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Sole Survivor

Sole Survivor

List Price: $7.99
Your Price: $7.19
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great
Review: This was a great book to read. I've only read a few of Koontz's books and I have found them all to be very good, this one included.
The story basically involves a man who loses his wife and two children aboard a plane crash. A year later he believes his family may be alive because he has discovered there is someone who actually had survived but is hiding from everyone.
Most of the novel deals with Joe, the main character trying to find this women who is hiding and hoping his family is alive. At the very end you find out all the questions which are asked throughout the novel.
Overall this was a great read. In my opinion, I would have liked to have seen the ending dealt with in more depth possibly in the middle of the novel. I also felt the last few pages seemed kind of rushed. But over all this was a wonderful book.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: gripping and uplifting
Review: I bought this book on Saturday night and could not put it down. Dean Koontz is one of the few authors I have met that can tell a fast-paced suspense story without sacrificing characterization. Joe is a character that elicits genuine sympathy from the reader and his search for the truth is the primary engine behind this book-even if you ignore the philosophical message. On that note, I was pleased that Koontz did not present this view as an absolute; it is simply a strong possibility and leaves the reader with much to think about.
My only real problem was how rushed the plot twist towards the end felt. Koontz spent the majority of the book describing the suspenseful, conspiracy portion of the story-to great avail-but less time on the underlying source of eveything. This leaves you with a somewhat incomplete ending, for we do not know what becomes of the monstrous 89-58 or Project 99. I constast this with Cold Fire, in which I felt the plot twist was developed and pursued to a conclusion
Overall, this is a very thoughtprovoking book with enough suspense, philosophy, and character presentation to keep any avid Koontz reader-or newcommer-interested.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Much Better Dean Koontz
Review: Sole Survivor is great fun. A pick you up & slam you back down thriller that doesn't let go. Mr. Koontz steps out of the safety of his usual formula and lets loose in this. I have been disappointed far too many times by some of his recent work and this novel was a joyful surprise. But let's quickly set the record straight. I've seen Dean Koontz's books described as horror far too many times. He has never written a horror book in his life. Suspense thrillers yes, and damn good ones like this. But only if you've just graduated from the Little House on The Prairie series could you classify Koontz's work as horror.

Buy this book right now. You'll be very happy you did.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: My first impression of Dean Koontz
Review: I am an avid Stuart Woods reader, but sadly I have run out of his books! Many friends have suggested reading Dean Koontz. From the comments they have made, he seemed to be the kind of author I would like. I have purchased several books that sound interesting and that I assume I will like. This book was the first that I have read out of those books. I hope that I was not led astray by my friends and I hope that this book is not a vision of what his other books will be like.

When I first started reading this book, I thought it was going to be great. I was really intrigued after the first few chapters, when Joe was trying to deal with the loss of his family, who died in a tradgic plane crash. It has been a year since the accident, and he cannot quite cope with his loss. Who could deal with this when you entire family is lost and world turned upside down? I believe the events of 9-11 made this more heart felt.

Then things started to go down hill. Families of other victims in the story started killing themselves, and a mysterious doctor seemed to be responsible. Joe starts to research this woman and discovers that she was the sole survivor from the crash. When visiting the crah site, he discovers that she was not the sole survivor, however, but that she did escape with a young child, Nina...which happens to be the name of his daughter.

Through the rest of his book, Joe is strung along, believing that he is helping this doctor woman who is hiding his long lost daughter and he will soon be reunited with her.

...
Perhaps the ending was my biggest disappointment of this book yet...I thought this ending [was bad]!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: From a Dean Koontz Fan - This is worst of his work
Review: I have read many Dean Koontz books...and this one is certainly the least enjoyed. The book started out good...in fact it was interesting for the first 1/2 to ALMOST 2/3rds...but I grew tired of the story line. The ending was confusing...and the plot and presentation...simply did not seem typical of Dean Koontz. If you want to start reading Dean Koontz...please do not read this one... If I had read this one first...I probably would never read anything more from Dean. This book was tough to get through....And I read about 50 books a year. Feel free to send me an email to respond to comment if you would like. I just didn't understand who the girl was at the end of the book-named Nina...but it wasn't his Nina.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Fly Me to the Twilight Zone
Review: Passable Koontz, but he's written better.

Koontz's less impressive efforts fall short because his explanations for whatever bizarre phenomena are occurring in his stories are unconvincing or forced, and such is the case here. I won't spoil it, because Sole Survivor is still worth a read, after you've gone through Koontz's better books and are still hungry for more.

What's good: as always, the characters. Koontz's protagonist characters are always sympathetic, and his psychopaths the most credible in literature. The action is steady, but gets off to a slow start.

What's not so good: the slow start, for one thing. Too much time is spent discussing the searching behavior syndrome of survivors, which is interesting but goes on too long. And the explanation for what's behind the bizarre phenomena driving the story is one of Koontz's weaker attempts. He's done better at the same kind of thing in previous books - which I won't list, because I don't want to give anything away.

Still, a good read. It doesn't disappoint. The miniseries was pretty good, too.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Interesting, but quite preachy
Review: I liked the book and thought the storyline was very intriguing. His descriptions tended to get long-winded, but i was very curious to see how everything tied together. However, instead of having a unique, crafty, ending, he ended up preaching to me a sermon on New Age. This isn't consistent with my world view, so at that point I felt cheated out of a good ending. I wanted something original, not a typical opinion about what happens after death.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Careful! In my review I spoil the ending
Review: This book is not perfect, because sometimes it does tend to be a little redundant, and to describe superfluous stuff while the dialogue is running. An other thing: it gives away revelations too slowly, sometimes, like a stripper being overlong in doing her job. And, always about rythm, I found Mr Koontz could take more care about Joe's emotional reaction after the suicide house, just to keep everything more glued together.
Anyway, I loved this book. It's great and, after depicting a generally decaying, crazy world, it gives a beautiful message of hope and light at the very end. I certainly didn't find the book "too short" ("too long", just in case...)
It's about acceptance, accepting ourselves, accepting the death, but more...
It's about revelation, revelation of what everything is and why..
It's about, ultimately, opening our hearts to something bigger than our rationality. The end reminded me a lot of Dante's "Paradiso", the moment when Dante asks if he can take a look at God Himself, and Mary lets him. Dante writes that he could see God for an istant, and that that was a sense of completeness, of total harmony. But, he says, he can only describe what's left of his "sense" of having seen God, just like when you awake from a dream, you can't remember what you were dreaming, but you can remember the feeling it gave you.
Let's have hope, Mr. Koontz, like you suggest, since I see this world has gone real mad. And let's hope your uncle's values won't ever be lost.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A very well written thriller
Review: After reading Dean Koontz's novel, Sole Survivor, the impression and impact of Koontz's style and writing standards remain the best. This story portrays a man of anguish and grief. Joe, the main character, is a man troubled by the loss of his family, whom were lost one year prior to the day of the story. Curiosity and interest drive Joe to find the real story behind the plane crash, which claimed the lives of his wife and two daughters. Many unexpected turn of events, such as unexpected suicides and very peculiar events, create a sense of interest and conjecture. The book reaches out and grabs the reader, creating a visualization making the reader feel as though they are almost part of the events of the novel. While continuing through the book, the events and characters only seem to become more and more life-like. I feel as though this book is very good if you're looking for a thriller, attention loss is at a minimum and utmost enjoyment is achieved.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Worst Koontz book ever!
Review: I listen to the audiotape of this book and was boring as the drive I was making (between Ely Nevada and Salt Lake City Utah). Dean Koontz is my favorite author but this is his worst book. The ending is very depressing.


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