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Summary: One of his classics!
Review: I first read this book when I was about 14 years old and it was a magical experience for me.The plot and pacing in this book are incredible. the whole involvment of Nazi's and time travel just blew my mind. i have read almost all of Koontz's books but this one tops the list.
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Summary: Lightning
Review: I read this book several years ago and at the time it was my favorite book. I am buying it for a friend and started reading it again and it is still my favorite book. I think Koontz did his best early (lightning, twilight eyes, etc...) his later stuff I am not a big fan of. If you read and liked Timeline you will LOVE lightning. Not as many holes as Timeline.
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Summary: Hard time believing this is Koontz' work
Review: The basic idea behind the story is good. But I thought it was a bit too hard to follow. At times, I felt like reading this book was pulling teeth without anesthesia. It was also a little bit too long. I kept waiting for a plot to unravel quickly, like most of his other books, but it took too long. In conclusion, I have a hard time believing that the author who wrote such great pieces of work as "Phantoms" and "The Vision" also wrote this. But i guess we all have our bad days.
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Summary: Lightning
Review: This has been my favorite book I have ever read. It was my first Dean Koontz and it made me want to read all of his novels. If a reader wanted to experience Koontz, they need to read this novel first. I just want everyone to know that this is a great novel and it shows his talent as a writer.
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Summary: I read it in 1990. I STILL love it!
Review: Lightning was my first Koontz experience. I'd never read anything remotely like it. Suspense, science-fiction, drama with a touch of romance. I thought Koontz was a genius and my opinion of him has just gotten better over the years.Who among us wouldn't like to have a guardian angel who protects us and loves us? I fell in love with Stefan. And Laura has the strength of character all of Koontz's heroines seem to possess. That's another reason I love his books, they're so life-affirming for women. You simply feel good about yourself after devouring one of his novels. Of course that isn't to say that a male reader won't feel just as good!
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Summary: The Best of Koontz
Review: Which isn't saying much, I'm afraid. When I first got into reading Stephen King, oh so many years ago, once I got through his cannon of books (which wasn't the 10 year non-stop-reading prospect it is now), I was anxious to find another horror novelist with a large number of titles I could delve into. And I didn't have to look far, there was Dean Koontz sitting right next to King on the bookshelf! So I grabbed this one, it was the latest Koontz novel out at the time, and I was one happy camper. I read this book and thought "Woo hoo! Another great writer with 20 books out I can tear through!". Unfortunately, after sampling quite a few other Koontz works, I can say this is definitely his best, as the others were some of the worst books I've ever read. Thank God I choose Lightning first, as I probably never would in a million years have given it a chance after reading his other trash. Lightning very much reminds me of King's dabbles in the SF genre. Its science is very vague, and the book is less sci-fi than a tight, taut thriller with a historical bent. In it, a woman is saved at various potentially lethal points in her life by what she comes to believe is her guardian angel. The truth is much more interesting, and something that I refuse to reveal here for fear of ruining the story. Suffice it to say that it's a terrific premise, and it continually baffles me that nobody in Hollywood has taken up the gauntlet to put it on film, as the whole tale cries to be adapted to the silver screen. Unfortunately, it is painfully apparent that Koontz has nowhere near the grasp on his characters that makes Stephen King such a joy to read. All the players in the story come off painfully flat, which makes it pretty hard to cheer or hiss them as they make their way through the serpentine plot. The author has the same problem as many horror writers, that being a strangely juvenille writing style accompanied by a heavy hand when it comes to narrative structure. Koontz is one of those writers who seem to have had their sense of irony surgically removed. But that great story! Luckily, it's enough to keep Koontz's heavy-handedness from ruining such a great book. Not so lucky are his other works, like Twilight Eyes, Watchers, Phantoms, The Servants of Twilight, The Vision, The Mask, and many more plodding monsters of boredom. But don't let that stop you from delving into this apparent abboration. A great read, from a flawed writer.
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Summary: Fantasic
Review: Lighting, kept me going. I never know which way it was going to turn next. I loved the way the main (female) charter was developed. How she grew and role she took on. The hero was well placed and on the spot, but kept you on edge wondering if he'd get their on time. I've re-read it twice to date and loaned my copy out several times. The book is a thriller to the end.
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Summary: Some good elements but ultimately disappointing
Review: There are a some good things about Koontz's "Lightning", including an engaging and likeable heroine and confident, pacy narrative. Ultimately, however, the rich tapestry of Laura Shane's life disintegrates into a climax that is more reminiscent of slam bang action cliches than the thinking man's sci-fi it aspires to be. Among the problems, the most interesting bad guy, nicely sinister, darkly interesting, is disposed of before really wreaking much havoc, paving the way for other bad guys that have little definition and are rather predictable and backward when compared to the extraordinary initiative displayed by the heroes. Like a movie action thriller which starts with an interesting premise, in this case, time traveling heroes and villains, then descends into car chases and shootouts. I was not convinced by some of the dialogue either, particularly between the children, which sounded more like Dickensian chronicling than children's usual unforced honesty. Calling the children intellectual or unusually intelligent is not an excuse; they are still, ultimately, children. The time travel phenomenon was satisfyingly ludicrous of course. The mistake some people make is to take the whole thing too seriously, tripping over their own excesses and missing obvious dilemmas. Fortunately, I detect Koontz's tongue firmly planted in his cheek while developing his own theories, so we are not distracted by its intricacies, rather being content to let the shortcomings slide. Also on the positive side, Laura is, at least for three fourths of the book a captivating woman who has survived on smarts and her unshakable faith in positive thinking. Overall, while I will admit to finishing the book in only a few hours, and never found myself bored, my overall feeling is that it could have been great, but instead was simply good with a throwaway conclusion.
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Summary: FLASH! A Review of "Lightning."
Review: Lightning is, without a doubt, my favorite book by Koontz. The whole concept of time travel has always fascinated me. Koontz really brings a fresh look at time travel to the reader. The main characters are wonderful. Laura - As you "see" her grow up throughout the book, you begin to feel that you know her as the girl next door. You are able to see your own frustrations and feelings in her. Stefan - He is doing what everyone wishes they could. Trying to find, and protect, that one true love by doing anything he can within his power. His sincerity will no doubt mirror your own. This book is a work of art. It would be worth your while, even if you are not a big fan of science fiction novels.
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Summary: The Dark Half
Review: This book started out as an unbelievable, cryptic recounting of a wayfarer-like time traveller destined to protect a wonder-child. The first 125 pages were wonderful and engrossing, but soon after Koontz blunders badly. He takes a very unique character in Laura and waters her down by having her married and turning herself into a world-famous, rich author, which kills the book. The most compelling aspect about Laura was her fierce devotion to her father's ways; that is, she was a sole survivor, not an award winning author. I don't know why Koontz did this. He happily marries her off and then gives her an utterly annoying nitwit kid who talks like he's an omnipotent soldier from another dimension. Add to that Laura's friend Thelma, and you have the recipe for something TRULY annoying. The exchanged repartee of these two characters is not only aggravating, but unrealistic. They're in the midst of being hunted down by nefarious time travellers and all they can resort to are wisecracks? Please! I spend the second half of the book wishing Thelma dead because she so grated my nerves (along with the kid). If you consider Stephan's interchange with Hitler and Mussolini, it's obvious that a promising book has taken a long, meaningless detour.
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