I wouldn’t go so far as to say
that I have a love/hate relationship with the work of Dean Koontz, but my
reading of his books has certainly gone back and forth over the years. Early on
in his career, I read a few of his science fiction novels and remember liking
them okay, but when he became a bestseller in the Eighties with a number of doorstop-sized
horror/suspense novels, I tried a couple of them and didn’t like them.
(WATCHERS was one; I don’t remember the other.) So for quite a while, I didn’t
read anything by Dean Koontz.
Then, for some reason I no longer recall, I picked up a copy of his novel LIGHTNING, read it, and loved it. It’s probably still my favorite of his books that I’ve read. After that I went back and read a lot of his earlier books, some published originally under his name, some under pseudonyms that were, by that time, being reissued as Dean Koontz books. I read the new ones as they came out, including DARK RIVERS OF THE HEART, a great book that’s my second favorite of his.
Then, sometime after ODD THOMAS, I picked up a new one, started to read it, said to myself, “Nah,” and that was the end of it. I didn’t read Koontz again for years.
Which is my long-winded way of saying that recently I decided to try something by him again. I picked NAMELESS, a series of novellas published as single e-books on Amazon. These tell the story of an amnesiac avenger with no name who travels around the country, backed by a shadowy, seemingly all-powerful organization, righting wrongs and delivering truth (not justice, which he makes clear) to those who have committed evils. The titles of the individual novellas are IN THE HEART OF THE FIRE, PHOTOGRAPHING THE DEAD, THE PRAYING MANTIS BRIDE, RED RAIN, THE MERCY OF SNAKES, and MEMORIES OF TOMORROW.
I raced through these and enjoyed them, even the ones about serial killers, a genre I don’t particularly like. They’re well-written, fast-paced tales with thoroughly despicable villains and an interesting, likable protagonist. The final volume, MEMORIES OF TOMORROW, solves some of the mysteries that run throughout the series and provides a satisfying ending, although leaving the door open enough that Nameless could return. The whole thing reminded me of a slickly done cable or streaming TV series.
I liked NAMELESS well enough that I’m tempted to read more by Koontz, but honestly, the novella length was a big part of the appeal to me. I already have several of his recent novels on my Kindle that I picked up when they were on sale, so we’ll see.
Then, for some reason I no longer recall, I picked up a copy of his novel LIGHTNING, read it, and loved it. It’s probably still my favorite of his books that I’ve read. After that I went back and read a lot of his earlier books, some published originally under his name, some under pseudonyms that were, by that time, being reissued as Dean Koontz books. I read the new ones as they came out, including DARK RIVERS OF THE HEART, a great book that’s my second favorite of his.
Then, sometime after ODD THOMAS, I picked up a new one, started to read it, said to myself, “Nah,” and that was the end of it. I didn’t read Koontz again for years.
Which is my long-winded way of saying that recently I decided to try something by him again. I picked NAMELESS, a series of novellas published as single e-books on Amazon. These tell the story of an amnesiac avenger with no name who travels around the country, backed by a shadowy, seemingly all-powerful organization, righting wrongs and delivering truth (not justice, which he makes clear) to those who have committed evils. The titles of the individual novellas are IN THE HEART OF THE FIRE, PHOTOGRAPHING THE DEAD, THE PRAYING MANTIS BRIDE, RED RAIN, THE MERCY OF SNAKES, and MEMORIES OF TOMORROW.
I raced through these and enjoyed them, even the ones about serial killers, a genre I don’t particularly like. They’re well-written, fast-paced tales with thoroughly despicable villains and an interesting, likable protagonist. The final volume, MEMORIES OF TOMORROW, solves some of the mysteries that run throughout the series and provides a satisfying ending, although leaving the door open enough that Nameless could return. The whole thing reminded me of a slickly done cable or streaming TV series.
I liked NAMELESS well enough that I’m tempted to read more by Koontz, but honestly, the novella length was a big part of the appeal to me. I already have several of his recent novels on my Kindle that I picked up when they were on sale, so we’ll see.
8 comments:
I know how you feel about Dean Koontz. He can be a very frustrating writer. Despite his many faults, I keep reading his work obsessively, always wondering why did I like that after I have finished.
There is usually a dog. All dogs are good. There is often an evil father-figure, which harks back to the author's past. A likable and somewhat quirky protagonist versus a seemingly insurmountable obstacle represented by a palpable power of pure evil that can only be defeated (in the nick of time by the power of good. Koontz has discovered a formula for best-sellerdom and. by gosh, he's going to use it!
There aren't any dogs or evil father figures in these, as far as I recall. I read them spaced out over a couple of months between other books. But yes, those are certainly dominant elements in Koontz's work.
I do like Koontz but I went through a period where I found his books too samey - that said, I absolutely adore Watchers and have read it several times.
I'm kind of the opposite in my connection to Koontz. I read one of his SF novels when I was young and definitely thought it rather Meh. In fact, I just decided I didn't like his work. Then I saw an interview with him in Writer's Digest where they quoted from his book "The Bad Place," and it was beautiful prose. I picked up a couple of his thrillers. I believe Lightning was first. And then Midnight and Phantoms, and loved 'em all. I read him steadily, including the Odd Thomas books, until he wrote a book about the apocalypse that was so preachy and anti-science that I said, "no more." I'm starting to come cautiously back to Koontz in the last few years.
I really ought to give WATCHERS another try. I hardly ever read books that long anymore, though.
I’ve found Koontz’s work uneven enough that I haven’t read anything from him for many years.
That said, Phantoms is one of the best pure ‘monster stories’ I’ve found.
And it has what might be the most impossible to resist opening chapter I’ve read in any genre.
It’s maybe four pages long and i find it nigh impossible to imagine any reader fond of an eerie chill turning that fourth page and then setting the book aside.
John Hocking
I agree. My wife is the much bigger Koontz fan here, but I loved WATCHERS. Also liked LIGHTNING and others of that era. Now she reads the ones that bore me (rare disease makes it impossible to go out in the daytime) but won't read the Odd Thomas books, which I did read. It's actually been years since I've read one.
I went through a Koontz phase back in the early 90s. MIDNIGHT was my first, a real page turner, loved it. Picked up a bunch of the others (I’m a sucker for uniform trade dress), read three or four in a row — WATCHERS, PHANTOMS, DARKFALL, LIGHTNING. And then....I just kinda lost interest. Happens that way with me sometimes. When I binged on Elmore Leonard in the 80s — must have read ten of ‘em over the course of a few months — at some point I suddenly felt like I was reading the same book over and over and just couldn’t read him anymore. Clive Cussler too.
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