Rating: 
Summary: A Prequel for a Sequel
Review: It's a bad period for my favorite authors, John Grisham, Stephen King and Dean Koontz - all writing novels far below their capabilities.All I ask is a well thought through story, full of intrigue, mystery, action, maybe a little spooky stuff, with a plot line to keep the reader guessing, believable characters, and above all an ending that makes sense and doesn't wrap up in one or two chapters. All three authors have been misfiring badly lately, and it only takes a quick read of some of their early stuff to see the deterioration. This one starts off fine, with a workable concept, and then folds to a nonsensical quickie ending that screams "There's gonna be a part 2". Proctor and Parish are not realistic characters, and have no depth. I can't imagine a brilliant scientist calling his life's work "stuff", and his pathetic disjointed prattling grates on the nerves. The whole Shep - cake - ice thing gets boring after a while, but the "folding" is brilliant. The other leading characters are not as bad, and the redeeming feature of the book is the old premise of using one's powers to do good. Tune in next novel for the four superheroes folding herethere to save the world - possibly titled "The Moonlight Club" or "Proctor's Vengeance". Plotlines to consider: 1. A nano-superbaby who folds himself out of Jilly - the advent of painless childbirth.
2. The return of Lincoln Proctor, served over crushed ice, shaken not stirred.
3. A double cross by Parish Lantern
4. A war with the Suburbans
5. A German Shepherd injected with the last of the "stuff" saves everybody and they all live happily ever after in a new State where nobody knows them. On a more serious note, not his best work, but not a bad concept. It's fairly good and gripping reading until the last two chapters. Read it because you love Dean Koontz.
Rating: 
Summary: The Old Formula
Review: I have read Koontz's books and for a hile had been a little disappointed, however By the light of the Moon lives up to all my expectations of a Dean Koontz novel :) I really enjoyed the fast (which is reminent of Dark Rivers of the Heart)pace and the awesome technology (Nanobots, which make all Koontz novels just that bit more believable? who knows what will happen in the future). However the ending was very superhero-ish and made me think of Mutant X (TV Show) with all their special powers and wanting to use them for good. Koontz hasn't done very many sequels, but this has a feel of part 2 coming up. I really enjoyed the characters in this novel and how they jelled together. Koontz often writes to a loose "formula" and this fits right in to it. Man, Woman and Dog (This case autistic brother)find trouble with new technology and must keep one step ahead at all times. Shep (autistic brother) brings a lot of light humour to the novel which breaks up the intencity of the action, just at the right moments. I laughed a lot during this novel. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Just barely 5 because...
Review: I love the older books by Mr. Koontz - always good versus evil, a man, a woman and a dog taking on the evil government employee(s). In past years, I had become bored with his work, everything seemed to be the same plot, but decided to read him to see if he's cycled back to the old style. This is a good read, and I'm giving it 5 stars for that; however, the ending is disappointing and seemed too anticlimatic and a little immature - forming a club? Could this be the first in a series? I hope so. It's a great concept with very likeable characters.
Rating:
Summary: It took a while, but became the Koontz we know and love
Review: The newest series in the new and improved and enlightened Dean Koontz at first disappointed me because it took about one half of the book for the plot to come together and make us feel connected to the characters.
Nanotechnology is the latest and greatest science written by the best writers out there (the best being Prey and The Eighth Day), and Koontz puts his touch in a tale of redemption.
The novel sets itself up for a sequel of two and that will be great - now that a premise is set, let's run from the get-to, please? A definite read - just have a little more patience - this is no From the Corner of His Eye, but to me that is the tops he's done in a long time.
(where is the guy who can only get around in the dark?)what happened to those novels? Any more coming?
Rating:
Summary: As usual, reading long into the night
Review: Not sure whether to give it 4 or 5 stars, because last night I decided to read a chapter of this book to tire my eyes out a bit, and ended up reading until 4 in the morning, having got myself into the condition of being too freaked out to dare to go to sleep! What caused this reaction was the whole part involving visiting the past, and when Shep started going "we're all cold. We're all cold." I found the portrayal of Shep's autism very interesting and, having only seen Rainman and being no expert, it seemed quite believable. Koontz' last book also dealt with different disabilities and mad scientist who thought he knew what's best for the world, and the disability parts I find very interesting. If there's one thing Dean is good at it's building amazing characters. I also found the nanotechnology idea interesting, never having come across that before. I also LOVED the psychic stuff being fascinated with all that, and I don't CARE how many people have written about it, it never gets old with me. I LOVE the new spiritual aspect of his more recent books, however much I love the older stuff too. I have found the newer ones to much more influential and inspirational to my life, and this one is no different. A few criticisms though, to warrant the lack of 5th star...firstly, Dean, what is going through your head with these names? Parish Lantern? Lincoln Merriweather Proctor? Leilani Klonk? Are you feeling quite ok? Secondly, I know Koontz is often critisized for his over-usage of intelligent canines but I love them and there isn't one here. Finally, the ending of this book was, as I have found with most of his others recently, to SILLY! The Moonlight Club?? It sounds like something from Enid Blyton or something! I will say that this ending does not drag on as much as some others, and doesn't seem as rushed, just...pointless. So, getting better. I love you Dean.
Rating: 
Summary: Not my favourite. Not by a long shot.
Review: I have been a fan of Dean Koontz for a long time. Ever since I found a copy of "Watchers" in a second hand shop and bought it on a whim. I loved it straight away and couldn’t put it down. But this is not Watchers. Not by a long shot. I found myself struggling to get to the end, and when I got there I was sorely disappointed -it reminded me of X-men, in the not so good way. The story revolves around Dylan O'Connor and his autistic brother, Step. Who are staying at a motel when a crazed doctor injects them with a strange liquid. From there things only get weirder. The pair meet up with Jillian Jackson, a woman who has also been injected. That's when the strange substance kicks in, giving them all special powers. Dylan gets the urge to help people, Jillian gets strange hallucinations and Step becomes able to teleport through space and time. Together the three of them run around trying to escape from the evil government agencies that are, for some reason, trying to kill them...sounds better than it actually is. If this is your first Dean Koontz novel, I suggest you put it down and go find yourself a copy of "Watchers" or "Lightening." Something worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Dean, Dean, Where Did You Go?
Review: I love Dean's novels, with "Watchers" and "Lightning" as my all-time favs. But, this one was so juvenile I had to force myself to finish it. A good novel traps and holds your attention; a great novel puts you there with the characters - this was neither good nor great. In fact, it was downright terrible. The writing is stilted, the characters are 2-dimensional, the main characters are outright rip-offs from previous books, the plot doesn't thicken - it coagulates. Ughh - I felt like I was knee-deep and sinking. And the tone of the book was so pious, I kept waiting for references to the 700 Club to appear. I wanted to believe what was happening to the main characters could actually happen, but the whole book, from start to finish, was so implausible as to make believeing impossible. The ending was over-the-top and way too influenced by the recent influx on the big screen of comic-book characters turned SuperStars. I think Trixie actually wrote this one (sorry, Trix, but you suck); please, Mr. Koontz, make the dog step away from the typewriter!
Rating:
Summary: By the Light of the Moon
Review: One night in an Arizona motel, he-man artist Dylan O'Conner and stand-up comic Jilly Jackson are forcibly injected with "stuff" by a guy who looks like a mild-mannered doctor or salesman. The assailant tells each of them that guys in black SUVs aim to snuff him and the stuff, and they will kill Dylan and Jilly, too, so they better hit the road in 20 minutes. Since Dylan's autistic brother, Shep, goes wherever Dylan goes, it takes a little pushing, but they hit the asphalt just as Jilly's beloved Coupe de Ville--just stolen--blows up, immolating a driver whom they think is Frankenstein, as Dylan has dubbed the doctor-salesman-whatever. On the lam, Dylan and Jilly discover they have fantastic new powers. He is psychically compelled to track down evildoers, and she can make psychically powered leaps in space. And golly, Shep can leap around in space and time! Seems Frankenstein stuck him, too. Koontz's latest is mostly a chase, with all the principals, including Frankenstein (a stooge was in Jilly's Caddy) and Jilly's favorite broadcaster, a psychic who has also been injected, eventually gathering for a Mexican showdown. The only really startling thing in it is the remark, made of Dylan and Jilly's downtime chitchat about movies, "as though Hollywood-produced entertainments could possibly have serious relevance to them now." Maybe Hollywood isn't relevant to characters in a story, but this story--a real load of laffs, action, schtick, and product placement ops--isn't seriously relevant to anything else.
Rating:
Summary: Dean Koontz--By The Light of the Moon (2002)
Review: With his previous successful string of novels such as "False Memory", "From the Corner of His Eye", and "One Door Away From Heaven", Dean Koontz is writing on a high that all of his reading fans hope he never comes down from. "By the Light of the Moon" is no exception; with his gleaming and terrorizing elucidation of how the increase of technology and science can ultimately lead to our civilization's doom. Koontz has the great aptitude for knowing what truly scares people and develops complex, decipherable pieces of work that illuminate the mind and often move the soul. While staying the night at an innocent-looking motel, Dylan O'Connor and his autistic brother Step are mysteriously injected with a strange substance by a crazed, maniacal doctor. Proclaiming that introducing the weird potion is his last resort and cautioning them that they need to run for their lives from the evil, governmental men that will want to get to them; the scientist is brutally gunned down by a group of agents. Teaming with the frazzled comedian Jillian Jackson, the three set out together in a cat-and-mouse chase from the evil henchmen who want to do more than just chat. As the hunt persists, the effects of the potion kick in, causing Dylan to have an incredible urge to help people, Jillian to have horrific hallucinations, and Step to have the brilliant power that allows him to teleport himself and others throughout space and time. As the government agents get closer and closer to their prey, the trio must learn what their qualities mean, how they use them to survive, and ultimately why fate chose them as the recipients. Much faster paced compared to his two previous novels (which were both well over 600-pages in length), "By the Light of the Moon" explodes from the first page and never stops running. Koontz skillfully depicts the autistic Step in a very honest fashion; using the frustrated Dylan to portray exactly the difficulties of dealing with someone that has such a challenging psychological disorder, but also the love and triumph that comes from the way the two sacrifice for each other. With a middling conclusion that seems slightly rushed (sometimes a common theme with Koontz novels that are so well-written from the initial chapter; it appears as though any conclusion does not fit the bill), "By the Light of the Moon" is not one of his absolute bests, but will certainly thrill his fans and perhaps even draw in a few who have never read his immaculate work.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down
Review: This book was, without a doubt, one of my absolute favorites from Dean Koontz. The characters are very likeable, and the premise is one that I haven't encountered in fiction before (although I'm sure there are others out there). Given the paranoia that seems to be incorporated into everyday living, and stories of government funded research involving anything that could potentially be used in an offensive rather than defensive manner, it seems entirely plausible that nano-beings could be injected into a person who is later hunted down. Realism mixed with a hint of fantasy makes this book one of the best reads out there.
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