From the Corner of His Eye

Rating:
Summary: Another worthy Koontz thriller
Review: There was a time when I considered Dean Koontz and Stephen King to be the same type of horror writer, with Koontz's fare slightly more upbeat (or at least not as downbeat). Now, I see the differences more clearly. King may be the better writer, but Koontz is more consistently good. I can't say I've ever really been disappointed in a Koontz book, which is more than I can say for King.

Koontz is first and foremost a storyteller. If the characters are forgettable or the thematic elements sparse, you are nonetheless compelled to keep turning the pages. A week later, you may not recall exactly what all the characters were named, but while it is going on, you are having a blast.

While this may not qualify him for any great awards, it makes him a fun read. This book shows that he is not losing his touch. In addition to his usual plot elements, he cleverly takes a series of storylines and shows how certain apparent coincidences are not so accidental after all.

There is a bit of silliness about quantum physics that adds a supernatural element to the story, and the story wraps up too quickly to merit five stars (the final battle is a bit weak). But overall, if you like Koontz, you won't be disappointed. And if you've never read him, chances are you won't be disappointed either.

Rating:
Summary: His best one, since The Watcher!
Review: I have been a Dean Koontz fan for many years, but lately I thought he was heading too much into the supernatural. I picked up "From the Corner of His Eye" and from the first page I was hooked! It is by far one of his best stories, and the characters are so real you want to invite them for dinner (at least some of them!) I can't say enough great things about this book, and I've just ordered his next one (due out later this month).

Rating:
Summary: Koontz Soars With Best Novel In Years!
Review: For the first time in years, Koontz has put me on the edge of my seat, daring me to stop turning the pages of this book. The story is magical, mystical, and unexpected as he weaves a storyline so unique and deeply intriguing. The supernatural elements bring together many seperate story lines, and Koontz ingeniously weaves together these storylines into one connected main theme.The climax will not let you down as the answers to many mysteries that we have all been waiting for is revealed. One seems to "slide" through the novel in a pleasing and easily receptive way. A must read for anyone into fantasy, magic , thrillers and suspense.

Rating:
Summary: "Uniquely Koontz!"
Review: From The Corner Of His Eye by master storyteller Dean Koontz is a compelling read utimately dealing with good v/ evil in a sci-fi-kind've way. Koontz weaves this intriguing story in a way that ties all ends together that only he can with his own unique and interesting style. A masterful read by a masterful writer...

Rating:
Summary: Warm fuzzies trounce cold chills in overtime
Review: First off, let readers of the paperback beware: the cover text badly misdescribes the substance of the book. The boy Bartholomew is not a principal actor in the book, and doesn't even get out of infancy until it's three quarters over. The protagonist is Bartholomew's extended and ever-extending family, and the false expectations led me - and apparently quite a few other reviewers - to read the book with a nagging sense of its not having started yet, even halfway through. That could make an already long book seem to drag out longer.

That part isn't Koontz's fault. He is answerable for the oddly clipped and almost phoned-in ending, but that won't spoil the loyal fan's reading pleasure up until that point. It seems as if what he really wanted to do was write two novels - one a fairly straight thriller about the dire villain Enoch Cain and his band of opponents; and another, in the Lew Padgett tradition, about that coming race of quantum-mechanical wonder children of which Bartholomew and Angel form the advance guard. He realized his first novel was running long, so he truncated the second one into a few chapters at the end, and wound up telling it badly.

Enoch Cain is a marvellous villain, up there with Koontz's best. He is a colorful incarnation of the notion of the banality of evil, a Philistine who fancies himself refined, a sociopath whose only special power is the audacity and unpredictability he inherits from a bloated ego. He is a buffoon with bite, a sad sack out of deSade, all the more dangerous because he is bound to be underestimated. The wunderkind storyline, on the other hand, is pretty sorry stuff as science fiction; there's no indication that Mr. Koontz has the slightest real understanding of the quantum theory he bandies about.

One of Koontz's great strengths as a storyteller has always been that he is as fascinated by goodness as he is by evil. In almost all his novels, and in all the better ones, the good characters form a community, a bubble of warmth and safety that affords a pleasing narrative contrast against the cold horrors with which they are confronted. In _Corner of His Eye_, he devotes an unusual degree of space and energy to creating a larger than usual cozy space, inhabited by more than half a dozen characters. The difference between the five-star and the one-or-two star reviews of this book, I think, lies in the readers' reactions to this safety zone of heroes.

The ex-priest Vanadium, spiced up fortunately with a certain sadistic streak of his own, is too omniscient to be believable. With that exception, I think the reviewers who suggest the good guys here are too good to be true are wrong. Take a look around, and you'll find plenty of people just as saintly as this book's crew. And I for one found the crew endearing, individual, and well drawn. What you probably won't find in the real world, and what makes reading about this and other Koontz side-of-the-angels leagues an escapist treat (and for would-be sophisticates a guilty pleasure) is the way the good guys instantly recognize, trust, and bond with one another.

In summary: If you enjoy Koontz mainly for suspense, pass this one by; if you enjoy him as a practitioner of the modern morality tale, give it a fourth star and give it a whirl, but don't expect much from the ending.

Rating:
Summary: closer to 4 & 3/4 stars
Review: This book was AWESOME!! at first it seemed a little slow but as soon as things started coming together, i couldnt put i down. this is definitely one of the best casts of characters that Koontz has ever put together. the ending almost brought me to tears! overall, it was a VERY good book! HIGHLY reccomended!!

Rating:
Summary: Chucky meets the Brady Bunch
Review: You can't beat a book featuring the psychotic evildoer and the rest of the good guys. This book develops nicely for the first 600 pages but left me flat for the last. I could almost picture Dean writing, developing characters, their interactions and then suddenly startled by the realization he didn't know where this was going.
I just wonder if this was to create a sequel for Junior to return.

Rating:
Summary: In a world of suspense, Koontz stands above the rest.
Review: If you've ever read Dean Koontz, you know you're in for a treat with this one. "From The Corner of His Eye" has got to be Koontz's best since "Watchers," and considering all the good novels he's written, that's saying a lot. "Corner of His Eye" features a lot of the stuff found in "Watchers": Humor, suspense, horror, science fiction, and characters you wished you knew personally--and some you're glad they're fictional!
The novel starts in the year 1965. Junior Cain is walking with his newly wed wife through the Oregon woods, when they come upon a cavern. There are fragile wooden stairs leading down into the darkness. Junior's wife goes first. She leans over the rail to get a better view. And Junior Cain pushes her over.
So begins an asault of evil. However, Cain soon relizes that there is someone, somewhere, whom he fears. Little does he know that that person is only a child--Barty. Born under stressful and tragic circumstances, Barty is said to have the most beautiful eyes in the world. As he grows you'll learn to love him. At the same time, Junior Cain goes through life knowing Barty exists, and vowing to destroy him.
And so follows a drama-filled novel that'll have you on the edge of your seat. Laugh when Junior is tricked again and again by a clever cop, and cry when Barty's struggles are brought to life. Packed with suspense, drama, action, humor, and quantom physics, Dean Koontz's "From The Corner Of His Eye" will leave you breathless.

Rating:
Summary: Suspenseful story with an anti-climatic end
Review: I have heard so many people praising Koontz over the years, so I was really looking forward to my first book by this author.

The book took off at a really fast pace and had me completely in its grip for about two thirds of the way. The story of serial killer Junior Cain was very intense and involving. The way his life and those of the other characters were constantly bumping up against one another was very well done. The development of Junior's psychosis was well written and although dark, had quite a bit of humor in it. The character of Barty's mom, the saintly Agnes the Pie Lady was also well drawn, but I found myself constantly wondering about her life as a child, with her two brothers Edom and Jacob, a life often alluded to but never fully explained. I think that may be a whole other book.

Although the character of Barty was the other focus of the story, I found him to be a little too perfect in his acceptance of everything around him, as well as all the other 'good' characters in the book. The were just too good, despite all the pain and suffering they endured.

The book races along at a break neck pace, and bogs down quite a bit near the middle. Towards the end of the book it once again picks up, until the final denouement and rather rushed ending. The tying together of the mystical with the scientific falls a little flat, and 20 years are summed up in the last 25 pages.

Although I didn't enjoy the book as much as I wanted to, I did enjoy the way the book was written as well as the use of language.

I understand from many Koontz fans that this is not his best book, so I will give him another try.

Rating:
Summary: This is a great book!!
Review: I really liked the way the book began and ended. It kept me on the edge of my seat the whole way through. It made me think of life differently.