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Dean Koontz

Yes, it's great is Lightning! Wonder if it was written before or after The Terminator, because the whole "travelling back in time to save someone" thing really reminded me of that film (of course it's probably been done in many books/films).
 
That one sounds pretty interesting, but I only buy books in paperback, so I've got a bit of a wait. :rolleyes:
 
You know, I think it was probably before the terminator. I have the book but i'm feeling too lazy to go look it up lol
 
Seems like he hasn't written much "horror" in a long while. I love his writing because it not only is great escape reading, but almost always makes an impact on me. I loved False Memory and From the Corner Of His Eye.

One question, though. This has probably been asked a million times, but what happened to his Christopher Snow series? I really enjoyed the two he put out and had always heard rumors that he'd be continuing it.
 
I have to admit Dean Koontz is the author that got me reading. But either having grown up or having gone on to read better authors I have realized he has some almost unredeamable flaws. His heroes redefine the word perfect while his villains are ridiculously evil. He knows how to complicate the hell out of a decent simple plotline. His plots take on the quality of a funhouse until the very end at which time he very disappointingly ties everything together. Finally his biggest flaw: his endings are so, nautiously, stomach churningly, I think I threw up a little in my mouth, perfectly happy that you could swear he let his twelve year old daughter finish his book for him.

Here I have written what I think is representitive of your average Koontz ending: Stan embraced Susan in the midst of the monster's melted body. Even though he had met her that morning he knew they would get married the next day. After all, they were both young billionaires, destined to live another two hundred years, without the need of sleep, or food (unless they felt like eating for fun or sleeping to kill some time). They both had the same birthdate (only a minute apart), and the exact same taste in music, books, movies, and everything else imaginable.

Here is koontz one quality: For every ten shitty books he writes he can usually crank out a gem. example: Intensity
 
I do like Koontz books but yeah he's not a great writer ( if we are talking literature ) by any means. But he is fun and I have read quite a number of his books. I have read at least 15 :-D

If you are looking for quick easy brain popcorn then he's good for that! I think that he does have some good qualities. He tells a good story, he has a good handle on pace and suspense. And yes, he has a lot of flaws too. All his books tend to be very much the same. A group of people from different backgrounds are drawn together to face some evil which they defeat at the end of the book. Another thing that always irritated me about him was every building is stucco! lol Anybody else notice that???
 
Yes! He also likes very long descriptions of flowers and the landscapes (arroyos etc - whatever they are).
 
Recommend your best Koontz books? I've never read him, and don't mind trying. He's written so many, though, and I don't want to just dive right in without knowing which are the good ones. :)

I've heard more than once that his Intensity is good. Any more?

ds
 
Good Koontz

Yeah, the man does have his share of gems, after all he writes about three books a year. I'd say my favorites are Intensity, Watchers, Dragon Tears, (read the first and last novella and avoid most of the duds in between Strange Highways) Midnight, and I haven't read it but I've heard from many people that Hideaway was good.
 
I used to read a lot of Dean Koontz, and I used to really enjoy it, but I got soooo sick of the formulaic writing. I loved his descriptions of stuff (Stephen King is also fab at describing stuff) but after a while the happy endings bored me - no matter what happened in the story you alway know exactly how it will end.

If I remember Intensity right, it is a very good book. Strange Highways was the first Dean Koontz book I read and I really loved it then (I must have been about 17), but I re-read the first novella in it the other year, and god I thought it was terrible! It's been a long time since I last read anything by him, maybe I would like his stuff again.

Never was keen on the Christopher Snow books, though.
 
I just finished "Odd Thomas", and I think it is the best one of his books. I'm not going to give anything away. I was really surprised at the ending. In fact, I was really surprised at my reaction. Anyone else read it?
 
Yes, I think I felt exactly the same way, but I can't say more without giving the ending away!
 
I said Anxiety but actually the book was called "Intensity", but it was one of the few books where I became anxious; therefore, I changed the name. Oops.
 
Just bought Odd Thomas (along with 5 others books by different authors) - it's just gone to the top of my 'To Read' list, thanks to your comments.

Can't wait to start it....but just have to finish my current book which is very good (Dennis Lehane - Mystic River).

Cheers guys
 
Just re-read my last post and it is a bit ambiguous... To clarify: Odd Thomas is a very good read but I would not rate it as one of my all-time Koontz faves. However, the ending was rather unexpected and evoked strong emotions (yep, that's vague enough!) :)
 
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