Rating: 
Summary: He should have warned us
Review: I love Dean Koontz' work. I own and have read almost everything he has written; but as a victim of brutal childhood sexual abuse, and being currently under the care of a psychiatrist to deal with issues related to that abuse, and having not been believed by my parents, I never made it through this one. It was a brilliant story, and he portrayed the horror and shame of sexual abuse from the victim's point of view masterfully, but it was more than I, and I dare say most people who have actually experienced abuse, could handle. Next time, please, warn us when there will be rape and/or other sexual abuse (that may re-open old wounds we aren't quite ready to deal with yet) graphically and repeatedly used in a story line. I'm looking forward to his NEXT book.
Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely intense, riveting, and at times, disturbing.
Review: This book was so very intense and mind capturing, that at times I found myself disturbed and almost not wanting to read on. As a die-hard lover of horror and suspense, this book is one of the best I have ever read in that genre. Though not as down to earth as Stephen King, Dean Koontz writes with a style and a flair few in this genre can claim rights too. From page one, I was drawn into the plot and the characters, feeling sensitivity for Skeet, the drug saturated half brother of Dusty, and alarmed for Martie, as she begins to sense an irrational fear of her own shadow. I could have cried over Susan, whose fate made me both angry and intensely sad. When a writer can touch those emotions in a reader, when he/she can bring out raw feeling such as Dean Koontz did in this book, then truly the book is a work of art, a nothing-less-than five star story. The character of Dr. Ahriman is drawn completely, with no details untouched. For him I felt disgust, and also some anger, mixed with the very smallest bit of compassion. The entire subject of mind control is elaborated on here with such an exotic twist, that reality for the reader becomes mixed with a sense of knowing this all couldn't possibly happen, yet wondering...What If?
Rating:
Summary: False Memory great book
Review: Another great book by Dean Koontz
Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: Wow! The whole "mind control thing" has been done by many authors, but I still decided to give this a try. I was thoroughly impressed... even with the "villain" being made known early on. Koontz' character descriptions and histories are getting better and better, causing you to actually be able to close your eyes and visualize what you've read. Phobias, druggies, in-laws who hate the spouse, its all here! For me this is one of the best Koontz books I've read!
Rating: 
Summary: False Memories
Review: Twisted tale,entwuned cleverly.
Rating: 
Summary: Why can't I rate 0 stars?
Review: I always liked the books of mr. Koontz, but this really is a repeat of earlier books. I had trouble finishing it and during the struggle it took me I had the feeling of DEJA VU throughout the book. It has a lot of pages, but I found myself skipping more and more because it became very boring. Usually I am in the habit of reading a book more then once. This will be the first one I will dump as soon as possible.Only thing memorable was the way competing writers can (theoraticly) use this site. And no. I'm not a writer.
Rating:
Summary: Could Have Been Better
Review: A young woman has a job she loves and a fabulous life, until things take a drastic turn for the worse. She suddenly develops an overpowering fear of her own shadow (yes, her shadow), and there's something in her mirror she also finds very disturbing. A good read for this genre, but more polished dialogue would have really helped this story.
Rating:
Summary: Not that good
Review: Basically a C. I read where Mr. Koontz first thought it would be a short novel and then he couldn't stop writing. Well, he should have stopped. Per the paperback version about page 160 you had a very good idea of what was going on, but of course, not why or whom. Yet it took the characters another 300 pages to even get remotely close to understanding it. I don't like to know more than the characters or figure it out long before they do. This book was a guick easy read, but way too long. It was fully of unnecessary filler material, repeated thoughts and just too slow of movement.
Rating:
Summary: Koontz has been better
Review: Am I the only one who thinks that if Koontz did not write with so many metaphors etc. this book could have been 300 pages instead of 600. Ever since STRANGERS and THE WATCHERS I have yet to enjoy any of his books. SOLE SURVIVOR wasn't bad. I feel Koontz's writing is too embellished and monotonous. I was falling asleep trying to keep up with all his wordy paragraphs. After trudging through 300 pages I finally put the book away because I found it too disgusting. I know this may be a turn on to some but it just went too far for me. I got to a point where I really didn't even care about anyone anymore. However I personally felt if Koontz could have cut out half of the boring narrative, maybe I would've finished the book - actually I would have since I read 300 pages and that is about how thick the story should have been!
Rating:
Summary: Decent, but Koontz can and has done much better
Review: I am a Dean Koontz fan and have turned a number of friends onto his books. This is true even though I'm not a fan of horror novels. At his best, Koontz offers terrific writing: crisp, energetic, and stylish. The first chapter of "Dark Rivers of the Heart" is fantastic in its ability to evoke the pain and desperate hope that the main character feels. However, when he's not at his best, Koontz has passages that are embarassingly juvenile -- there's a running joke about the title of a science-fiction novel in "Mr. Murder" that goes on way too long. The recent novels "Fear Nothing" and "Seize the Night" -- and especially "False Memory" -- suffer from dialogue that would be hard to believe from teenagers, much less adults. While not a fatal flaw, this does detract from the otherwise gripping story. The other problem with "False Memory" is to some extent endemic to the thriler/mystery genre, and that is that it's really hard to come up with new ideas. "Fear Nothing," for example, recycles heavily from Koontz's own "Midnight"; and "Ticktock" is largely a rehash of "Dragon Tears." Plots don't even have to be similar to pick up on this; Greg McDonald's "Fletch" and John MacDonald's "Dress Her in Indigo" are nothing alike in plot, but if you read one, you can figure the other one out in a second. If you've read Koontz's "Strangers" (a terrific book), you'll find yourself ahead of the curve on "False Memory." To Koontz's credit, he doesn't hide the identity of the evil mastermind for long, so guessing his identity early doesn't ruin the book. In summary, despite the flaws I've identified, I think "False Memory" is still a good book. Just not up to par with Koontz's best: "Watchers," "Strangers," "Lightning," and "Dark Rivers of the Heart."
|
