Strange Highways

Rating:
Summary: Dean Koontz does it again.
Review: Loved this book. I have read a lot of Koontz and this was a great read. I loved "Chase" and "Miss Atilla the Hun" and "Trapped" gave me the willies. Buy this book, if your a Koontz fan, as a matter of fact, buy it if you aren't a Koontz fan.

Rating:
Summary: So strange, it shouldn't have been written.
Review: Sadly, James Spader's voice couldn't save "Strange Highways." The story is a good idea that just went wrong and the writing isn't that good either. The similes are cliché-ish, and bits of vocabulary are dropped into the story which just don't fit. The protagonist is so slow on the up-take, when faced with repeated evidence of supernatural experiences, that he should've been killed just to end his rampant stupidity.

Rating:
Summary: Short Stories
Review: Strange Highways is an immense doorstopper sized collection of short stories by one of the greatest writers of all time. Some of these stories have appeared in other compilation thriller author short story novels so you may have read them before. Most of these were written at least thrity years ago. Like any collection of stories the quality varies across the range as well as the subject matter. Science fiction fans are catered for well here with aliens, genetic engineering gone wrong, an alternative dimensions. Twilight of the Dawn contrasts what the emptiness of life is like without anything to believe in. Fans of serial killers are catered for with Chase although you are likely to have already read this one as a stand alone novel either under the pseudonym K.R. Dwyer or Koontz's own name. The other lengthy story is the title track, Strange Highways. Not one of my favourites but you may like it. My favourites and ones I would rate five stars are The Black Pumpkin, Miss Attila the Hun, Trapped, Kittens (his first ever published work) and Twilight of the Dawn.

There is also a commentary by Koontz on how publishers do not encourage short story writing and how hard it is for them to be published which is quite interesting.

Whilst not the masterpieces that some of his novels like Mr Murder, Watchers, Intensity, Night Chills and some others are the stories in here are still a great and satisfying read.


Rating:
Summary: Excellent and Addictive!
Review: Strange Highways the story brought me into another world...very facinating, just the fact that an individual in life would be given a second chance at being young and reliving a night of his past to change his life forever.....I was very drawn into that, the ending was very emmotional for me. I also found the shorter stories like Hardshell, fun to read, like watching a movie.

Rating:
Summary: "Twilight of the Dawn" a gem
Review: The entire book was wonderful, but by far "Twiliht of teh Dawn" was the most enlightening. One has to admire the lead character, if only becaus eof his stouch belief in teh absence of God, despite all his hardships. Let's hope we can all have a faith like his. The other novellas were excellent, too. If we're lucky, Dean Koontz will do another collection sometime soon.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good Collection by a Sometimes Great Writer
Review: There are some excellent pieces in this work, and some poor ones. With the help of the fact that the three longest works are excellent, though, more pages are spent in enjoyment than in disdain. "Strange Highways," the tittle work (and the length of a short novel) was very well done piece; it creeped me out toward the end, and was well written with a great plot. The same is true for the last piece, "Chase." "Trapped," is a 50 page work, that is well written and well worth reading even if a bit silly and sci-fi cliched."Kittens" was short, but extremely disturbing. These are among the best of the highlights, but there is more worth reading. There are a few that you wish Koontz didn't write, or at least didn't collect, but that's true of most all anthologies.

Rating:
Summary: The Beginning
Review: These are short stories from his college days and even before of just writing things he thought about. Things that were around him that maybe caused one to question about the possibilities of this or that. So true to life and 'What Ifs', which I drive my friends and family crazy with mine. If a person is a reader of Dean Koontz, then watching many movies has taught you from reading his books how to look for things and be observant more than others. This one of his originals I have when he finally put on market. I told my sons, if they want to hear something scary, I'd read them something!!! They knew what I meant, and being 15 and 18, they're not ready for the reality of his books. Hopefully one day they will be.

Rating:
Summary: The best Short stories I have read in a long while.
Review: This book contains wonderful, suspenseful short stories. With unexpected endings and even more unexpected charachters. A handfull of stories range from exciting and heart-pounding to funny and amusing. Dean Koontz is a wonderful author.

Rating:
Summary: DK at his best
Review: This collection of 14 stories including 2 novellas absorbed me from the beginning. All have a certain measure of suspense. Some genuine surprise endings occur particularly in "Hardshell". Paticular standouts are "Kittens", "Down in the Darkness", "Strange Highways", "Chase", and "The Twilight of the Dawn".

Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: This collection of Koontz short stories will blow you away. They are jsut fantastic my favorite one was Chase. Don't skip this one buy it now!