Rating: Summary: Frightening! Review: Where to start?This is one of Dean Koontz's more different novels. I'm a big fan of Koontz,however even though I don't class this as his best work,it is an awesome story. Maybe I'm weird but this book terrified me,it was probably the only book of his so far that I've been too scared in. In retrospect I like it more than I did at the time,and it's really worth 3 and a half stars. I enjoyed his depiction of the American underground dance movement,it was an eye opener.Where I live,clubs like the one in the story are a dime a dozen. His character build up and how he brings them together was,as usual,phenomenal.I never cease to be amazed at Koontz's wild imagination and his dark past integrating to make a fantastic novel. This story of an immature maniac with supernatural powers and the police's pursuit of him is a lucid well told and truly scary journey. Not for the faint hearted.
Rating: Summary: Very good and exciting; TYPICAL KOONTZ Review: This book was great. It wasn't one of his very best, but it was right up there with the very good ones! It has the supernatural touch, lots of suspense, very well done characters, one of his typical whack-o crazy guys, and the dog! Dean's imagination is working overtime in this one, which makes for his best books! As with most of his books, if you tell much that happens it takes away the fun for the reader. So I won't give you a synopsis. But it is DEFINITELY worth the read!!! (This one is not in the class with Lightning or Strangers, but is in the next notch just below!)
Rating: Summary: I shed tears for having wasted my time! Review: Dean!!! Why??? I thought we were friends... And I rather liked "Hideaway"... Why would you do this to me? What did I ever do to you? I want to punch you in the mouth. You should share a jail cell with Osama and Saddam for developing this weapon of mass destruction. If you are ever in town for a book signing, I am going to pretend to get my book signed and when it is my turn I am going to ask that you give me my money back... on second thought, I will pay you to just take it out of my sight. Actually, the book has some value to it... I have a table with one short leg and your book just fits! And I was constipated for a while so I kept the book by the toilet and when I tried to "go" all I needed to do was to look at your picture on the back of the book and all my problems were solved! 1)Unbelievable (and I don't mean it in a good way). 2)Too many worthless descriptions of things I couldn't care less about. 3)People running and fighting for their lives wouldn't do the things these characters did. 4)Absolutely terrible ending, koontz (with a lower-case 'k') clearly just wanted to get the book in stores to make money. 5)A couple characters were not developed at all (Ticktock's mother, Connie's sister and niece [not that I really care about them, we didn't even need to know about them]). 6)Terrible explanation of how Ticktock's powers were developed. 7) 8) . . . I could go on forever. Buy this book and give it to your worst enemy to read. I hate you Dean Koontz! :)
Rating: Summary: Fun, but typical Koontz Review: I listened to Dragon Tears on audio and enjoyed it, but like another reviewer, it reminded me of other Koontz novels. It was a cool story idea, having a 20 year old man with supernatural powers try to rid the world of people he didn't feel deserved to be here. Like a homeless man and a woman and child living out of their car. When a police officer accidently ticked him off, he and his partner are the next in line. I thought Dean Koontz did a good job of making the apparitions scary, and the narrative by the dog was great. I love dogs, and this sounded like I would have imagined the dog to be able to think and talk. The only drawback was that I think the police officers figured out the whole plot way too fast. I would have never guessed what was causing the terrifying beasts to appear, or have been able to figure out who was behind it, but that's fiction and it was a fun listen. I like all of Koontz's novels, this wasn't my favorite, but I would recommend it to anyone who likes a little horror.
Rating: Summary: Would be good is it was a first draft Review: My review of this book will be mixed. I really wanted to give it 2.5 stars because I am divided on this 50/50. I thought it had great potential, and if it were presented as a first draft I would give it 5 stars as a starting draft. First of all, if you are going to start the beginnings of a love interest, then you should finish it. He started to show the main character's feelings for this girl-cop, and then it was dropped - not good to do. The characters, all of them, were never really fully developed so the book appears flat and pulpy, like a cheap novel with cheap writing. The main character was only about 6% developed, and his sidekick was about 8% developed. And what happened to the story about the sidekick's niece? It was like sub-plots were started, then dropped. The antagonist wasn't fully developed either. If anything, I think this book should have been longer to give more development to the characters, or at least cut out all the static description and use the space for character development. And that's another thing - a good writer doesn't statically describe things (allot of that in this novel). However, it was an interesting idea, which is why I did like it as little or as much as I did and it had great potential. I just think he should have taken more time re-writing it. Still, it did hold my interest, even though I couldn't fully enjoy the story because of the flat characters. The ending was pretty bad for an ending. Again, more time should have been spent on the ending. It looked like he just wanted to get it over with, which really robs the reader of any kind of satisfying resolution or climax. But I would still recommend this book because of the interesting plot idea.
Rating: Summary: Koontz is worth the read! Review: If you pick up almost anything by Koontz you won't be disappointed. Dragon Tears is no exception. While again, the scenario isn't exactly believable, Koontz still pulls it off. And with finess. I think the most valuable part of Koontz's writing is his characters. Without that- the plots, the themes, the evil dwellers, would do nothing for us. But giving us characters to love & care about & even characters that we love to hate- make the reading memorable & enjoyable.
Rating: Summary: Minus two stars for the rave scene; plus one for the dog Review: ...and 3-2+1=2. This is another one of those Koontz novels that fails to break much new ground: it's entirely readable, and fans of the author will probably enjoy it, but he's done much better. (Newcomers would probably be better off starting with, say, _Midnight_, _Watchers_, or _Intensity_ instead.) My major beef with _Dragon Tears_ involves a scene which takes place during a rave. As it happens, time has stopped during this particular scene, with only our two cop protagonists unaffected. This gives them plenty of time to wander through the frozen crowd, making snarky comments about the activities of the celebrants; unfortunately, it also gives Koontz plenty of time to bring the plot itself to a standstill in favor of a deeply biased, ill-informed, sanctimonious, and unappealingly sarcastic analysis of rave culture. Ask a Generation Y participant what the theme of rave culture is, and she may well answer, "PLUR (peace, love, unity, and respect)." Ask Koontz, one and a half generations removed, and he will tell you that the theme is "sex, drugs, and anarchy." I happen to fall between these two age groups, and I would venture that the truth about raves also lies somewhere between these two generalizations. I have known a great many rave-goers. Almost without exception, they have been some of the most positive, intelligent, socially conscious young people I have ever met. (Yes, Dean, even the ones who occasionally use Ecstasy or N2O.) Yet Koontz writes about their fictional counterparts with real contempt, and he practically bends over backwards to convince the reader that raves are nothing more than dangerous exercises in hedonism and desperation. The genuine risk here is that, the more people believe this and cry out for the authorities to "DO SOMETHING!", the more kids will be forced to celebrate in the shadows, and the more the legitimate dangers to them that Koontz decries will be augmented. Same as it ever was, I suppose -- even when Koontz was a teenager -- but it's disappointing nonetheless to see an author whom I generally respect participating in such hazardous sensationalism. On the other hand, Koontz does redeem himself somewhat with the character of Woofer. It's no secret that the man loves dogs and writes about them well, but here he actually writes the occasional chapter from Woofer's perspective, with results that are at least as entertaining as most of the many similarly-styled pieces that tend to float around the Internet. It's just too bad that Koontz can't seem to get inside the head of a rave-goer even half as well as he can get inside the head of a dog.
Rating: Summary: Loved It! Review: I am a big Koontz fan. Tick Tock and Dragontears are the first novels I listened to by him and became hooked since. Even though it starts a little slower than most of his books, as soon as it takes off it is a wild ride.
Rating: Summary: Tick Tock Tick Tock It's Time to Buy Dragon Tears Review: This is a slow starting but eventual fast paced novel. The greatest Koontz character ever created lets you into his mind when he appears about half way through the book. That character named Woofer is a dog who gives the reader an insight into the way dogs actually think, ie being mainly obsessed with getting food. Woofer is a sensational character who although not a super intelligent dog like in other Koontz novels such as Watchers, is still the greatest character of the book. It's a shame he didn't appear a little earlier when the book hadn't yet picked up the pace. Human characters in the book are also pretty interesting such as the detectives Harry Lyon and Connie Gulliver who are complete opposites but honest hard working police officers. Bryan (known as Tick Tock by his tormented) is an evil childish man with sensational supernatural powers who enjoys practicing his lethal powers while waiting to Become. He believes he is the next God whose job is to thin out the human population with the remainders holding him in awe and fear. He targets the two detectives for his next victims but they won't die without a fight. Although starting a bit slow this book especially the second half is a sensational thriller and you really will enjoy meeting Woofer. Buy Dragon Tears just to meet him alone.
Rating: Summary: Koontz's Best Review: For the longest time I would have said that "The Bad Place" was the best that Koontz had done and then I picked up "Dragon Tears". The story starts fast and doesn't slow down. It is filled with great characters and a villian that ranks right up there with the greatest of all time. You couldn't wait to see what he would next. If your a reader that loves a good bad guy, then this is the book for you!
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