Lightning

Rating:
Summary: A Page Turner
Review: Lightning, by Dean Koontz, is an amazing thriller that captivates the reader. The book is very fast paced and intriguing. The characters are very realistic and do not have bland personalities. Laura, the main character, comes off as a very determined and funny woman. All the characters are lively and believable. There are a few scenes that stick out the most in the book. If you have not read the book, I advise not reading anymore or this review. When Laura is a child and is at her father's store a man comes in and robs the store. He also intends to rape Laura in the stock room but before he can do anything, Stephen, a character not known at this point, kills the robber. He then makes a believable story about how there were two robbers and they got into an argument and one shot the other and fled. The next scene that stuck out in my memory was when Laura's husband, Danny, dies. This is memorable because it is so unexpected and you expect Stephen to save them, but he cannot. The last scene that sticks out in my memory is the end of the book when Stephen and Laura become romantically involved. This adds a happy ending to the book because the reader is not sure if they will be together. I recommend this book to any person in need of a good story.

Rating:
Summary: A BOOK THAT CAN'T BE EXPRESSED WITH WORDS
Review: I always tell friends that I started reading Dean Koontz just for curiosity and that he was one of these little miracles that happens during our lives.

When I started reading his books, I discovered a world unlike any other. By this time, I did knew other famous authors, like Sidney Sheldon or Grisham and even Stephen King. And I enjoyed all of them. But when I started reading LIGHTNING, my concept of real entertainment changed from one day to the other. I suddenly knew that I was missing the best author of this world. And I'm not kidding here.

Dean knows exactly how to make you so jumpy all the time that you almost feel you are there with all the characters. And all this with very powerful phrases that, compared to the writing of the others famous authors, is a triumph. And that's what Dean Koontz works on LIGHTNING: full emotions, horror, adventure, action - mixed in the best way of writing ever: his own. If you haven't read this book, you can't imagine what you're missing. If you already read this book and is here reading this just wondering, you know what I'm talking about and certainly agrees with me. LIGHTNING is one of his best pieces, along with THE SERVANTS OF TWILIGHT and THE BAD PLACE. I can't say nothing else about him. Nothing I can say could describe Dean's writing. Believe me.

Marco Aurelio - feel free to share your toughts with me at [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Everybody Should have a Guardian Angel
Review: Violent bolts of lightning blast through the sky just before Laura Shane is born. Inside the hospital Bob Shane, Laura's father to be, is shaken, tense and at wits end because the birth is running into complications. Then a strange man appears out of nowhere at the doctor's house to stop the drunken man from attending Laura's birth, had the doctor been allowed to deliver Laura, she would have died in childbirth along with her mother. Other doctors deliver her, she lives, sadly her mother does not.

Eight years later a drug addict holds up her father's grocery story. Money isn't enough for him though, he wants to take Laura into the back room. Then all of a sudden out of nowhere a strange man is on the scene and he dispatches the junkie. Before the vanishes back to wherever he came from, he tells Laura that he is her guardian angel.

Laura next gets a fleeting glance of the stranger when her father dies and she gets some comfort knowing that he is out there, watching over her. However her faith in her guardian angel is put to the test as she runs into tragedy a plenty in the children's home she is sent to. Then years later, when she's married with a family, she can almost put him out of her memory, just a childhood fantasy. But one night lighting blasts, things are happening, someone wants to hurt Laura and now the stranger is back and nobody could ever believe, least of all Laura, what happens next.

This book is as gripping now as it was when I read it as a little girl. I completely identified with Laura. The action is tense, the intrigue is tense, the whole darn book is tense. I couldn't put it down way back than and I couldn't put it down last night, either. If you haven't read "Lightning," I suggest you do so. You won't be disappointed.

Ms. Mindy Adams

Rating:
Summary: A different point of view...
Review: There's nothing I can say in this review that hasn't been said already. Having said that, Dean Koontz has become my favorite author through the years. Lightning was the second book I read of his, but has become my all-time favorite book, period. There is something about the character of Laura Shane that seems to speak to the idea that people really can haul themselves far above their station or circumstances in life to become successful. She learned not to rely on a guardian for protection and figured out how to rely on herself. That she became a writer is not surprising- one of the single most fundamental rules to telling a good story is to write what you know.
The interrelationship between Laura and the Ackerson twins- I've had those exact relationships. It doesn't matter if anyone else finds our little jokes funny- we do, and that's all that counts. The love story is secondary, and serves mostly to explain Krieger's motivations. Those who would complain about the dialogue of a character like Chris need to understand that there are kids out there who develop an avid interest in something that goes way beyond a hobby, even as early as 8, and in doing so learn about aspects or language of their interests that the adults around them would probably have no idea about. (I used to be one of them- I know of which I speak.) Kids understand a lot more than adults ever give them credit for.
What I have loved for years about Koontz's work is that he may be 'rehashing old ideas' but somehow seems to find a new spin that maybe not many people have heard of, especially those like me that get easily lost when a sci-fi/fantasy story has no basis in reality. What makes his writing so compelling is his ability to bring utterly believable characters to life even in implausible situations.
People who have read a lot of his works will note that there is usually a happy ... ending to his stories, but the ride to getting there is always different, often scary ..., and exciting. Predictable endings? Maybe. But that's entertainment. Therein lies the escape from our real lives. Think about it-what's the point of emotionally investing in a character that is irretrievably destroyed at the end of the story or beginning of the sequel? The problem with that is that it just doesn't work, and leaves readers feeling horribly cheated. ... I want to learn for myself what the characters have figured out or resolved at the end of the story.
The bottom line? The characters created here are people I know (yes, I'm probably the biggest geek in the world, but it's okay with me. I've had a long time to get used to it.) and an intriguing plot line that I can guarantee hadn't been done before, and probably nowhere near as well since. I like a good book with extremely well-developed characters, edge of your seat nail-biting-I-can't-put-this-book-down-even-if-I-wanted-to suspense, the sense of 'what if this could really happen to someone- what would i do?' that makes me think. Dean Koontz is amazing, and this is one of his best.

Rating:
Summary: A Clever Keeper
Review: Dean Koontz has created a gripping novel that keeps the reader guessing. The story opens with the main character Laura Shane's birth, and it follows her throughout her life as she faces peril and rewards. She comes close to death several times and is saved only by a mysterious man who appears soon after lightning flashes. He vanishes from her life as suddenly as he arrives, and Laura refers to him as her "guardian angel." Laura's guardian rescues her from many of her childhood troubles, but armed men are now hunting her and her family for reasons beyond Laura's knowledge.

The story takes the reader from the isolated mountains to the heart of the city and back again as Laura discovers love, copes with loss, and understands herself further through her writing. Despite the deaths of many loved ones, compassion drives Laura on as she battles for victory against merciless killers on a mission.

Lightning is not one of Koontz's usual thrillers about unnatural creatures. It concentrates on the eventful life of one woman and places the element of time travel around her. This novel is compelling and clever, and I feel that anyone who reads it will find it worthwhile. Lightning combines time travel, shoot outs, and government conspiracies with mystery, destined love, triumph, and personal discovery to take the reader on a journey that won't soon be forgotten.

Rating:
Summary: Not Really Great....
Review: The Book was very good in the beginning and then it got boring in the middle. Most of the book was unbelievable, the dialogue was just so fake. It took me forever to read this book because it made me feel tired and I thought this was Dean's weakest book.

Rating:
Summary: An AWESOME novel
Review: What can I say about this novel that will be any different than the multitudes of other reviews. There is no doubt that this novel reigns as one his best. I don't want to repeat what already has been posted, but it's hard not to praise this book for the unique world it creates, and the pure enjoyment that comes from reading it. You will laugh, cry, and be blown away by the characters and story.

I read this twice over the years, and along with his novel "Midnight", it is my favorite; in fact, it is one of my favorite novels of all time.

Rating:
Summary: Utterly Captivating...
Review: I'm not going to sum up the book for you -giving you a synopsis that would not even come close to giving Koontz's story any justice- but I will tell you that I loved this book and the unique story it told. I don't think that there is anything like it, whether it be the basis of the story or the fact that you go through most of it not know exactly whats going on. But thats what i loved most about it. Koontz will keep you on the edge of your seat, not only with the plot and events that trill you but always with the question: What is going on?
Do not be turned off by this, for it is the books most endearing quality. And when you finally do get all the answers you will be drained, pleased and left with the thought that Dean Koontz is an amazing author.
I think from all of that, you understand that I thought this book was amazing and I hope that you pick it up to read too.

Rating:
Summary: Long Time Fan
Review: I have been a Fan of Dean Kootnz since i was in 9th grade which was about 7 or 8 years ago. The first book i read was Intensity, and I thought it was the best until, I read Lighting. Actully I am still reading it but I only have like 10 pages left. I would recommend and Kootnz Fan that hasn't read this book should read it.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing time travel story!!!
Review: "Lightning" focuses on a woman named Laura Shane. The story begins with the night that she is born. Lightning strikes and a stranger appears out of nowhere to save Laura from a fatal delivery. As time passes in Laura's life, the same stranger would always appear following a bolt of lightning to save her from tragedy. Laura would always ask herself why the man never seemed to age, where he came from, and what his motivations were for constantly saving her. She even comes to think of him as her guardian angel. But Laura would learn the true nature of her destiny, when the stranger appears on her 30th birthday, and asks for her help.

This book really impressed me. You are literally hooked from the first page, because the first thing Koontz does is make you ask the question of why the stranger wants Laura alive. The story unfolds extremely well, because you slowly learn the answer to that question over the course of the story. Not only was I constantly trying to guess the stranger's intentions, but I also found myself on the edge of my seat with the endless amount of suspense that the story brings. This is due mainly to Koontz's take on time travel. The stranger is forced to repeatedly travel through time to save Laura. However, anytime that you change a person's destiny through time travel, it can seriously affect their future. The reason that Laura's life continues to become tougher and tougher is because of the stranger's involvement in her life. It creates what is known as a paradox. No matter how honorable his intentions may be, they cause something far worse to happen. The suspense and non-stop action that follows is incredible. Koontz's overall take on time travel - how it is achieved, where it originated from, and what its ultimate purpose is, is all very interesting and it actually makes sense.

"Lightning" is a combination of a great time travel story, and an action packed chase novel. The characters are well developed, there are tons of twists and turns, and the suspense will keep you on the edge of your seat. This is definately one of Koontz's best books.