Lightning

Rating:
Summary: Telescopic, yes. Gripping, not really.
Review: My girlfriend and I have recently decided to share books that both of us enjoy. She is a proclaimed Dean Koontz fan and I decided to follow suit. When I asked which one might be a good one to get me hooked, she suggested, "Lightning."

This book grabbed me at first, I was interested in the protagonist from the outset. However, the first third of the book afterwards seemed ridiculous. The speech of the main character, Laura, (at age 8) and some of her roommates at the orphanage is not indicative of how children speak. Exceptional children...maybe one or two. Three as roommates...highly unlikely. With the way the twins spoke, I could have mistaken them for businesswomen discussing their stock portfolios. Afterwards, the child Chris is born. I felt similarly for his character, that a normal eight-year-old would not speak this way (a superior one maybe, but to be almost completely immune from childhood misunderstandings? Unlikely!)

Determined to finish it, I persisted on. The book is telescopic (which is a feature I like). You begin to understand more of the situations surrounding the story. The talk of time travel and paradox is masterfully executed. The elements of foreshadowing are also well in place. However, neither the jacket nor the title implicate time travel. If this is a subject area that interests you, you not only have to wait on peer recommendation, but also plod through the first half of the book.

So four stars for content (the second half was really excellent), two stars for dialogue that seems very unrealistic of the characters portrayed, yielding an average of three. Will I read Dean again? Let's just say this book has indicated that he is worth another try, provided there are no books I am very eager to read at that point in time.

Rating:
Summary: The Koontz Method
Review: This was a good book, but the protagonists in Kootz's stories always bother me for reasons I can't quite explain. They get to be very corny, and somehow they all seem the same after a while. Howerever, I don't really read his books for character exploration anyway. I read his books because they all use a similiar method which is so simple and yet so captivating of the reader's attention. At the core of each Koontz book lies a bizarre and often supernatural revelation. The stories all travel an oblique route to arrive at this revelation, carefully dishing out tid-bits of information here and there, supplying early mysterious scenes that beg for explanation, and following characters who are progressively drawn away from normal lives and into surreal realms that test their basic assumptions. All of the books of his which I have read have followed this pattern, and the strength and weakness of each story rests on it. If a book fails it is either because the revelation didn't live up to all the set-up and suspense (as in Phantoms), or because the book didn't handle the method itself properly (as in Tick Tock. I was barely into the story when the villian started stopping time. I put the book down right there. When you START with the villian being able to stop time, where do you go from there?) On the other hand, when the method is handled properly and the revelation is worth the effort to reach, Koontz's books can be very entertaining although superficial. Lightning is such a book. The truth about Krieger is revealed slowly and subtly, making the story very compelling. Laura Shane's troubled life story is somewhat touching through out the first half of the book, but I doubt that has enough dramatic impact to have been able to stand on it's own without all the time traveling that supplements it, even though Kootz has obviously gone to great lengths to try to jerk the audience's tears.

Rating:
Summary: His best work
Review: This was the second Dean Koontz book I read after mindnight, almost 10 years ago, and I still can remeber how much it effected me. This is by far his best book, and I have read every single book he has written. The story of time travel, and how one single minute can change our entire future was cleverly written. I admit there were some problems with the time travel explantation, but they weren't bad enough to ruin the book.

Rating:
Summary: Lightning Strikes Down
Review: After Intensity, and Dragon Tears once again, I was amazed by Dean Koontz' ability to write. He has the ability to incorporate several super exceptional story lines into one great book. He adds wicked twist and turns without the confusions of tying together two story lines. Koontz has a way of developing realistic characters that you could possibly relate to or develop sympathetic feelings for. However, in this particular work he gives a supernatural time travelling power to a few of the characters. He gives so much reality and authenticity to the other few characters that when he does throw in a twist of sci-fi, it balances out to a nice equilibrium. The whole story was really told well. Koontz gives the story a sense of completeness. The whole story basically is travel through time with the main character Laura Shane from birth to young adulthood. Many people are put through some odd twists by a stranger, or Laura's guardian angel who turns out to be the time traveler. He ultimately saves the main character Laura Shane many times. The supernatural experience is fun. It also adds action to the story. In the begging of the story the reader is left thinking, "Why does the stranger want to keep Laura alive so bad?" then finally the question is answered. This book is extremely well written and should be read by every thrill seeker. Each reader may have a different theme that could fit with this story. When reading this book so many meanings can be pulled out of it. Everyone has a special purpose just as Laura Shane had. In a way I think it saying that each person has a place in this world from birth until death and a reason for being born.

Rating:
Summary: Better than S. K.
Review: Excellent book. It has all the best elements of a good mystery and science fiction - my two favorites. I certainly would not have filed it under "Horror".

The mystery builds throughout the book - other reviewers have described it in enough detail, and it's hard to discuss the science-fiction aspect of the book without spoiling it. Let's just say that the story is thoroughly worked out and all "paradoxes" are resolved cleanly.

The book is a page-turner and I'm sorry there won't be a sequel as it is all wrapped up neatly - no pesky lingering questions.

I agree with many of the reviews which stated that this would make a great movie. It's a lot like a good Steven King novel without the ridiculous ending (no clowns, no spiders, etc.).

Rating:
Summary: class assignment
Review: I just read the book Lightening by Dean R Koontz. This book was very long, but there was not one boring moment throughout the book. This book is about following the life of a young girl, named Laura, and how her gurdian angel saves her life sevral times throughout the book. Except it turns out he is not her guradian angel, but a time traveler sent to help her. Throughout the book they are chased by hit men also sent from the past trying to kill the man, named Stephen, because they are scared he will reveal secrets about time travel and their aspirations of winning world war II. This book was extremely well written. There were several climaxes instead of just one, the characters were beleivable, the plot was intense and the book was mostly fast reading. "A chill pierced her, freezing her heart, numbing her hands. She dropped the book and raced into the hallway, startling the girls." "When was the fire?" this was one of the very intense parts of the book. She just found out that there was a fire in her old boarding school, and she is wondering if her two best friends in the whole world were killed in it. The thing is going back to that school means she would have to see the man who killed her step mom and tried to rape her. The down sides to this book were that there were lots of slow parts which were necessary to set up the climaxes. It was also hard to keep track of all the characters, because it follows her whole life. All in all this book was great. I might even go as far to say that it was the best book I have ever read. It is long, but it is so hard to put down. I finished it in two days. This book should be read by everyone. If you like thrillers this is the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: Battling the Storm
Review: On a night which tore at the ravenous skies, the new Laura Shane is to be born of her parents, Laura and Bob Shane. The labor is troublesome and the effort to save her mother fails. The young Laura is safe and healthy, and still has a father who loves her more than all the world. We are also made aware of her guardian Stephan, and his enemy, Kokoshka, who despises Laura and Stephen alike. This enemy's purpose is to find out why Laura is so important, and kill them both. We are then introduced to different stages in Laura's life. When she is about seven, she and her father face death in their Californian market, and she lives with Stephan's help. Her father however, isn't so lucky as to escape death. She is sent from home to home along the way and faces many deaths of those she grew to let herself love. She gets herself through school and becomes an author. Laura and her husband, Danny also have one baby boy, and name him Christopher. Yet now that everything is perfect, or at least normal, she and her family face a horrible death. Their only hope is Stephan's attempt to save their lives, but will he succeed? This was an excellent piece of literature, as it was never boring. It depicts the reality of how a child experiences death, and can over come abuse. This selection inspired me to read, and kept me interested through out the book. It is my recommendation to anyone who enjoys a good book to discover "Lightning" as well as other selections by Dean R. Koontz.

Rating:
Summary: Koontz at his Best
Review: This is the best novel from Dean Koontz, and he has written so many. Most range from fair to good, but many are boring, silly and juvenile. If you pick this novel to read first, you will probably be let down by most of his other work. But definitely give him a chance with this one, even if you've hated his others. 'Lightning' is very good and worth a read (or two or three, in my case).

The story's shining light is the main character of Laura Shane. We start out with her birth, follow her through her terrible childhood, and finish with her adult years. She is a thoroughly drawn character, from start to finish, and you won't regret spending time getting so into her life. A mysterious "guardian angel" shows up at all important points in her path, and the reasons behind this soon become clear.

The plot has many twists and turns, dark moments, sadness and joy. All of the characters are written so well, from Laura's beloved father, to her husband Danny and son Chris, to her hilarious best friend Thelma, to the mysterious stranger, that we just end up loving them all. The action is tight and involving, the poignant moments of girlhood and life-long friendship and love are touching and the ending is satisfying.

Koontz has not done anything before or since as well as he does 'Lightning'. A completely entertaining and exciting read, you won't want to put it down until you're done. And then you are left wanting more. If all his books were this good, he'd be my favorite author. Unfortunately, his other novels pale in comparison. Try this and enjoy it. There's not much more like it in his collection.

Rating:
Summary: Lightning is one of my favorite Koontz novels to date!
Review: After a friend handed me Koontz's novel, Lightning, I simply couldn't put it down. It kept me in suspense throughout. It is definitely as 'keeper' as I will continue to pick this novel up again for numerous read overs. I think Koontz should adapt this one to a movie in the near future!

Rating:
Summary: Be careful of Koontz...
Review: Upon discovering the author Dean Koontz, an initial reaction for many people is, "Wow, he's written a ton of books!"

That he has. It is also very noteworthy to mention that he has written a ton of trash. I've read perhaps 30 novels by this man, and can count of one hand how many of them I consider to be worth the paper they were printed on. Why do I keep reading? Great beach novels, I suppose.

Lightning is an example of the glory Koontz is capable of. This book displays the strongest character development and best love story he ever produced. There are certainly times were it drags; I'm of the opinion there's always about 30 to 50 pages of a good Koontz novel that could be removed, but the book as a whole is a great read.

Lightning is second only to Watchers. I'm also fond of Servants of Twilight, Twilight Eyes and Darkfall. Second tier Koontz books are Shadowfires, The Bad Place, Dark Rivers of the Heart and Strangers. Every other Koontz book ranges from insipid to sickeningly bad.