Phantoms

Rating:
Summary: Terrific fun!
Review: Having seen the mediocre film before reading the book, I feared the suspense would be ruined. To my surprise, I fell in love with this book and was unable to set it down until I finished it on the second night! Bear in mind this is a campy, light horror novel. It keeps character development to a minimum, instead focusing on a fast pace and a clever use of fear of the unknown. If you are looking for a quick read that will chew on your nerves well past midnight, this is a sure thing!

Rating:
Summary: Another Winner
Review: This is a very scary book. The suspense, the mood, the writing all contribute to that feeling you have when you are reading by yourlself and you are suddenly slightly apprehensive about looking around.

The idea is quite original - the mass disappearance of an entire town and just walking through the place raises the hair on your head. The appearance of the bodies, the weird pervading doom, it was all very well done. I have not seen the movie but have heard good things about it.

Rating:
Summary: Where did they Go?
Review: Jenny and Lisa Paige have come back to Snowfield, California after attending their mother's funeral. All is quiet, the streets are deserted, a scent of danger is in the air. Soon the girls discover that most of the townsfolk are missing, however there are some left in their homes, but not only are they dead, they seem to have died in the most awful of ways, with swollen bodies and eyes that seem to be saying that they died seeing something too horrible to mention.

At first they think some kind of biological attack killed them all. They call the cops who call in a chemical and biological warfare unit to try and solve the dilemma and members of the group start disappearing or dying. They have to discover what is happening in the town before they all wind up dead.

Phantoms is one of the best books from one of the best, if not the best, author writing horror today. Plenty good, plenty scary, a must read.

Reviewed by Stephanie Sane

Rating:
Summary: Edge of seat
Review: The first time I read this book, I stayed on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next. When the movie came out I was of course dissapointed because it was no where near as good as the book. Koontz stayed true to his style in this book which of course has made him a huge succed...................Jo

Rating:
Summary: Same Review as Before: TERRIFIC!
Review: I know, I already had reviewed this book; looking back at my old review (the "Most Helpful Review" of this book), I decided to update it a bit. Even now, 4 years after reading that book, I look back and get chills...that was a really scary book! Here's the updated review:

I read this during the summer of 1999, and holy s**t (censors...grr...) I was scared by it! This book is vintage Koontz. This is the book that made me love his writings (though I've not read anything for a couple of years now--I've discovered the super writing of F. PAUL WILSON!!). The character analysis is amazingly well done, and the amount of atmosphere that gets created while you read this makes you feel like you're really there. The main characters (Jenny & Lisa Paige, and Bryce Hammond) were, no, *are* unforgettable, the actual scenes where something scary happens are scary as hell (but thankfully, not gory...gore does not mean scary anymore!), and... Well, I suppose I shouldn't mention anything more. It is so scary, though, because this book, among others (THE KEEP, by F. Paul Wilson; THE RELIC, RELIQUARY, and THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIES, all by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child, to name a few), makes you scared of the dark (believe me--I was scared of the dark for months after reading these), because so many scenes take place in the dark. Oops, I've said too much already. Just read this book and find out for yourself just what *REAL* horror can do. Also recommended by Mr. Koontz: WHISPERS, WATCHERS, and DARKFALL.

...and leave the lights on; not that they'll save you at all...

...goodnight.

Rating:
Summary: 'Was I wrong....!'
Review: I never read DEan Koontz, thought its always about Alien/Govt.Experiment. I was dead wrong. His book Phantoms is the book I finished in 3 days. I felt as if I got the hidden treasure of author. He is great writer and I decided to read all he writes....! The movie was also good, I think he was one of the producers. But Books are always better.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Type of Horror
Review: I avoided Dean Koontz like the plague since the day some years ago when I attempted to read his novel "Mr. Murder." I found that book so formulaic and tedious that I swore never to read another of his books. I did not even finish "Mr. Murder," a rarity for me because I always strive to finish any book I pick up. When I recently decided to cast my nets a little wider into the vast seas of the horror genre, I looked for something by Koontz that other readers praised. Repeatedly, I found that his book "Phantoms" came highly recommended by nearly everyone who read it. So, with my sense of smell ready to detect the slightest hint of staleness or boredom, I dove right into this 1983 Koontz novel. My analysis: of the many horror novels I have read over the years, "Phantoms" may be the best of the batch, ranking right up there with Stephen King's "It" as one of my all-time favorites.

The author wastes little time getting right into the story. Dr. Jennifer Paige and her little sister Lisa are driving to Jennifer's house in Snowfield, California. Jenny was never close to her sister due to the rigorous demands of medical school and the headache of establishing a practice in the small town. When their mother dies suddenly, Jenny steps in to take care of Lisa. The poignancy of this action quickly shatters when the two arrive in Snowfield. The town appears to be completely uninhabited. Jenny and Lisa realize that no one is walking around town and that no cars are on the streets. An even ruder shock overwhelms the two women when they find Jennifer's housekeeper dead on the kitchen floor. Even eerier is the condition of the dead body, which has uniform bruising over every inch of the skin. At first Jenny surmises that a disease could be the culprit so the sisters decide to pay a visit to the neighbors, a visit that produces more questions than answers. Jenny and Lisa begin a mad dash through town, finding corpses everywhere they go. In some houses, they discover that the residents have simply disappeared without a trace. It quickly becomes apparent that something sinister has occurred in Snowfield, and it is up to Jennifer and Lisa to find out exactly what happened before they become victims themselves.

Enter the Sheriff's Department of Santa Mira, a town just down the road from Snowfield. Unaware of the unfolding terror in Snowfield, Sheriff Bryce Hammond and his deputy Talbert Whitman are questioning a murder suspect named Kale about a gruesome double homicide. Koontz uses the Kale interrogation to give us some background on Sheriff Hammond, revealing that this cop is a brilliant investigator and a great man in a crisis but that he lost his wife in an automobile accident and his son to a coma. Very quickly, Hammond gets a call from Jenny in Snowfield about the strange events in that doomed town. The sheriff sets off with a handful of deputies, most of whom Koontz describes in sufficient detail for the reader to care about what happens to them, and the book starts moving at breakneck speed. Eventually, an English academic named Timothy Flyte, the media, and a chemical weapons team from the federal government become involved in the unfolding events in Snowfield. Because whatever stalked the town is still very much present, as those unlucky enough to remain in Snowfield realize. The author masterfully blends these disparate elements together into a tale that is both suspenseful and horrific.

The first part of the novel works best, as Jennifer, Lisa, and the Santa Mira deputies slowly experience the horrors raging through Snowfield. Each scene of the book ratchets up the horror by revealing a little more information than the previous scene, which creates a growing sense of unease in the reader. The back-story involving Flyte and the "Ancient Enemy" explains the horrific incidents in Snowfield and is a welcome addition to the tale. The end of the story loses some of the excitement of the beginning, as once we understand what these people are up against the suspense dies down appreciably. This in no way should prevent you from seeking this story out, since the tale is still great fun.

Koontz wrote an afterword in 2001 about his opinions on "Phantoms." He avers that while he enjoyed writing the novel, he wished he never wrote it because it classified him as a horror writer when he prefers to see himself as a suspense author. The author mentions that "Phantoms" has never gone out of print since its 1983 release and has sold roughly six million copies. I think most authors could care less what label stuck to them if they could have that many sales! Regardless of Koontz's attitude towards his story, this is an excellent tale and a tremendous contribution to the horror genre.

Rating:
Summary: Phantoms
Review: The Phantoms, by Dean Koontz, is a magnificent novel. It keeps the reader on the edge of his seat from beginning to end. Koontz keeps his readers in a constant state of quandary, always wondering what will happen next. He blends suspense and terror in the perfect way, keeping readers frightened, yet wanting more.

It starts with Jenny Paige, a local doctor from Snowfield, California, who brings her 14-year-old sister, Lisa, home to live with her. When they get back to town, they find a horrific surprise. The entire population of the town of Snowfield is either dead or missing, including all the animals. The town seemed to be under the control of someone, or something, too. They managed to call the Santa Mira police who set up roadblocks and sent in a few officers. At first, they believed that it was a biological attack that killed all of Snowfield. Jenny and the police officers called in a chemical and biological warfare unit to check the situation out. Unfortunately, they found no traces of any biological weaponry or infections, leaving the question of how everyone died in an even more mysterious state. As they investigated the matter, the group members began to disappear, or die, one by one. By now, more than half of the team is gone, and there is nowhere to hide. It has no longer become a search for a killer, but a fight to live and escape from the "phantoms" in Snowfield.

This book is a must read for all thrill lovers. It will keep the reader engaged for hours on end, just to find out what happened to the people of Snowfield.

Rating:
Summary: Doesn't Get Anymore Chilling Than This!
Review: I'm not a fiction reader. I never read fiction, always read non-fiction. This book is my exception. I picked it up at a local grocery store just to help the time pass by at work. I began reading it there, and finished it in about a week.
The entire book is scary! Its so "on the edge of your seat" 100% of the time. The book jumps back and forth between two different stories that merge, but it never gets dull. Both stories have their own line to follow until they merge. Its a great book to read if you need that "can't put the book down" mentality. Dean mentions in the afterword that he hated the fact that he wrote this book, I wish he didn't. It was a great book! So much more than I thought could come out of a book. It isn't to the point of making you afraid to go outside at night, because the majority of the book happens during the day (a whole new perspective that most authors don't take advantage (or succeed with, for that matter) of). Great book, haven't seen the movie. I hear that will ruin it, so I'll stick to never seeing the movie.

Rating:
Summary: very very creepy
Review: For the most part of the book, the entire story was a big mystery.....all those dissapearances and bloated bodies.....it took me forever to read because i had a ton of homework, but i totally enjoyed it. The suspence and the weird accounts with the evil enemy were scary.I was expecting at any time something was going to pop up and envelop everyone.
The cool thing about this book is the constant leve of suspence, there was no time that i felt relaxed while reading it, i was constantly thinking that something was going to happen, and it did, a lot! One of Koontz's best works. But the cover fooled me a bit, i thought it had to do something with Phantoms in the water, i guess the misty mountains were confusing to me, lol. Enjoy!