Lately when I read a new Dean Koontz novel, I have one of two reactions: either I feel like throwing the book against the wall, or I want to abandon it halfway through.His novels never used to do that to me. I could hardly wait for the next one to come out. The last new Koontz novel I read, From the Corner of His Eye was one where I felt that the characters were falling into too much of a formula writing; it was as if the characters from other Koontz novels had all been picked up and plopped down in a different novel. Of course, no matter what problems they face, the police and government can never be of any help at all or are actually involved in the conspiracy. When I began One Door Away from Heaven, my initial reaction was "Oh no, here we go again." We have the Koontz trademark of a super-smart dog; we have the genius child prodigy; we have a former detective with a heart of gold who grows up to be on the straight-and narrow despite a background of misery. What redeemed the novel was the character of the boy who comes to call himself Curtis Hammond. The character was intriguing all the way through. In the beginning, I had one theory as to what was wrong with him, only to be completely sideswiped when the truth about him came out. Following him throughout the story was a complete and utter joy. The child prodigy is named Leilani Klonk. Her psychopathic step-father briefly sets them down in a trailer park where she meets Micky Bellsong and her Aunt Geneva (have I mentioned that odd names also seem to be a fascination of Koontz?). Despite being homeschooled by a psychopathic mass-murderer and a drug addict, the child seems to be growing up to be the perfect image of goodness and with a brain that would put John Nash of A Beautiful Mind to shame. She is also handicapped and needs to wear a leg brace. Koontz' description at times made me feel as if this is supposed to be a sort of amusement during the novel - a feeling I am not entirely comfortable with. The novel itself takes off in all kinds of crazy directions once the characters are in place. Koontz does a bang-up job with Curtis' storyline, but takes Leilani's in a somewhat predictable direction. At times I felt as if the book was written by two entirely different people who had to some how agree on how to wrap it all up at the end. And that's the biggest problem I had with the book: the ending. While the rest of the book carries the reader along at a breakneck pace with all sorts of twists and turns, the ending falls into a typical they-lived-happily-ever-after fairy-tale that I've unfortunately come to expect from recent Koontz novels. This is when I feel like throwing the book against the wall since I've invested so much into the characters only to be let down by the ending. Koontz novels such as Dark Rivers of the Heart with its ambiguous but hopeful endings are so much better. What I also liked was the fact that he brought up a subject here to that educated me. I had never heard of bioethics or the movement Koontz speaks about both throughout the novel and in an Author's Note at the end. It is unnerving to realize that there are people out there who still think along Nazi-like lines of a human super-race where anyone who is not physically, emotionally, or mentally perfect does not have a place. I can't say this is the worst of the novels I've read - not even the worst of the novels I've read by Koontz. The parts that are good are really good. Unfortunately, the bad parts really seem to bring down the rest. Had he done the ending differently and parts of Leilani's storyline, this could've been a fantastic book.
Dean Koontz and Stephen King have always been in competition to be my favorite author. I think after reading this book, King definitely took the lead. False Memory is a book that left me feeling like I had bought a book that I'd read before. While someone who isn't an avid reader of Koontz' books may find this story keeps them on the edge of their seat, if you read a great deal of his book you may feel a bit cheated. The characters seem like we know them from somewhere. I began noticing this in the last Koontz book I read, From the Corner of His Eye. The characters from book to book are being to seem very similar to each other. There are always people in the story who, for one reason or another, are very very good. They usually have a perfect life, are rich, and do a tremendous amount of good for their fellow man. These characters then seem to be thwarted in doing all their goodness by someone so deeply evil, yet charming, that they have managed to get away with their evildoings until meeting our heroes. Somehow, the heroes and heroines (with the help of a very smart dog - usually a Golden Retriever) manage to conquer whatever obstacles the villain throws in front of them. By the end of the book, everything is wrapped up nice and neat and they are more perfect, rich, and happy than they were in the beginning of the story. False Memory is the story of Martie and Dusty Rhodes (could that name be any more of a cliche?). One day Martie begins having terrible panic attacks that lead her to believe by the end of the day that she will kill her husband. Dusty, meanwhile, is dealing with his own demons int he form of his half-brother, Skeet. Skeet has substance-abuse problems and became suicidal that day while helping Dusty on a painting job. After managing to stop Skeet from jumping off the roof, Dusty brings him to a clinic for treatment, then returns home to find Martie in the midst of her own breakdown. After ruling out a physical or medical problem, Martie seeks treatment from Dr. Mark Ahriman, the same psychiatrist who has been treating her friend Susan Jagger. Up until a few months prior, Susan had been a very successful real-estate agent and happily married. A severe case of agoraphobia ended both her career and her marriage. Dr. Ahriman is not all that he seems, and Martie and Dusty soon begin to gather bits of information that lead them to suspect this. Despite everything Ahriman has done to manipulate people, Martie and Dusty are somehow able to catch on to his machinations and try to gather facts to prove what is going on. The book actually only takes place over a few days as Martie and Dusty go through the beginning of her attacks into her treatment. She only has a couple of appointments before they begin to suspect Ahriman. The one thing Koontz always does well is give incredible detail. The book does not plod at all despite the fact that it takes place over such a short time. Instead, I felt like I was in a whirlwind and couldn't see how anyone's life could go through so many of the abrupt changes that Martie and Dusty go through without doing some major damage to the psyche. One thing Koontz has always done well is write villains. I think he enjoys them more than heroes since he seems to give them more depth. Ahriman is no exception. He is not simply a one-dimensional villain, but someone who's very core of being seems to be evil, going right back into childhood. Despite having so many advantages, something is not right in his life - his "wiring" is off - and at various times we see just how he came to be as twisted as he is now. Ahriman is the best part of this book. However, Ahriman's connection to Martie and Dusty is not just her accidentally stumbling into his office, and that bothered me to no end. It was too coincidental; too contrived. The ending was a tremendous disappointment and letdown after I'd invested the time in these characters. Has Koontz begun to rest on his laurels? This book really has me asking that question. I wish I could put in a "maybe" where it asks if I would recommend False Memoryto a friend. It would depend on just how many Koontz books that person had already read. That option not there, I'll put in a NO since I think there are much better Koontz books out there to read.
I know what you're thinking: A children's book written by Dean Koontz? Surely you can't mean the Dean Koontz? Lightning? Mr. Murder? That Dean Koontz???? Yes, that Dean Koontz. Well now Thanksgiving is safely past,
more turkey eaten this year than last... The story is a simple one of what happens when Santa's evil twin, Bob Claus, tries to make everyone believe that Santa has turned evil. His plan is to replace the real gifts with the likes of mud pies, cat poop, and broccoli. He threatens the reindeer with being turned into stew if they don't go along with his evil plan. Everything is turning out the way he wants - a general mess - until he meets two little girls named Emily and Lottie. At the chimney, he looks down at the bricks.
But that entrance is strictly for hicks. The book reminds me a great deal of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It is written along the same storyline idea, though with some more advanced dialogue that may confuse young children (how many of them know what halitosis is?). The writing is in verse form, with each line ending in a rhyme in sets of twos. At 62 pages, this is not a short, just-before-bedtime story, but one that will take a while to go through. He prowls the downstairs - wicked, mean -
looking to cause yet one more bad scene. The illustrations are very colorful and detailed. In pictures of the Christmas tree, we see the detail of the ornaments and popcorn strung on the tree; not just a simple green tree. The house is illustrated with great detail to show the books in the bookcases; the stones in the fireplace; the boards of the floor. Each one is a beautiful picture. Together, they add a tremendous value to the story. Phil Parks has illustrated other books for Dean Koontz (covers) such as Shadowfires and Strange Highway. Mostly an illustrator in the science-fiction realm, he does very well in this children's book. That is not to say that all is sweetness and light here. Some children may be frightened by the images contained herein, although I think the one on the cover of Bob Claus as Santa with an intensely evil expression is about as bad as it gets. I would be cautious reading this story to children younger than around seven. When my oldest daughter (the one we call Stephanie King) was first showing her interest in the horror genre, this was one of the first books I purchased for her. She was about eight at the time, but each child is different. To this day it is still one of her favorites. Believing in magic, you saved Christmas Day.
Keep believing in us after we've gone away!
When people ask me about what my favorite books are that I've read, inevitably #1 is Stephen King's The Stand. #2 is Dean Koontz' Lightning. Too often in books involving time travel, the hero or heroine travels back to change something bad about his or her life, or one of their friends or relatives lives. In this case, our heroine, Laura Shane has no idea until two-thirds of the way through the book what has been happening to her. On the night in 1955 that Laura is born there is an unusual snowstorm that produces thunder and lightning. From then on, whenever lightning strikes, life-changing events seem to happen, and a mysterious blond-haired man appears. Laura calls him her guardian, and looks to him with a hero-worship that only a child can have. Afraid to tell anyone else about him, he is her deepest secret through a lifetime of pain. Her mother dies in childbirth, she and her father are almost killed when his small grocery store is robbed, her father dies of a heart-attack, and she becomes the target of a sexual predator at the orphanage she is sent to - who eventually kills a dear woman who becomes Laura's foster-mother. It seems as though Laura has more than her fair share of adverse times in her life, but she always sees signs that her guardian has been here to help or support her. Sometimes he appears directly to her, while at others she just knows he has been there and taken care of things for her. Things look up for her for a long time. She meets a wonderful man who will become her husband, begins a very successful career as a writer, and gives birth to a son. This time, however, when her guardian returns, it is with disastrous results on her family. Laura must summon up all of the courage and toughness she learned being subjected to so much adversity to pull herself and what is left of her family through. **spoiler*** For her guardian is no angel at all, rather a man traveling through time who met the first person Laura was during one of his travels and immediately fell in love with her spirit and her. Stefan Krieger is not traveling to the past from the future, but to the future from the past. He is on the run from some very dangerous men who are out to kill both him and now Laura. ***end spoiler*** The twists and turns in this book roped me in and kept me hanging the first time I read this book. Even now, after having read it more times than I can remember, the book is a great read. To me, it is definitely Koontz' finest, and is one book I'm glad has never been made into a movie, since I don't think any movie could do this book justice. Koontz' strength in writing is his ability to write strong, believable lead characters. He succeeds totally here with Laura and Stefan. They are so well-developed and written with such a hard edge that I felt like I was really watching the two of them as their lives converged again and again. The weakness in many of Koontz' books is his secondary characters and that is no different here, but to a lesser degree. Laura's husband Danny is written very well, as is her son, Chris. The miss comes especially with Thelma Ackerman who seems to come off as an exact replica of Sandra Bernhard in many ways. A definite weak spot in the novel comes any time they draw her in. A little more attention to details about her could've turned her into a much better supporting character. Another minus is Kokoschka who comes off as a typical bad guy with a grudge against the good guy. He is doing his job by coming after Stefan, but a big part of the situation is that he is intensely jealous of Stefan. His hatred is believable, as we see him shadowing Stefan in Laura's life, trying to figure out why she is important in the scope of history. The time travel works in this book, even if it does become a bit confusing at times. All of the back and forth between Laura's time and Stefan's can get confusing, as well as the changes they are making. It is a fun read as I felt as if I were being dragged along with them for the ride. A problem of many of Koontz' books is that he wraps the endings up too nice and neat. I didn't feel that at the end of this book. History has been changed, for better or worse. It seems to be better, but do we really know that for sure? It is rumored that all of Koontz' books in some way tie together and I am interested if Lightning fits into that plan as well. Only time will tell.
WOW! That's all I could think last night when I finally finished reading this book, Dean Koontz latest. This story is based on the premise of the Apostle Bartholomew. He is not one of the more well-known of Jesus' apostles, but that is what makes his story more compelling. You see, we never know how our lives affect one another and intertwine together. We've seen the premise before, most notably in the movie It's A Wonderful Lifeand Koontz touches on it briefly in his previous book Lightning. Here we see how on one day a woman is murdered and two children are born whose futures are intertwined with the murderer. As usual, Koontz strict attention to every detail helps us feel as if we are their, walking along, watching every scene as it takes place. The depiction of the killer's apartment, as well as the detail in the events that lead up to each murder, keep you hanging on, wanting to read just one more page when it is already past midnight. We have seen some of these characters before, in other books: the crazy murdered who is wealthy, cunning and powerful. On the other side are the people who are devoutly good and who suffer tremendous loss and burdens in their lives only to come out stronger than before. If there is one weakness in Koontz writing it is the relying on these same types of characters again and again. However, each one is different in their own distinct way, and his writing is so amazing that I still want to keep reading. Barty is a young prodigy, being raised by his widowed mother and two uncles who are fixated on train crashes and natural disasters. Angel is born the product of a rape, and is raised by her aunt after her mother dies in childbirth. Enoch Cain Jr. is a crazy man who thinks every woman in the world worships the ground he walks on, and becomes fixated on "Bartholomew". He misunderstands who Bartholomew is, and becomes fixated on him as the cause of everything wrong with his life. The difference in this book is how Koontz manages to bring in religion to intertwine with quantum physics. How many branches are there in our lives? How many times do we make decisions and say "What if I had done something else instead?" How many different possibilities are there in someone's life? Koontz does a wonderful job bringing everything together. Barty tells his mother of worlds that are different from the life he has here; worlds he can feel. Every character in this had a purpose, no matter how small. Halfway through, it seems disjointed, as if the reader is all over the place. A short time later, it pulls together and we see how everyone's lives intersect. You won't be able to put it down!
