother reincarnated. Enter our police team, who come in the painfully cliched good cop-bad cop format. Bad cop thinks she's making it all up to get attention (and tells her as much) even though she has absolutely no reason to, while good cop not only believes her story, but fancies the pants off her to boot. Good cop-bad cop leave, only for the attacker to return to the house to finish off the job. However, Hilary is armed with a knife and fatally stabs him. Strange, then, that the very same person arrives in her house several nights later, determined to put her in an early grave. At this stage, Hilary has entered a relationship with Tony Clemenza (good cop) and together they set about unravelling the mystery of how Bruno Frye has apparently risen from the dead. Whispers is a story with promise, however, it is ruined by its cliched (and not very likeable) characters. Thomas is a complete sterotype- her way of dealing with her traumatic childhood is to ignore people. Clemenza and his partner are almost laughably predictable and Bruno Frye, the knife wielding, mentally unbalanced rapist-murderer, just doesn't seem to be bright enough to pull off a string of violent murders without anyone even noticing their similarities, let alone getting away with it. Another area where this book falls down is in its completely irrelevant and extraneous sub-plot involving a convicted rapist who has skipped parole and is offending again. It appears only to exist so that Koontz can kill off bad cop and let Hilary and Tony find comfort in eachother's arms. This isn't a terrible book, but there are some terrible parts in it (particularly the gag-inducing visit to an ex-drug dealer who now deisgns womens clothes and exhorts Tony to follow his dream of painting full time). The true weakness is that instead of writing three-dimensional, likeable characters, Koontz exaggerates their qualities (be they good or bad) so much that he ends up with a group of annoying charicatures on his hands. Not a good thing.
Rating: Summary: HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE'S BAAAAACK...!!! Review: This is a highly suspenseful book, written in clear, spare prose. It is an easy read and a definite page turner. It is a plot driven book, however, with little character development. The plot itself is simple. A beautiful screenwriter, Hilary Thomas, is confronted in her own home by an intruder named Bruno Frye. It seems that Mr. Frye has been stalking Ms. Thomas in the belief that Ms. Thomas is his long deceased mother, Katherine, who has ostensibly come back from the dead in order to kill him. He feels that he must kill her, before she kills him. Of course, Ms. Thomas has no clue as to why Frye has singled her out. She is aware only of his murderous intent, and she is afraid, very afraid. On Frye's first go around with Ms. Thomas, she survives. On the second go around, Frye does not. Thinking herself to be safe, as Frye has seemingly gone to his maker, she is shocked when he, yet again, confronts her with deadly intent. Why this is happening and how, will certainly keep the reader turning the pages. Some of it is predictable, but it, nonetheless, makes for an absorbing, easy read. This is one of the author's better, early efforts. Readers who enjoy suspenseful novels will not be disappointed.
Rating: Summary: Whispers Review: I found this to be one of his better books in the last few years.
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