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The Face of Fear

The Face of Fear

List Price: $7.99
Your Price: $7.19
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Great ending salvages an otherwise standard novel.
Review: The Face of Fear is a good novel, with a number of suspenseful situations. However, in comparison with some of his best work, The Face of Fear only works as mild entertainment, not reching the level of quality that Koontz manages so gracefully in other books. However, what makes this a step above some of his other weaker novels is a great twist in the ending that is more satisfying than anything else in the book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: excellent book
Review: The Face of Fear was definitely a great book in my mind. It was a good and suspenseful book. I had a hard time putting the book down once I picked it up. If it wasn't for the fact I was at work when I started reading it, I'd never have put it down. But once I was caught up in work again, I was reading some more of the book.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good Writing, Terrible Ending!
Review: The first three fourths of this book is excellent--reader involvement continually escalates. The suspense is rivetting. The prose is lean and tight. The characters are well drawn. The settings are picture-clear. You casn't help but say, "Hey, this is real." In fact, you can't put the book down.

But in the last quarter of the book, the author lost me. How? Too much mountineer shop talk, too much cat and mouse stuff (to the point of tedium), too many convenient, if not unbelievable, escapes from the killer. The ending was pure deus ex machina--and I mean that literally. I'm surprised that such a good writer would resort to such a contrived, easy-out ending. it's something a neophyte writer might do. There were so many better ways to go.I felt no satisfaction from the ending. And I found it hard to believe that Preduski would know that Billy would come for Graham that night, since Preduski didn't even know that Billy knew that his killer Pal (Bolinger) was killed. So there wasn't even a basis for Preduski to know that Billy had vengeance--yet. And why wasn't Graham, at the crime scene, taken to a hospital, since he had been shot in the arm, instead of driven to his apartment? That is police procedure. He was taken home so that the author could contrive an ending to have Billy shot.

Notwithstanding all this, Koontz is a great story teller, knows how to absorb you deeply. Unfortunately, he has ruined many of his own novels by not taking more time to think up and think out believable, satisfying endings--as in this yarn. In "Sole Survivor" his ending was excellent, giving the reader and the hero the kind of satisfaction one looks for at the end of a long read.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A so-so novel
Review: The premise of this book is funny in that the actual idea and the tension that Dean Koontz was supposed to bring upon us was a masterful idea, the thought of a chase through a deserted building was awesome, but the fact of the matter is that the actual book was written very poorly. It was too easy to read, and I wanted the book to be longer, more complicated, and thus, the book was very dissapointing. Still, Koontz can build tension like no other, describe terrorful situations like no other, and because of this, the book and its idea will still be yearning for readers. I did not like Koontz's writing in this novel, and did not like the length (no wonder he obsesses about making sure he has a proper length) but I still liked the theme behind the novel, and the sole reason why Koontz has been a New York Times bestseller is because he thinks of situations that catch a reader's attention.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not Enough Suspense
Review: This book has an interested plot, but like lots of his books it lacks real suspense. Character development needs to be worked on too. Stephen King does a much better job getting into the reader's head. The good thing about Koontz's books are they have a surprising twist in them, that make them worth reading. After you read several of his books, the twist become predictable though. If you have a weak heart this book might not be for you. The killings are described in gruesome detail. This doesn't come close to Koontz's best, but is a good read. Just don't expect too much excitement.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This book is page turner that keeps you on the edge!
Review: This book is one of the best that I have read by Koontz. I have read quite a few of his books and I would have to say that this one kept me turning the pages and wondering what was just aroung the corner. I think that Koontz has a style of writing that will keep you guessing from the moment that you start reading. Everytime that I start reading one of his books I just can't put it down! I read this book twice and I still was one edge till the end

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Classic Koontz
Review: This book is pretty much non-stop action with an intriguing, suspensful plot.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I give 2 thumbs, 10 toes, 1 knee and a couple of elbows!
Review: This book is the best book! I am just about done with it. It is preety nasty but has tension upon tension upon suspense. This is also a very good mystery book. I am only 10 so you probobly won't care about what I think...END

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A tad bit manipulative.
Review: This was a very tense book. My biggest complaint with it was the way that the ending manipulated the reader. It was also slightly more violent than necessary. I enjoyed the chracters, and thought it was a really interesting story. Not bad for a really quick read.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: ok
Review: To put it mildly, this is not an extremely ambitious book by Koontz. As a standard thriller, it serves it's purpose. While the feeling of being trapped in an empty building was captured quite well, I think that Koontz could have fleshed out the relationship of the couple a little bit better. This book was released way back in 1977, at a time were the concept of the serial-killer was a little bit fresher than today. Keep this in mind if you are fed up with serial-killers and reading this book. BTW, the TV-movie of the same name is one of the few Koontz films that work.


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