Web Wiz Forum : Dean Koontz book reviews http://freshlinks.net/forum/ This is an XML content feed of; Web Wiz Forum : Dean Koontz book reviews : Last 10 Posts Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:51:39 +0000 Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:39:19 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Web Wiz Forums 8.03 30 freshlinks.net/forum//RSS_topic_feed.asp?FID=26 Web Wiz Forum http://freshlinks.net/forum//forum_images/web_wiz_forums.gif http://freshlinks.net/forum/ Dean Koontz book reviews : Watchers, 1987 http://freshlinks.net/forum//forum_posts.asp?TID=1800&PID=193928#193928 Author: FinalExam
Subject: Watchers, 1987
Posted: 08/February/2010 at 7:39pm

I've seen a couple of Watchers adaptions, and they were both horrible.

Servants of Twilight was a cheap adaption badly acted, but I've seen worse.

If you ever have ocassion to watch the TV adaption of Face of Fear, see it. It's one of my favorites.]]> Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:39:19 +0000 http://freshlinks.net/forum//forum_posts.asp?TID=1800&PID=193928#193928 Dean Koontz book reviews : Watchers, 1987 http://freshlinks.net/forum//forum_posts.asp?TID=1800&PID=193925#193925 Author: TheFirTree
Subject: Watchers, 1987
Posted: 08/February/2010 at 5:51pm

Has anyone out there seen the 1988 Watchers movie? Is it as terrible as I've heard?

I'm also curious about the Servants of Twilight movie]]> Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:51:01 +0000 http://freshlinks.net/forum//forum_posts.asp?TID=1800&PID=193925#193925 Dean Koontz book reviews : Life Expectancy, 2004 http://freshlinks.net/forum//forum_posts.asp?TID=6094&PID=193911#193911 Author: dnurse64
Subject: Life Expectancy, 2004
Posted: 07/February/2010 at 1:58pm

Nice reviews.

I never wrote my review for Life Expectancy here. Better late than never. Thanks for reminding me.


Spoilers:

This was the only Koontz book that almost lost me. At first I was not sure what I thought about it. Then I said to myself, just go with it. Clowns, comedy, prophecy, murder, it'll be crazy. When I came to the dinner scene where Lori meets the Tock family for the first time, I was overwhelmed by the sitcom feel of the entire scene and I'm not one for bathroom humor at the dinner table. Then DK, with all his talent, via Jimmy Tock, wrote the entire page of 167 to in a way that addressed how I was judging the scene. It felt uncanny. One quote I liked was, "when we fail to see the eccentricities in ourselves and be amused by them, we become monsters of self regard. Each in its own way, every family is as eccentric as mine. I guarantee it. Opening your eyes to this truth is to open your heart to humanity." However, he said much more on this particular page that was meaningful too. I ended up really enjoying this book and it now is in my top 15 list of books. The first time he "yanked our chain" I caught it. The 2nd time I was fooled. Then I laughed. I was surprised by the twists at the end. Imagine finding out you were switched at birth, twin brother to a crazy guy, and a child of incest. Makes you contemplate how lucky you are to be raised by a loving family. It ended with the hope of the prophecy of 5 glorious days. I closed the book with a big smile on my face. Oh, one thing that shocked me at the time was that I found myself actually liking the villain Punchinello at times. When he first was stabbed by Jimmy Tock, I felt bad for him. Despite all his crimes, he came across as a big stupid kid.

DK said in a recent interview that Life Expectancy was one of his most favorite books to write. It's interesting how it all came about as a typo error... he accidentally typed the word "clown." Then he went with it. What an imagination.

]]> Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:58:32 +0000 http://freshlinks.net/forum//forum_posts.asp?TID=6094&PID=193911#193911 Dean Koontz book reviews : Breathless (2009) http://freshlinks.net/forum//forum_posts.asp?TID=13216&PID=193910#193910 Author: TheFirTree
Subject: Breathless (2009)
Posted: 07/February/2010 at 1:38pm

Interesting, if you read the customer reviews on Amazon.com a lot of people felt the same way.

Not read Breathless yet myself.]]> Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:38:25 +0000 http://freshlinks.net/forum//forum_posts.asp?TID=13216&PID=193910#193910 Dean Koontz book reviews : Breathless (2009) http://freshlinks.net/forum//forum_posts.asp?TID=13216&PID=193909#193909 Author: dnurse64
Subject: Breathless (2009)
Posted: 07/February/2010 at 1:33pm

Originally posted by Marauder


As I was getting near the end, I even checked the back to see if it was a part one of two as the plots all seemed to be still bubbling and I had only about 50 pages left!


Oh my goodness. I did the very same thing!

However, I loved the book and it's in my top 15. Well, welcome to the forum even if it was just for this one post.]]> Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:33:12 +0000 http://freshlinks.net/forum//forum_posts.asp?TID=13216&PID=193909#193909 Dean Koontz book reviews : Breathless (2009) http://freshlinks.net/forum//forum_posts.asp?TID=13216&PID=193908#193908 Author: Marauder
Subject: Breathless (2009)
Posted: 07/February/2010 at 1:22pm

Hello all. I have just joined this forum purely to add my opinion on this book.

Warning, review may contains spoilers!


I am a long time DK fan so I was disappointed with this latest novel. I feel it started brilliantly with several strong story lines that would obviously eventually come together. However, towards the end, I got the impression that DK had to finish the book quickly to hit a dealine or something. As 'creativerealms' alluded to earlier in this thread, all the sub plots seem to be hurriedly cobbled together or suddenly finished off. The "Henry" character for example, after many chapters developing the plot which seemed to be building to a great confrontation, he is suddenly revealed as being mad and killed off.

As I was getting near the end, I even checked the back to see if it was a part one of two as the plots all seemed to be still bubbling and I had only about 50 pages left!

To sum up. It's a good book, not a great one. It could have been great with a lot more effort on the final third of the story.

5/10]]> Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:22:07 +0000 http://freshlinks.net/forum//forum_posts.asp?TID=13216&PID=193908#193908 Dean Koontz book reviews : Life Expectancy, 2004 http://freshlinks.net/forum//forum_posts.asp?TID=6094&PID=193907#193907 Author: TheFirTree
Subject: Life Expectancy, 2004
Posted: 07/February/2010 at 1:10pm

"Dean Koontz has published more than forty novels, most of them best sellers, I managed to ignore all of them until Life Expectancy came along. A prepublication review in Publisher's Weekly praised the novel and declared that, in a just universe, the literary world would pay more attention to this wildly successful storyteller. The review aroused my curiosity, so I read the book and found that PW was right. Life Expectancy is an often hilarious fable about decency adrift in a world of madness.

How you respond will depend in part on your tolerance for whimsy. But Koontz is a skillful storyteller and the adventures of the Tocks are funny, scary, and entertaining. The novel, like Thornton Wilder's great comedy The Skin Of Our Teeth, proclaims that humankind, armed with love, courage, and dumb luck, can confront endless adversity and muddle through".

This is part of a longer review quoted in The Triumph Of The Thriller by Patrick Anderson of The Washington Post.

Having mentioned a couple of harsh Koontz reviews I thought I'd post a positive one.]]> Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:10:50 +0000 http://freshlinks.net/forum//forum_posts.asp?TID=6094&PID=193907#193907 Dean Koontz book reviews : Hideaway, 1992 http://freshlinks.net/forum//forum_posts.asp?TID=561&PID=193818#193818 Author: TheFirTree
Subject: Hideaway, 1992
Posted: 05/February/2010 at 11:52am

Intensity is fantastic, I couldn't put it down.

Koontz is very quotable. It was interesting to read that quote about Pantheism, I had assumed Pantheism was simply the worship of nature but it's obviously a little more complicated than that.]]> Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:52:45 +0000 http://freshlinks.net/forum//forum_posts.asp?TID=561&PID=193818#193818 Dean Koontz book reviews : Hideaway, 1992 http://freshlinks.net/forum//forum_posts.asp?TID=561&PID=193816#193816 Author: dnurse64
Subject: Hideaway, 1992
Posted: 05/February/2010 at 11:40am

That's a nice quote. That makes more sense with the background in full context. Thanks. That's one of the books I haven't read yet and one that a majority of people seem to like. We get off topic all the time. It's really okay.

]]> Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:40:35 +0000 http://freshlinks.net/forum//forum_posts.asp?TID=561&PID=193816#193816 Dean Koontz book reviews : Hideaway, 1992 http://freshlinks.net/forum//forum_posts.asp?TID=561&PID=193813#193813 Author: TheFirTree
Subject: Hideaway, 1992
Posted: 05/February/2010 at 11:27am

Don't worry, I zapped my posts because I dislike seeing what I've written + that was the only reason.

The Intensity quote about Vess(bit off-topic but anyway) is:

"If he worshipped, he would be an ardent Pantheist, committed to the belief that all things are sacred, every tree and every flower and every blade of grass, every bird and every beetle. The world is full of pantheists these days; he would be at home among them if he were to join their ranks. When everything is sacred, nothing is"]]> Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:27:41 +0000 http://freshlinks.net/forum//forum_posts.asp?TID=561&PID=193813#193813