Lightning

Rating:
Summary: THE best Koontz book ever (until now)
Review: This is, as stated many times here, definitely the best Dean Koontz there is - and I've read them all!

The story takes you from the past to the future; it twists, turns, makes you shiver and touches you. Sounds like a lot of blabla, but I do not want to give anything away. Let's just say that the theme is : whoever tries to change the course of history will find that the world tries to go back to the fate that was decided for you in the first place. But imagine that you could go back, and change important world events....what if? Also, the love described in the book between Danny and Laura is amazing. Not in the sexual sense, though; it describes two true soulmates. I have read it at least 10 times... Great book. Do not hesitate: buy this!

Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: Imagine having an admirer. Pretty easy...now imagine having an admirer from another time who magically appears at the times when you need him most!

This Koontz book is a wild speed ride with a mind boggling plot and a killer ending! This book is quite different, but nonetheless a GREAT Koontz read.

Rating:
Summary: One of Koontz's best...A twist of the story will draw you in
Review: This is one of my favorite Dean Koontz novel. I was immediately drawn in the story from the very beginning. From the little girl who finds her self in very bad situations to the "guardian angel" who always saves her in the nick of time. As she grows older, you find out more about how she thinks and who her guardian angel is. I was quite suprized and really give Koontz a thumbs up on how he changes the storyline. This is a book I pick up every couple of years and read over again, I seldomly do that with books, even one's that I enjoyed in the past. Highly recommended to Koontz fans and readers of a good mystery/sci-fi twist.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Dean Koontz Book
Review: This is BY FAR the best Dean Koontz book I have read. I have read all of them except for Seize the Night, which is in my book pile ready to be read. I know what you're probably thinking. "What a nutzo! How can it be better than Watchers or Whispers?" Well, it is! Lightning reflects the way that Dean Koontz looks at life. He is constantly poking fun at it, trying to make the reader realize how silly and strange life really is! Stefan, is by far the best character Koontz has come up with except for Christopher Snow. Stefan is at first, really mysterious and Koontz almost makes him seem like the bad guy, but then we find out more and more about him. Dean has also made an attempt to create this little girl who almost seems perfect. He suceeded! So what's the connection between Stefan and this sweet, innocent little girl? Find out when you read Lightning for yourself! [NOTE: Dean Koontz says that his third favorite book that he has written is Lightning]

Rating:
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.

Rating:
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.

Rating:
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.

Rating:
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.

Rating:
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!

Rating:
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.