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Wulfere · 02-25-2003, 07:20 AM

Yes that's right. Dean Koontz is not a horror writer in the classic sense. Stephan King is. (imho)
Dean Koontz NOT!

This is going to be a quick and dirty review of the Koontz books I have read.
Most of his books are heavily cross-genre. Borrowing from Fantasy, Sci Fi, Mystery, Horror and Comedy. It's a rare book of his that doesn't have at least some humour in it. They are, for the most part, books filled with equal parts terror, laughter, love, facts and friendship. As a result, they don't always easily fit into that nice, neat, little Horror niche. I currently own 14 of his works and have read another 3, I don't currently own. I'm working on that. He has out something on the order of 50 novels and several collections of short stories. So this is by no means a comprehensive review of his works.

Recently I finished "By the Light of the Moon". His newest novel. I of course enjoyed it very much, being a fan and all. It has Brotherly Love, Romance, Mystery, Gun-Toteing Government types, Nano-Technology and Mad Professors. Not to mention a very large dose of Humor. It was well worth the price. Right now I am re-reading "Sieze the Night" for the 20th time, if I am not miss counting. Which is the second of his Christopher Snow novels and one of his most frightening books. Not because it's full of gore, blood and brain eating zombies. If that's what you want then don't read "Seize the Night". The terror or 'scareyness' of his books comes when you think about what he is using to move the plot along.
In "Seize the Night" it's genetic engineering experiments that have gone much too well. In "Dark Rivers of the Heart" it's secret government agencies, the property forfiture laws and amnesia. "Tick Tock" has demon dolls and Vietnamese(sp) Mothers! Yes it is very funny.

So, before you walk buy that Koontz book saying "I'm not in the mood for Horror." remember that his books are generally uplifting, full of all the things that make us human, the good, the bad and the horrible.

P.S. ... I prefer the audiobooks since I listen at work and you may find that some of these translate very, very well to tape. Only one of his works is available on CD and that is Strange Highways: Chase. The rest are on unabridged audiotape.

02-25-2003, 07:20 AM	#1
Wulfere Red Wizard of Thay Join Date: March 20, 2001 Location: Lincoln, Nebraska USA Age: 64 Posts: 893	Yes that's right. Dean Koontz is not a horror writer in the classic sense. Stephan King is. (imho) Dean Koontz NOT! This is going to be a quick and dirty review of the Koontz books I have read. Most of his books are heavily cross-genre. Borrowing from Fantasy, Sci Fi, Mystery, Horror and Comedy. It's a rare book of his that doesn't have at least some humour in it. They are, for the most part, books filled with equal parts terror, laughter, love, facts and friendship. As a result, they don't always easily fit into that nice, neat, little Horror niche. I currently own 14 of his works and have read another 3, I don't currently own. I'm working on that. He has out something on the order of 50 novels and several collections of short stories. So this is by no means a comprehensive review of his works. Recently I finished "By the Light of the Moon". His newest novel. I of course enjoyed it very much, being a fan and all. It has Brotherly Love, Romance, Mystery, Gun-Toteing Government types, Nano-Technology and Mad Professors. Not to mention a very large dose of Humor. It was well worth the price. Right now I am re-reading "Sieze the Night" for the 20th time, if I am not miss counting. Which is the second of his Christopher Snow novels and one of his most frightening books. Not because it's full of gore, blood and brain eating zombies. If that's what you want then don't read "Seize the Night". The terror or 'scareyness' of his books comes when you think about what he is using to move the plot along. In "Seize the Night" it's genetic engineering experiments that have gone much too well. In "Dark Rivers of the Heart" it's secret government agencies, the property forfiture laws and amnesia. "Tick Tock" has demon dolls and Vietnamese(sp) Mothers! Yes it is very funny. So, before you walk buy that Koontz book saying "I'm not in the mood for Horror." remember that his books are generally uplifting, full of all the things that make us human, the good, the bad and the horrible. P.S. ... I prefer the audiobooks since I listen at work and you may find that some of these translate very, very well to tape. Only one of his works is available on CD and that is Strange Highways: Chase. The rest are on unabridged audiotape.