Sole Survivor

Rating:
Summary: A QUICK READ
Review: AS I FAN OF KOONTZ I LOOKED FORWARD TO READING SOUL SURVIVOR. IT BEGAN SLOW BUT SOON I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN. I USUALLY TRY TO PACE MYSELF AND HAVE A GOOD NOVEL LAST A WEEK OR TWO. I FINISHED THIS BOOK IN 3 DAYS. AS ALWAYS WITH KOONTZ I FOUND THE ENDING A BIT ABRUPT, BUT OVERALL I LOVED IT.

Rating:
Summary: Suspensful, heartrenching ... one of Koontz's best.
Review: It was a breathtaking, wonderfully supsensful novel. From the very first page, I was unable to put it down. I was always wondering what was going to happen to Joe Carpenter, if he was going to survive, how he was going to hold up. When I thought about the love he lost, and whenever he talked or thought about his beloved wife and girls, it nearly brought me to tears. The end of the novel really did bring me to tears. Although Nina would never be HIS Nina, she was still a wonderful, bright fire in his life, and he loved her ... he needed her. It was a fantasy/suspense novel rolled up into one. Koontz loves to use supernatural ideas in his writings, sometimes just a hint, others full blown beliefs. This was one of his best supernatural novels. Although I sometimes had sleepless nights, wondering and wanting, I never regret picking it up, because I could never put it down!

Rating:
Summary: had to finish the day i started it!
Review: i put this in the shopping cart at the grocery store as an afterthought. i started reading it at about 10pm and finished at 2am--could not put it down. i find stories about life after death fascinating and i thought his theories were believeable. i didn't think joe's emotional state was over-described--i think people don't understand how compeltely overwhelming those kinds of feelings are. that *was* joe's experience. you are so drawn into his life that you experience the same catharsis he does at the end of the book when he opens his heart to nina. i was sorry i read this at night in a creaky house--scared the cr** out of me. an interesting combination of uplifting life-after-death theories and nightmarish (but somewhat hokey) "test-tube-created super-ESP kids.". by the way, i started AIRFRAME but couldn't finish it. i thought this was a much more interesting airplane crash story because of its spiritual, rather than clinical, approach.

Rating:
Summary: A good, fast read
Review: I am quite disappointed. Not in the novel that the master of suspense and horror Dean Koontz has dished out but in the bunches of people that seem happy to trash it. I liked this book. I thought that he captured wonderfully the sense of loss felt by the main character. I was moved by his rendering of the conflicting feelings inside of Joe Carpenter. I wish that there had been more interaction with the Rose character but other than that I enjoyed this book very much.

Rating:
Summary: he's done it again!!!
Review: It seems thta Dean wanted to get into more of the emotion of his main character with this one. A little to much talk about Carpenter's anger but we had the idea. Overall one of his best. Much better than Tick-Tock. I am looking forward to something else with the Mr. Murder excitement.

Rating:
Summary: Dean its OK, but not your best.
Review: Having read all but 2 of Deans books I am a little disappointed with this effort. Of course I have come to expect much from Dean. Even so it was better than many other authors best efforts. Dean, we have a big need to get more of your very interesting mind set, but you need a different slant, he chuffled as he typed, you know what I mean?! Of course, if you had a www site and asked for ideas to transform into tomes, we could all help. Keep on working we love and need your creativity, impeccable style, and your product. Best Regards, Phil.

Rating:
Summary: great job, Dean
Review: Believe me, Sole Survivor is the most suspensful and heart-quickening thing i have ever read in my entire life! i could not get anything done until i finished this book. i felt like being thrown into a dark and bottomless world, in which i tried desperately to find a way out, almost fell into despair until the end of the novel. The spellbinding story had haunted me for weeks! i love Joe Carpenter and Nina, i think they are just so cool.i hope Mr.Koontz would have a different ending though, b/c the original ending doesn't have a strong emotional appeal to me. i really like Dean's writing style. Although i think some parts ( espeacially some descriptions of the settings, and Joe's despondency) are overdone and redundant(Joe's feeling of losing his family are repeated over and over and over), the overall affect of his writing is riveting and spetacular. Dean's language is lucid and polished, easy to follow. therefore, as a esl speaker, i find his books easier, and more enjoyble to read than those by other authors. This is probably why his books have won readers worldwide.i love you, Dean!!!

Rating:
Summary: Really disappointed in Dean Koontz
Review: This whole book was a disappointment from beginning to end. You hope the story goes in one direction and then it veers off in the opposite direction. The characters are really one dimensional and really don't develop through out the story. I really feel Dean Koontz just wrote this book to just put it out. It doesn't seem to be thought out and seems to be incomplete. I really feel after Intensity he really has let his writing suffer. I enjoyed Tick-tock but it to didn't measure up to the real Dean Koontz. Maybe he should take a break from writing and come up with better ideas and get back into his old groove because if he continues to put out books like this I garauntee he will lose his fans even his loyal ones like me. I am really disappointed in him this time around....

Rating:
Summary: boring
Review: These are comments of the 12-hour unabridged audio. I would have preferred an abridged version so that I would not have had to hear over and over and over again how much Joe misses his family and his daughters, especially Nina, over and over and over again. The reader, David Birney was overly dramatic in relating Tom's grief, which of course he had to repeat over and over and over again since he was reading what Koontz had written

Rating:
Summary: Life, the Universe and Carpenter
Review: What a letdown. And I thought Dark Rivers was bad. Firstly, there was way too much philosophical metaphysical rambling, and even the main character's name (Joseph Carpenter = Jesus Christ the carpenter) was tied into it. The "is there a god" question was beaten to death in this book. Secondly, the psychic children bit was straight out of Firestarter, and Mr. King must be delighted that his version was so much better. Finally, where's the resolution? Rose dies, the little boy remains locked up, tortured and torturing, and Joe still hasn't found peace of mind. BTW, a "hero" who's this violent is a dangerous person, and I think Nina should take him to see a good therapist. Everyone who read this book survived it, fortunately, but Mr. Koontz's reputation may not be so lucky